Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 2014, 3, 348-354
Published Online October 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojmp
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmp.2014.35036
How to cite this paper: Vega, H.B., Chávez, J.F.A., Rodríguez-Villalobos, J.M., Ornelas, J.R.B. and López, H.L.M. (2014) Body
Image Anxiety on University Students (Differences between Men and Women). Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 3, 348-
354. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmp.2014.35036
Body Image Anxiety on University Students
(Differences between Men and Women)
Humberto Blanco Vega, Juan Francisco Aguirre Chávez,
Judith Margarita Rodríguez-Villalobos, José René Blanco Ornelas,
Héctor Luis Medina López
*
Faculty of Physical Culture Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México
Email:
*
Lópezhmedina@uach.mx
Received 10 August 2014; revised 10 September 2014; accepted 7 October 2014
Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Abstract
The aim of this research lies on comparing anxiety body image profiles between male and female
university students. A total sample of 2089 freshmen—902 women and 1187 men is from the dif-
ferent degrees offered by the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, with an average age of 18.23 ±
0.74 years. The approach used in the research is part of a quantitative design with a survey de-
scription. The differences found between men and women regarding their own perception of an-
xiety suggest that when designing any kind of intervention that aims at the decreasingly perceived
anxiety, the gender variable will have to be taken into account. Future investigations should re-
spond to these discoveries in larger samples.
Keywords
Students’ Beliefs, Gender Differences, Higher Education, Academic Performance, Students’
Characteristics
1. Introduction
The ideal thin weight and worries about weight come from a cultural idea that even nowadays is considered es-
thetic. It is just a fashion and it is not necessarily healthy or accessible, which may have negative consequences
that generate anxiety such as a great worry about weight and having good physical shape which can be shown as
body dissatisfaction that reveals how individuals value or despise their own bodies, and/or their body distortion,
which is the lack of precision in determining the body size [1].
The body image and the esthetic norms that actually rule the occidental world can affect the physiological
*
Corresponding author.