An Investigation of the Differences between Perceived vs. Measured Body Composition, Social Physique Anxiety, and Overall Appearance Satisfaction among College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between body composition, social physique anxiety (SPA) and appearance satisfaction among college students by sex and BMI. A secondary purpose was to assess levels of appearance satisfaction before and after body composition testing and discover any differences between perceived body fat percentage (BF%) and weight versus actual measurements. Participants included 212 college students (93 males, 119 females), 22.0 ± 2.2 years. They answered a demographic questionnaire, the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), post-assessment questions, and underwent body composition testing via dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). There was a significant correlation between measured BF% and SPAS scores (r = 0.531, P < 0.001). Males scored lower on the SPAS compared to females (25.3 ± 9.4 vs. 33.1 ± 9.1, P < 0.001). The sample underestimated BF% with females underestimating by more than males, 5.7 ± 7.3% vs. 3.7 ± 5.4%, P = 0.036. There was no difference between perceived and measured weight for women (P = 0.500) however, males overestimated their weight (P = 0.004). There was a difference in appearance satisfaction pre and post body composition for females (pre = 4.4 ± 1.7, post = 4.2 ± 1.9, P = 0.026) but not for males (pre = 5.3 ± 1.5, post = 5.0 ± 1.8, P = 0.063). Overall, males had lower levels of SPA and higher levels of appearance satisfaction than females and knowledge of BF% negatively affected appearance satisfaction scores for females. Finally, both males and females underestimated BF% compared to DXA.