A Systematic Review of Body Image and Related Psychological Concepts: Does Ethnicity Matter?

Abstract

Body image is defined as one’s own attitudes toward own body, and it is one of the current topics examined in the literature. The aim of this study is to evaluate and systematically review studies about the relationship between ethnicity and body image. A total of 795 studies were found in the initial literature search through EBSCO, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, PsycARTICLES, and DergiPark. Full-text studies written in English and Turkish from 2010 to 2021 were included in the study. During the screening period, studies were excluded that were not in article format, were not relevant to the study focus, used a qualitative method, and showed no importance to the ethnic differences across cultures. After the screening period, 12 studies were selected and reported through PRISMA criteria. Results revealed that 6 studies showed that people from collectivistic cultures showed higher body dissatisfaction; 3 studies showed that people from individualistic cultures showed higher body dissatisfaction; 1 study compared only collectivistic cultures; 1 study did not show conclusive differences toward one culture and 1 study did not find any ethnic differences. General direction of the studies indicated that people from collectivistic cultures have higher body dissatisfaction. Moreover, overall findings suggested that females have more body dissatisfaction than males. However, in Asian cultures males have poorer body images than males from Western cultures. In addition, ethnic differences in body image are influenced by peer-relationship.

Keywords

• body image
• body dissatisfaction
• ethnic groups
• systematic review
• culture