Psychometric properties of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) in French women and men

• The French SATAQ-4 is useful for assessing the internalization of appearance ideals.
• Among women the original 5-factor structure was replicated.
• Among men social pressure for thinness versus muscularity formed different factors.
• Reliability and convergent validity with body image and eating concerns were good.

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4), a measure of internalization of societal appearance ideals, in French men and women. French college students completed a translation of the 22-item SATAQ-4 and measures of body image and eating concerns. Exploratory analyses among women (N = 207) indicated a 20-item scale with the original five factors: Internalization: Thin/Low Body Fat, Internalization: Muscular/Athletic, Pressures: Family, Pressures: Media, Pressures: Peers. This structure was confirmed among a second sample of women (N = 227). The SATAQ-4 scores revealed excellent reliability and convergent validity with body image and eating concern scores. A slightly modified factor structure emerged in men, with excellent reliability. Among men, the SATAQ-4 subscales were consistently associated with eating, and shape and weight concerns, although less consistently with general measures of body image. The French SATAQ-4 is a useful measure of internalization of appearance ideals.