Graduate Program

College Student Affairs

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2006

Thesis Director

James Wallace

Thesis Committee Member

Julie Dietz

Thesis Committee Member

Richard Cavanaugh

Abstract

The quantitative study examined the body image issues of fraternity men at a midsize Midwestern university and their level of concerned with the muscular physique of their bodies. The participants were all undergraduate fraternity men between the ages of 18 and 25. The sample population (N=256) was surveyed using the Drive for Muscularity scale (McCreary & Sasse, 2000) to answer the following research questions: 1) Do fraternity members desire a more muscular physique than the one they already have? 2) What percentage of fraternity members use supplements to enhance their body image? 3) Do fraternity members perceive the opposite sex would prefer them to be more muscular? 4) Do gay fraternity members, men that are sexually attracted to other men, perceive that other gay males would prefer them to be more muscular? 5) To what extent do fraternity men have a perceived muscular dysmophic disorder? Findings for the study suggest that a majority of fraternity men have a desire of a physique that is more muscular, a little over half of all participants used supplements, and more than half of the fraternity men feel that the opposite sex would prefer that they were more muscular. There was not enough data to draw conclusions about gay fraternity men and if they perceive that other gay males would prefer them to be more muscular. There were a vary degrees of muscular dysmorphic disorder that could not be readily determined.

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