Body image and marital satisfaction: Evidence for the mediating role of sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction.

Abstract

How does women's body image shape their interpersonal relationships? Based on recent theories of risk regulation and empirical evidence that sex is an emotionally risky behavior for women, we predicted that women's body image would predict increased sexual frequency and thus increased sexual and marital satisfaction for both partners. The current study of 53 recently married couples provided results consistent with this prediction. Specifically, wives' perceptions of their sexual attractiveness were positively associated with both wives' and husbands' marital satisfaction, controlling for wives' body size, wives' global self-esteem, wives' neuroticism, and reports of whether or not the couple was trying to get pregnant, and both of these associations were mediated by increased sexual frequency and higher sexual satisfaction. Notably, wives' perceptions of their sexual attractiveness uniquely accounted for 6% of the variance in husbands' marital satisfaction and 19% of the variance in wives' marital satisfaction. Accordingly, marital interventions may greatly benefit by addressing women's body esteem. KeywordsBody Image; Marriage; Sexual Frequency; Sexual Attractiveness; Body Mass Women in Western societies face numerous pressures to be thin. They are bombarded by images of thin women in the media (Stice & Shaw, 1994), evaluated more positively by men to the extent that they are thin (e.g., Singh & Young, 1995), and even criticized by other women for not being thin (Kaschak, 1992). These and other pressures have led women to demonstrate a "normative discontent" regarding their bodies (Silberstein, Striegel-Moore, & Rodin, 1987).Not surprisingly, poor body image is associated with numerous negative mental and physical health outcomes. Regarding mental health, women with poor body image are more likely to experience negative emotional outcomes, such as anxiety (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and depression (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). Regarding physical health, Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/fam NIH Public Access women with poor body image are also more likely to engage in extreme dieting (Stice, Mazotti, Krebs, & Martin, 1998) and disordered eating (Stice, Chase, Stormer, & Appel, 2001).In addition to these and other negative intrapersonal outcomes, there is reason to expect poor body image to be associated with negative interpersonal outcomes. Specifically, theories of relationship maintenance (e.g., Murray, Holmes, & Collins, 2006) highlight the necessity of positive...

Relationship between Sexual Satisfaction and Body Image and Attachment Styles with Marital Satisfaction

“…These findings indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between the concept of man and marital satisfaction. Results consistent with the researches [30][31][32].…”

Image corporelle, satisfaction sexuelle et conjugale chez des couples hétérosexuels.

“…En fait, l'insatisfaction corporelle des femmes serait associée à l'insatisfaction conjugale des deux partenaires, ce qui signifie non seulement que les femmes qui ont une vision négative d'ellesmêmes sont moins satisfaites de leur relation conjugale, mais que leurs conjoints en sont aussi moins satisfaits (Meltzer & McNulty, 2010). En contrepartie, une seule étude ne démontre pas de lien significatif entre ces variables (Markey & Markey, 2006).…”

“…En effet, les femmes satisfaites de leur apparence initient davantage les rapports sexuels, sont plus susceptibles d'adopter de nouveaux comportements sexuels et sont plus à l'aise de se déshabiller devant leur partenaire et d'avoir des rapports sexuels les lumières allumées que les femmes insatisfaites de leur apparence (Ackard et al, 2000;Weaver & Byers, 2006). À l'inverse, les femmes insatisfaites de leur poids et de leur corps se sentent moins attirantes sexuellement et sont donc moins affirmatives sur le plan sexuel, ce qui est lié à une moins grande satisfaction sexuelle (Ackard et al, 2000;Meltzer & McNulty, 2010;Weaver & Byers, 2006). Les liens entre l'image corporelle, l'affirmation des besoins sexuels et la satisfaction sexuelle sont plus amplement documentés pour les femmes, mais il semble que ces concepts soient aussi reliés chez les hommes (Schooler & Ward, 2006).…”

“…Cependant, aucune étude ne présente un modèle intégratif de ces différentes dimensions simultanément chez les femmes et les hommes en couple. Par ailleurs, bien que certaines études rapportent aussi des liens entre ces variables chez les hommes, c'est principalement aux femmes que les études antérieures se sont intéres-sées, parfois en intégrant des variables des conjoints masculins, mais seulement pour évaluer le lien entre l'image corporelle des femmes et la satisfaction corporelle de leur conjoint (par ex., Meltzer & McNulty, 2010 La présente étude propose de synthétiser les liens mis en évi-dence dans la littérature en élaborant un modèle liant l'image corporelle et la satisfaction conjugale qui tient compte des aspects sexuels, notamment en intégrant des mécanismes concrets susceptibles de constituer des cibles d'intervention thérapeutique, soit l'affirmation sexuelle et les distractions cognitives. Le premier objectif vise à comparer les liens intrapartenaires entre ces variables selon le genre en testant, auprès des hommes et des femmes séparément, un modèle incluant l'image corporelle (comment l'individu évalue son propre corps et comment il croit que son partenaire l'évalue), la sexualité (l'affirmation sexuelle, les distractions sexuelles et la satisfaction sexuelle) et la satisfaction conjugale.…”

The Effectiveness of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Based on Cash’s Eight-Step Model in Body Image of Primiparous Women

“…Considering the high prevalence of body image disorders among Iranian primiparous women, also the role of body image satisfaction in increasing marital satisfaction (38) and couples compatibility (39), this research aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy based on the Cash's eight-step model in primiparous women's body image.…”