The Body Esteem Scale

Abstract

The Body-Esteem Scale (BES) is a widely utilized psychological instrument designed to measure an individual’s affective evaluation of various aspects of their own body. Unlike measures focusing solely on body dissatisfaction, the BES captures feelings ranging from strong negative to strong positive regarding 35 specific body parts and functions. Developed originally by Franzoi and Shields (1984), the scale is notable for its multidimensional structure, which differentiates significantly between factors relevant to males and females, reflecting fundamental sex differences in how individuals prioritize and evaluate their physical selves.

Keywords

Body Esteem, Body Image, Psychological Measurement, Psychological Scale, Body Dissatisfaction, Physical Attractiveness, Weight Concern, Factor Analysis

Authors

Stephen L. Franzoi, Suzanne A. Shields

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Body-Esteem Scale (BES) is to provide a comprehensive and nuanced measure of subjective feelings and attitudes towards one’s physical body. It moves beyond simple assessments of dissatisfaction or preoccupation by quantifying the degree of positive or negative emotional response a subject associates with 35 specific body components or functions, such as reflexes, waist, or muscular strength.

The scale is instrumental in research concerning body image disturbances, eating disorders, and self-concept studies. Crucially, the measure yields distinct subscale scores based on sex, allowing researchers to analyze specific areas of body concern—such as upper body strength for males versus weight management for females—which are often differentially salient due to gendered social pressures.

Construct

The BES measures the psychological construct of Body Esteem, which represents the affective or evaluative component of body image. It is theorized to be a multidimensional construct, meaning that feelings about one’s body are not monolithic but are composed of separate, related factors that reflect different domains of physical appraisal (e.g., appearance, functionality, and strength).

The scale employs a 5-point Likert-type rating system, asking respondents to rate their feelings about body components. This approach enables the quantification of self-evaluation across critical physical domains, offering a deeper understanding of the subject’s overall physical self-regard and potential areas of body conflict.

Validity

The initial validation work by Franzoi and Shields (1984), supplemented by subsequent research (Franzoi, 1994), provided strong evidence supporting the scale’s validity. Construct validity is supported by the consistent emergence of distinct, theoretically meaningful factors for male and female populations, confirming that the scale measures different dimensions of body esteem based on established sex differences in body preoccupation.

Further validation studies have demonstrated that scores on the BES correlate predictably with related measures of self-esteem and general psychological well-being, suggesting adequate convergent validity. The successful loading of items onto distinct factors also lends credence to the scale’s ability to measure the specific sub-constructs it purports to assess within each gender group.

Reliability

Evidence for the reliability of the Body-Esteem Scale has been established through measures of internal consistency and test-retest stability. The 1994 study by Franzoi affirmed the robust psychometric properties of the instrument. High internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) ensures that the items within each sex-specific subscale reliably measure the same underlying dimension of body esteem. This high reliability makes the BES a stable tool for both cross-sectional and longitudinal research.

Factor Analysis

The Body-Esteem Scale is defined by its sex-specific multidimensional structure, identified through factor analysis. This analysis consistently yielded three primary factors, two of which are distinct across genders:

• Factor 1: Attractiveness/Appearance (PA/SA). For males, this factor is termed Physical Attractiveness (PA), encompassing items like nose, lips, and chin. For females, this factor is designated Sexual Attractiveness (SA), covering items such as body scent, chest/breasts, and sex activities.
• Factor 2: Strength/Weight (UBS/WC). For males, this factor centers on physical capability and musculature, labeled Upper Body Strength (UBS) (e.g., biceps, arms, body build). For females, this factor focuses heavily on body size and shape management, labeled Weight Concern (WC) (e.g., appetite, waist, thighs, weight).
• Factor 3: Physical Condition (PC). This factor relates to health, energy level, agility, and overall physical functioning and is consistent (PC) for both males and females.

It is critical for researchers to acknowledge that these factors are not interchangeable between genders. The means derived from these subscales cannot be directly compared across sexes because the factor structure and the specific items comprising the subscales are different. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that two items load onto two separate factors for males (e.g., physical coordination loads on both UBS and PC, and figure or physique loads on both UBS and PC).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological Scale

Format: 35-item questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale. Scoring involves summing individual scores for items within a specific subscale (e.g., female sexual attractiveness is the sum of 13 specific items).

Language Available: Original English (widely adapted in research).

Population Group: General adolescent and adult populations.

Age Group: Typically college-aged individuals and older adults.

Population Details: Initial validation was conducted on a college population, demonstrating its suitability for young adults.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate how they feel about a specific body part or function of their own body using the following rating scale:

1. Have strong negative feelings
2. Have moderate negative feelings
3. Have no feeling one way or the other
4. Have moderate positive feelings
5. Have strong positive feelings

Keywords

Physical Attractiveness, Sexual Attractiveness, Upper Body Strength, Weight Concern, Physical Condition, Body Satisfaction, Self-Concept, Gender Differences in Evaluation

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content. (Original researcher affiliation information available at: http://www.yorku.ca/rokada/)

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The initial version of the Body-Esteem Scale was published in 1984. A subsequent validation paper was published in 1994. While the scale is frequently used for non-commercial academic research, users seeking official permissions for reproduction or commercial application should contact the journal publishers, Journal of Personality Assessment or Journal of Clinical Psychology, or the primary author, Stephen L. Franzoi.

Reference’s

• Franzoi, S.L. (1994). Further evidence of the reliability and validity of the body esteem scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50, 237-239.
• Franzoi, S.L. & Shields, S.A. (1984). The Body-Esteem Scale: Multidimensional structure and sex differences in a college population. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 173-178.

Items of the The Body-Esteem Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Factor Loading (see below)

Male Female

1. body scent _____ SA
2. appetite _____ PC WC
3. nose _____ PA SA
4. physical stamina _____ PC PC
5. reflexes _____ PC PC
6. lips _____ PA SA
7. muscular strength _____ UBS PC
8. waist _____ PC WC
9. energy level _____ PC PC
10. thighs _____ PC WC
11. ears _____ PA SA
12. biceps _____ UBS PC
13. chin _____ PA SA
14. body build _____ UBS WC
15. physical coordination _____ UBS‚ PC PC
16. buttocks _____ PA WC
17. agility _____ PC PC
18. width of shoulders _____ UBS
19. arms _____ UBS
20. chest or breasts _____ UBS SA
21. appearance of eyes _____ PA SA
22. cheeks/cheekbones _____ PA SA
23. hips _____ PA WC
24. legs _____ WC
25. figure or physique _____ UBS‚ PC WC
26. sex drive _____ UBS SA
27. feet _____ PA
28. sex organs _____ PA SA
29. appearance of stomach _____ PC WC
30. health _____ PC PC
31. sex activities _____ SA
32. body hair _____ SA
33. physical condition _____ PC PC
34. face _____ PA SA
35. weight _____ PC WC