“Making Muscle Junkies”: Investigating Traditional Masculine Ideology, Body Image Discrepancy, and the Pursuit of Muscularity in Adolescent Males

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the relationship between traditional masculine ideology, body image discrepancy, self-esteem, and the pursuit of muscularity in a sample of school going boys. Constructs were measured using the Traditional Masculine Ideology Scale, Lynch and Zellner’s Body Figure Drawings (1999), Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Drive for Muscularity Scale. Questionnaires were administered to 508 boys, from Grades 10, 11, and 12, at a public single-sex high school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Analysis revealed significant positive correlations between traditional masculine ideology, the pursuit for muscularity, and body image discrepancy. Indian school boys experienced body image discrepancy more severely than their Black and White counterparts in the sample. Further, there was a significant use of muscle supplements and steroids by school going boys.