Idealized media images and adolescent body image: "comparing" boys and girls

Sociocultural theories of body image suggest that body dissatisfaction results from unrealistic societal beauty ideals, and one way of transmitting these ideals is through the mass media. The present research aimed to examine the effect of exposure to images of idealized beauty in the media on adolescent girls’ and boys’ body image. The participants (595 adolescents) viewed television commercials containing either images of the thin ideal for women, images of the muscular ideal for men, or non-appearance television commercials. Body dissatisfaction was measured before and after commercial viewing. It was found that exposure to idealized commercials led to increased body dissatisfaction for girls but not for boys. Idealized commercials led to increased negative mood and appearance comparison for girls and boys, although the effect on appearance comparison was stronger for girls. Further, participants high on appearance investment reported greater appearance comparison after viewing idealized commercials than those less strongly invested in their appearance. The results suggest the immediate impact of the media on body image is both stronger and more normative for girls than for boys, but that some boys may also be affected.     

The effect of viewing ultra-fit images on college women's body dissatisfaction

Modern ideals of female attractiveness include an extremely toned and fit appearance in addition to extreme thinness. Although viewing thin models has a negative effect on women's body image, research has not tested the effect of exposure to the ultra-fit physique separate from the thin-ideal. This randomized, posttest-only experiment tested the effects of the athletic aspect of the current ideal by exposing 138 undergraduate women to thin and athletic models, normal weight athletic models, or a control condition consisting of neutral objects. The study also tested the moderating effects of thin-ideal and athletic-ideal internalization. Exposure to thin ultra-fit models, but not normal weight ultra-fit models, produced an increase in body dissatisfaction and neither internalization variable moderated this effect. Findings suggest that interventions that focus on the benefits of fitness while challenging the desirability of thinness may offer promising results.     

The role of self-improvement and self-evaluation motives in social comparisons with idealised female bodies in the media

This study investigates the effect of social comparisons with media models on women's body image based on either self-evaluation or self-improvement motives. Ninety-eight women, for whom appearance was a relevant comparison dimension, viewed advertisements that did, or did not, feature idealised models, after being prompted to engage in self-evaluation or self-improvement comparisons. The results indicate that, when focusing on self-evaluation, comparisons with thin models are associated with higher body-focused anxiety than viewing no model advertisements. In contrast, when focusing on self-improvement, comparisons with thin models are not associated with higher body-focused anxiety than viewing no models. Furthermore, women's general tendency to engage in social comparisons moderated the effects of self-evaluative comparisons with models, so that women who did not habitually engage in social comparisons were most strongly affected. It is suggested that motive for social comparison may explain previous inconsistencies in the experimental exposure literature and warrants more careful attention in future research.     

Waif goodbye! Average-size female models promote positive body image and appeal to consumers

Despite consensus that exposure to media images of thin fashion models is associated with poor body image and disordered eating behaviours, few attempts have been made to enact change in the media. This study sought to investigate an effective alternative to current media imagery, by exploring the advertising effectiveness of average-size female fashion models, and their impact on the body image of both women and men. A sample of 171 women and 120 men were assigned to one of three advertisement conditions: no models, thin models and average-size models. Women and men rated average-size models as equally effective in advertisements as thin and no models. For women with average and high levels of internalisation of cultural beauty ideals, exposure to average-size female models was associated with a significantly more positive body image state in comparison to exposure to thin models and no models. For men reporting high levels of internalisation, exposure to average-size models was also associated with a more positive body image state in comparison to viewing thin models. These findings suggest that average-size female models can promote positive body image and appeal to consumers.     

