Muscle Dysmorphia and Eating Disorders: Comparison on Self-Esteem and Personality Traits

Abstract

Even though muscle dysmorphia (MD) is classified as a body dysmorphic disorder, it shares similarities with eating disorders (ED). The aim of the present study was to explore similarities between men with MD, women with ED, and a control group of men with body related preoccupations, regarding self-esteem, body esteem, and personality traits. Analyses revealed that clinical groups reported lower body esteem, more perfectionism and narcissism than the control group; only the ED group showed a significantly lower selfesteem than the control group. Also, men with MD showed higher self-esteem and body-esteem, as well as a higher level of narcissistic grandiosity than women with ED. Even though, we cannot exclude that gender differences could partly explain these findings, the present results suggested that a preserved self-esteem and a heightened narcissistic grandiosity tend to characterize MD.