Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement, and Intervention, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany.
BMC Psychol. 2017 Jun 15;5(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s40359-017-0189-9.
Muscle dysmorphia (MD) is a relatively young diagnosis referring to the desire for a high degree in lean muscle mass, while simultaneously believing that one is insufficiently muscular, mostly found in men. It goes along with a risk for social withdrawal to maintain rigid exercise and dietary regimen. The aim of the current study was thus, to explore differences in men with and without a risk for muscle dysmorphia regarding their desire for social interaction. Furthermore, we investigated potential effects of individual social comparison tendencies (the tendency to compare oneself with persons who are perceived to be superior or inferior to oneself on a certain dimension) and of one's own body schema on the desire for social interaction.
One hundred physically active, college aged Austrian men were recruited via social media and flyers at fitness centers and the sports department of the University of Vienna. Participants were randomly assigned to a priming condition evoking their own body schema or a control condition and had to state their desire for social interaction with male or female stimulus persons of high or average attractiveness. We conducted a 2 (group of participant; men with vs. without a risk for MD) × 2 (priming condition; priming vs. non-priming) × 2 (attractiveness of stimulus person; highly attractive vs. less attractive) experimental design with different social comparison tendencies as covariates.
Men with a risk for muscle dysmorphia showed lesser desire for social interaction than men without this risk, which can be seen as a risk factor for psychopathological outcomes. Generally, men with and without a risk for muscle dysmorphia did not differ with regard to their preferences for attractive stimulus persons as subjects for social interaction. We confirmed the notion that a tendency for downward social comparisons goes along with a diminished desire for social interaction.
This study showed that men with a risk for muscle dysmorphia appeared to be at higher risk for social withdrawal and that this is associated with social comparison tendencies. Future investigations on clinical populations are needed, for this population is highly prone to social isolation and negative outcomes related to it.
肌肉变形障碍（MD）是一种相对较新的诊断，指的是对高度发达的肌肉量的渴望，同时又认为自己肌肉不够发达，主要发生在男性身上。它伴随着社交退缩的风险，以保持严格的锻炼和饮食方案。因此，本研究的目的是探讨有无肌肉变形障碍风险的男性在社交互动欲望方面的差异。此外，我们还研究了个体社会比较倾向（在某一维度上与自己认为比自己优越或不如自己的人进行比较的倾向）和自身身体图式对社交互动欲望的潜在影响。
通过社交媒体和健身中心及维也纳大学体育系的传单，招募了 100 名活跃的大学生奥地利男性。参与者被随机分配到一个唤起自身身体图式的启动条件或一个控制条件，并必须说明他们对具有高度或平均吸引力的男性或女性刺激者的社交互动欲望。我们进行了一个 2（参与者群体；有 MD 风险的男性与无 MD 风险的男性）×2（启动条件；启动与非启动）×2（刺激者吸引力；高吸引力与低吸引力）的实验设计，同时考虑了不同的社会比较倾向作为协变量。
有肌肉变形障碍风险的男性表现出比没有这种风险的男性更少的社交互动欲望，这可以看作是心理病理结果的一个风险因素。一般来说，有和没有肌肉变形障碍风险的男性在对有吸引力的刺激者作为社交互动对象的偏好上没有差异。我们证实了这样一种观点，即向下的社会比较倾向与社交互动欲望的降低有关。
这项研究表明，有肌肉变形障碍风险的男性似乎更有可能出现社交退缩，而这与社会比较倾向有关。需要对临床人群进行进一步的研究，因为这个人群非常容易出现社交孤立和与之相关的负面结果。
