What Do People Think of Male Steroid Users?: An Experimental Investigation 1

Anabolic steroids are an attractive and apparently effective class of drugs which builds muscle mass, strength, aggressiveness, and confidence. Given cultural norms for male physical attractiveness, psychosocial effects have been deemed important in understanding steroid use. As a result, the present study focused on the perceptions that others have of anabolic steroid users. A written description was given to subjects to read. After reading the person description, subjects rated the story protagonist on an 18‐item questionnaire. Differences among person descriptions on each item were examined. Analyses indicate that: a) subjects view the bodybuilding steroid‐user significantly more negatively than the diet conscious bodybuilder or an athletically active individual, and b) subjects view a cocaine‐using bodybuilder and a steroid‐using bodybuilder similarly. Implications of these findings are discussed.