Where the most confident women in the world live: the results of the study will surprise you

A new study conducted by researchers from Durham University has identified the most and least confident women in the world. The survey involved 1186 respondents aged 18-80 from six countries.

Black Nigerian women top the list with the highest body confidence. At the other end of the scale are Western women, who are the least satisfied with their figure, MailOnline writes.

"We found that body esteem was relatively stable at all ages, and socio-cultural pressures were evident across all cultures. However, the extent to which this pressure was felt and where it came from differed across cultures," comments Louise Hanson, the study's leader.

Body image is a complex phenomenon that affects people of both genders around the world. However, until now, most studies have focused on young women from the Western part of the world. In their new study, the team sought to understand how body image differs between people from different cultures.

"We wanted to broaden the scope to include older adults and other cultures because these groups have historically been ignored," Hanson says.

A total of 1,186 women aged 18 to 80 from six countries – four Western countries (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), as well as China and Nigeria – were surveyed. They were asked about their own feelings of body esteem, as well as the pressures they felt around body image from family, peers, and the media.

The results showed that all three groups had relatively stable body esteem across ages. However, there were significant cultural differences.

Respondents from Western countries were found to be under significantly more pressure from the media to conform to ideals of thinness or fitness. Although this pressure decreased with age, even at the lowest level, the pressure they felt was still greater than for other ethnic groups.

Black Nigerian women, on the other hand, reported the highest body esteem, as well as much less media pressure on body image. Meanwhile, Chinese women reported the highest ongoing pressure from family and peers to portray their bodies, while media-related pressure was lower.

The researchers hope that the findings will spur further research on body image in different cultures.

"Based on our findings, we suggest that when designing interventions to improve body esteem, experts should consider all age groups, not just young women. In addition, there is a need for interventions adapted to cultural differences, such as increasing media literacy for Westerners, who reported the highest pressure in this area," added Ms. Hanson.

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