Well-being of Chinese gay men in Hong Kong: Study of body image, self-objectification and internalized homophobia

The scientific literature has increasingly noted the distress associated with body dissatisfaction in adult gay men and research indicated that gay male adults are more at risk for developing body image dissatisfaction than heterosexual male population. Various studies of body image dissatisfaction have been connected to mental health issue and negative psychological well-being and this issue warrants attention in Hong Kong as little was known for the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese gay men. The purpose of this study is to provide information on a fundamental aspect of self-concept and self-esteem of gay men living in Hong Kong: factors related to body image, by examining the relationship between body image and psychological well being of gay men as they relate to objectification theory and internalized homophobia. A total of 102 Hong Kong Chinese self-identified adult gay men who completed the self-report measures of body image, self-objectification, internalized homophobia and psychological well-being were examined in the study. The findings revealed that body image dissatisfaction has a negative impact on psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese gay men, particularly, gay men with body image dissatisfaction are associated with lower self-esteem, more psychological symptoms, higher psychological distress, and higher level of internalized homophobia. Similarly, high level of internalized homophobia is significantly associated with lower self-esteem and more psychological symptoms among Hong Kong Chinese gay men. Moreover, body image dissatisfaction significantly predicted lower self-esteem and poorer psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese gay men. However, present study showed insignificant findings between body image dissatisfaction and self-objectification as they relate to psychological well-being among Hong Kong sample. Additional findings, limitations, and future directions are also discussed.