Poor relationship with father linked to symptoms of muscle dysmorphia aggravated by narcissism

for that neither Freud expected. Recent research has shown that the relationship we have with our father can impact on different sectors of our lives, not just on the Oedipus complex or the famous “daddy issues”. Men who have a bad relationship with their fathers can have some reflections of this in their fitness life.

Doesn't seem like the two things are intertwined, does it? But they are interconnected, yes. And the information was published in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences.

As per the article, a bad relationship with the father can lead the man to develop muscle dysmorphia indirectly. This is because it taps into a vulnerable narcissism in men.

In case you are not familiar with the term, muscle dysmorphia is nothing more than a specific and excessive concern with the size of the muscles. The condition is also known as bigorexia or vigorexia.

Your father, your muscles and your narcissism

This, until then, was an area not studied by psychologists. The researchers hypothesized that a poor relationship with the father could lead to a supposed increase in muscle dysmorphia symptoms. This is because the lack of a male role model during growth could lead to impaired self-esteem.

"Muscle dysmorphia is a growing health problem in today's society, with serious health consequences," said study author Professor Sebastian S. Sandgreen of the University of Stavanger in Norway. "We need more research to better understand this condition in order to effectively prevent and treat its symptoms in the future."

According to the professor, exploring the associations between personality characteristics, such as narcissism, and the relationship between parents and children is a step in this direction.

How was the study that linked the bonds between father and son and fitness life done?

The researchers recruited 503 men between the ages of 18 and 78 for the study using non-probabilistic sampling. From there, they made a filter, removing from the study all those who had a history of a mental health disorder.

Among those who remained, those who disagreed with phrases such as “my father is important to me” or “my father helped me to learn new things” were more likely to agree with statements such as “I need praise from others to be sure of myself”. Thus, they correlated with muscle dysmorphia, via vulnerable narcissism.

An addendum: Vulnerable narcissism is linked to a sense of self esteemand more fragile self-worth, as opposed to grandiose narcissism, which speaks more about an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy with others.

This doesn't mean that one thing necessarily leads to another; it's a possibility. Not to say that all gym-focused people have a bad rapport and vice versa. More studies are still needed.

“Guys should be aware of their relationship to weightlifting and their reasons for training,” Sandgren said. “There is support available [for cases of dysmorphia].”

Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.