Religion, Gender, and Body Satisfaction Among Emerging Adults

Body satisfaction is an important part of overall well-being. The effect that being religious has on the body satisfaction of young adults in the United States has not been studied in depth. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a look at various religious mechanisms and to describe the effect they have on body satisfaction. I find religion to increase body satisfaction through increased interaction with the divine, providing opportunities for affirming relationships with others, reorganizing priorities through increased importance of faith, through religious beliefs and practices about the body, and through network support and coherence. The effects of being religious vary by gender, with stronger positive coefficients for young women than for young men. This is suggested to be due to both an increased importance in body satisfaction for young women and increased religious salience for young women.