Shame is a complex, self-conscious emotion that involves evaluations that one is negatively viewed by others (Gilbert, 1998; Gilbert, 2007; Lewis, 2003). Shame has been defined as involving two dimensions: an external dimension regarding how one believes others see and judge the self (e.g., as bad, inadequate, flawed); and an internal dimension in which these evaluations become internalized in the form of self-criticism (Gilbert, 2002; Lewis, 2003). These evaluations are highly distressing as they involve threatening perceptions that one stands at risk of being rejected or excluded. As such, shame activates defensive behavioural responses, such as concealment or avoidance and attempts to overcompensate (Gilbert, 1998). Research shows that shame plays a central role in a series of psychopathological difficulties, including depression (Kim, Thibodeau, & Jorgensen, 2011), anxiety (Matos, Pinto-Gouveia, & Gilbert, 2013) and body and eating related psychopathology (e.g., Duarte, Ferreira, & Pinto-Gouveia, 2016; Ferreira, Matos, Duarte, & Pinto-Gouveia, 2014; Goss & Allan, 2009; Pinto-Gouveia, Ferreira, & Duarte, 2014; Swan & Andrews, 2003). Body shame involves evaluations that one’s physical appearance (e.g., body shape, size, weight) may be the source of others’ negative view about oneself (Gilbert, 2002). These evaluations may lead to affective-defensive responses such as desires to hide/conceal the body or avoid social situations in which physical appearance may be exposed to others and evaluated by them (Gilbert, 2002; Duarte, Pinto-Gouveia, Ferreira, & Batista, 2015). These outcomes may however paradoxically increase shame, negative affect and have a negative impact in one’s life (Duarte et al., 2016).
Body image research has been mainly focused on women, but there is growing evidence that body image in men is also an important domain for self-evaluation that is associated with psychological adjustment problems and problematic eating behaviours (e.g., Cafri & Thompson, 2004; Cain, Epler, Steinley, & Sher, 2012; Dakanalis & Riva, 2013; Duarte & Pinto-Gouveia, 2017; Pila, Brunet, Crocker, Kowalski, Sabiston, 2016; Striegel-Moore et al., 2009; Thompson & Cafri, 2007). These studies support that both women and men may be similarly affected by evaluations that their physical appearance makes them inferior and may cause others to criticize or reject them. The development and examination of psychometric measures that allow the assessment of body shame in men is, thus, greatly needed to better understand the impact of this dimension in this population.
Existing measures of body shame have been used to assess the cognitive and emotion dimensions of body shame and are mainly derived from theoretical models focused on women’s body image. For instance, the body shame subscale of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996) measures the self-consciousness of appearance that is generated by the tendency to scrutinize one’s body as an object and compare it with sociocultural idealized images. The Experiences of Shame Scale (Andrews, Qian & Valentine, 2002) includes a subscale of body shame that measures, through single items, the cognitive and emotional aspects of body shame, as well as the behavioural dimension (e.g., avoidance and concealment). However, the psychometric properties and utility of these measures to assess body shame in samples of men were never systematically examined. The Weight and Body-related Shame and Guilt Scale (Conradt et al., 2007) was developed to assess shame about body shape and weight, and guilt about eating behaviour, physical activity and weight control behaviours. The validation study of this measure showed a similar factor structure between women and men. However, this scale was developed to be used in samples of individuals with excess weight or obesity and thus its use may not be generalizable to individuals from the general population with a wide range of weights. Duarte and colleagues (2015) developed the Body Image Shame Scale (BISS) to measure body shame and its internal and external affective and behavioural dimensions. The external dimension involves perceptions that one’s body image may the source of negative evaluations or criticism by others, which leads to increased distress or avoidance of contexts in which the individual is more exposed to such evaluations. The internal dimension involves negative self-evaluations and subsequent body image concealment. Studies show that body shame as measured by the BISS is associated with body image and eating difficulties in both adolescent girls (Duarte, Pinto-Gouveia, & Rodrigues, 2015) and adult women with and without eating disorders (Duarte, Pinto-Gouveia, & Ferreira, 2015).
The current study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the BISS in a sample of male college students and men from the general community.