Self‐Face Perception in Men With Elevated Body Dysmorphic and Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms: Subjective Recognition Difficulty and Negative Appearance Evaluation.
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| Title: | Self‐Face Perception in Men With Elevated Body Dysmorphic and Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms: Subjective Recognition Difficulty and Negative Appearance Evaluation. |
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| Authors: | Portingale, Jade (AUTHOR), Krug, Isabel (AUTHOR), Butler, David (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | European Eating Disorders Review. Mar2026, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p486-499. 14p. |
| Subjects: | Recognition (Psychology), Southeast Asians, Body mass index, Questionnaires, Psychology of men, Body dysmorphic disorder, Body image, White people, Descriptive statistics, Age distribution, Personal beauty, Data analysis software, Self-perception, Face perception, Psychosocial factors |
| Geographic Terms: | Victoria |
| Abstract: | Objective: Self‐face perception, including recognising one's face as one's own and evaluating its appearance, is important to physical self‐concept. Yet how body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and muscle dysmorphia (MD) symptoms relate to these processes remains underexplored, particularly in men. This study examined how self‐face recognition accuracy and self‐face appearance evaluations are influenced by the severity of BDD and MD symptoms in men. Methods: Sixty‐eight male participants (Mage = 22.6 years, SD = 3.5; White and East/Southeast Asian) from the community performed a self‐face recognition task during which their faces were digitally morphed with an unfamiliar male face, providing an index of objective self‐face recognition sensitivity. Participants also completed measures of BDD and MD symptomatology, subjective self‐face recognition difficulty, and self‐face evaluations (attractiveness, adiposity, and dissatisfaction). Results: Higher levels of BDD symptoms and MD‐related appearance intolerance symptoms were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty and more negative self‐face evaluations (lower attractiveness, greater dissatisfaction). Neither symptom dimension predicted objective self‐face recognition sensitivity or perceived facial adiposity. Conclusion: These findings reveal a theoretically informative dissociation: men with higher levels of BDD and MD symptoms experience greater subjective self‐recognition difficulties and negatively biased facial appearance evaluations despite intact objective self‐recognition performance. This pattern suggests that self‐face disturbances in BDD and MD may reflect cognitive‐affective biases rather than perceptual abnormalities, at least at non‐clinical severity levels. Future research in clinical samples is needed to determine whether perceptual deficits emerge at higher symptom severity and establish causality. Highlights: Higher levels of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptoms were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty and lower perceived facial attractiveness in men.Higher levels of muscle dysmorphia (MD) symptoms, specifically appearance intolerance, were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty, lower perceived facial attractiveness, and greater head dissatisfaction in men.BDD and MD symptoms were unrelated to objective self‐face recognition sensitivity, suggesting cognitive‐affective rather than perceptual mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of European Eating Disorders Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 191298317 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Self‐Face Perception in Men With Elevated Body Dysmorphic and Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms: Subjective Recognition Difficulty and Negative Appearance Evaluation. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Portingale%2C+Jade%22">Portingale, Jade</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Krug%2C+Isabel%22">Krug, Isabel</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Butler%2C+David%22">Butler, David</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22European+Eating+Disorders+Review%22">European Eating Disorders Review</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p486-499. 14p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Recognition+%28Psychology%29%22">Recognition (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Southeast+Asians%22">Southeast Asians</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Body+mass+index%22">Body mass index</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+men%22">Psychology of men</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Body+dysmorphic+disorder%22">Body dysmorphic disorder</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Body+image%22">Body image</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22White+people%22">White people</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Age+distribution%22">Age distribution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personal+beauty%22">Personal beauty</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self-perception%22">Self-perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Face+perception%22">Face perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychosocial+factors%22">Psychosocial factors</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Victoria%22">Victoria</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Objective: Self‐face perception, including recognising one's face as one's own and evaluating its appearance, is important to physical self‐concept. Yet how body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and muscle dysmorphia (MD) symptoms relate to these processes remains underexplored, particularly in men. This study examined how self‐face recognition accuracy and self‐face appearance evaluations are influenced by the severity of BDD and MD symptoms in men. Methods: Sixty‐eight male participants (Mage = 22.6 years, SD = 3.5; White and East/Southeast Asian) from the community performed a self‐face recognition task during which their faces were digitally morphed with an unfamiliar male face, providing an index of objective self‐face recognition sensitivity. Participants also completed measures of BDD and MD symptomatology, subjective self‐face recognition difficulty, and self‐face evaluations (attractiveness, adiposity, and dissatisfaction). Results: Higher levels of BDD symptoms and MD‐related appearance intolerance symptoms were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty and more negative self‐face evaluations (lower attractiveness, greater dissatisfaction). Neither symptom dimension predicted objective self‐face recognition sensitivity or perceived facial adiposity. Conclusion: These findings reveal a theoretically informative dissociation: men with higher levels of BDD and MD symptoms experience greater subjective self‐recognition difficulties and negatively biased facial appearance evaluations despite intact objective self‐recognition performance. This pattern suggests that self‐face disturbances in BDD and MD may reflect cognitive‐affective biases rather than perceptual abnormalities, at least at non‐clinical severity levels. Future research in clinical samples is needed to determine whether perceptual deficits emerge at higher symptom severity and establish causality. Highlights: Higher levels of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptoms were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty and lower perceived facial attractiveness in men.Higher levels of muscle dysmorphia (MD) symptoms, specifically appearance intolerance, were associated with greater subjective self‐face recognition difficulty, lower perceived facial attractiveness, and greater head dissatisfaction in men.BDD and MD symptoms were unrelated to objective self‐face recognition sensitivity, suggesting cognitive‐affective rather than perceptual mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of European Eating Disorders Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1002/erv.70039 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 14 StartPage: 486 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Recognition (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Southeast Asians Type: general – SubjectFull: Body mass index Type: general – SubjectFull: Questionnaires Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychology of men Type: general – SubjectFull: Body dysmorphic disorder Type: general – SubjectFull: Body image Type: general – SubjectFull: White people Type: general – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Age distribution Type: general – SubjectFull: Personal beauty Type: general – SubjectFull: Data analysis software Type: general – SubjectFull: Self-perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Face perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychosocial factors Type: general – SubjectFull: Victoria Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Self‐Face Perception in Men With Elevated Body Dysmorphic and Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms: Subjective Recognition Difficulty and Negative Appearance Evaluation. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Portingale, Jade – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Krug, Isabel – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Butler, David IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10724133 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 34 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: European Eating Disorders Review Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