Waif goodbye! Average-size female models promote positive body image and appeal to consumers

Despite consensus that exposure to media images of thin fashion models is associated with poor body image and disordered eating behaviours, few attempts have been made to enact change in the media. This study sought to investigate an effective alternative to current media imagery, by exploring the advertising effectiveness of average-size female fashion models, and their impact on the body image of both women and men. A sample of 171 women and 120 men were assigned to one of three advertisement conditions: no models, thin models and average-size models. Women and men rated average-size models as equally effective in advertisements as thin and no models. For women with average and high levels of internalisation of cultural beauty ideals, exposure to average-size female models was associated with a significantly more positive body image state in comparison to exposure to thin models and no models. For men reporting high levels of internalisation, exposure to average-size models was also associated with a more positive body image state in comparison to viewing thin models. These findings suggest that average-size female models can promote positive body image and appeal to consumers.     

Body region dissatisfaction predicts attention to body regions on other women

The proliferation of “idealized” (i.e., very thin and attractive) women in the media has contributed to increasing rates of body dissatisfaction among women. However, it remains relatively unknown how women attend to these images: does dissatisfaction predict greater or lesser attention to these body regions on others? Fifty healthy women (mean age = 21.8 years) viewed images of idealized and plus-size models; an eye-tracker recorded visual attention. Participants also completed measures of satisfaction for specific body regions, which were then used as predictors of visual attention to these regions on models. Consistent with an avoidance-type process, lower levels of satisfaction with the two regions of greatest reported concern (mid, lower torso) predicted less attention to these regions; greater satisfaction predicted more attention to these regions. While this visual attention bias may aid in preserving self-esteem when viewing idealized others, it may preclude the opportunity for comparisons that could improve self-esteem.     

Do These Norms Make Me Look Fat? The Effect of Exposure to Others’ Body Preferences on Personal Body Ideals

In this study we examined the influence of normative body ideals in the form of perceived peer preferences on personal body ideals and body dissatisfaction Participants (N = 146 female college students) were exposed to the purported preferences of peers representing either relatively thin or heavy body ideals. Along with the normative body ideal manipulation, the gender of the purported peers was manipulated. Participants then selected their ideal for their own body and body dissatisfaction was measured. Women selected a thinner personal body ideal in the thin norm condition than in the heavy norm condition. This effect was seen irrespective of the gender of the purported peers. Body dissatisfaction was not influenced by the manipulation. The malleability of body image and the influence of social factors on ideal body size are discussed.     

Holding fat stereotypes is associated with lower body dissatisfaction in normal weight Caucasian women who engage in body surveillance

This study examined the moderating effect of body surveillance on the relationship between fat stereotype endorsement and body dissatisfaction in normal weight women. Participants (N = 225) completed online measures of fat stereotyping, body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and internalized thin ideals. After accounting for thin ideals, body surveillance moderated the relationship between fat stereotypes and body dissatisfaction. Contrary to hypotheses, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted lower body dissatisfaction in women with higher body surveillance. Conversely, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted greater body dissatisfaction in women with lower body surveillance. Thus, endorsing fat stereotypes appears protective against body dissatisfaction in normal weight women who extensively engage in body surveillance. For women who hold fat stereotypes and report high body surveillance, we propose that downward appearance comparison may create a contrast between themselves and the people with overweight whom they denigrate, thus improving body dissatisfaction.     

Images of Thin and Plus-Size Models Produce Opposite Effects on Women’s Body Image,Body Dissatisfaction,and Anxiety

Mainstream media’s promotion of dangerously thin female images likely lowers self-image satisfaction and contributes to pathological body concerns and disordered eating among women. We tested upward and downward social-comparison effects on self-evaluations by exposing 145 Spanish women to images of thin (upward) or overweight (downward) models. We also tested whether explicitly asking or not asking participants to compare themselves with the models would moderate social comparison effects. Exposure to thin models deteriorated body image while increasing body dissatisfaction and anxiety. Conversely, exposure to overweight models improved body image and decreased body dissatisfaction but it did not affect anxiety. Whether participants were asked to compare themselves to the models explicitly or implicitly had no effect on the participants’ responses. Furthermore, pre-existing body image concerns were not associated with the pre-to-post exposure effects. We propose that increasing the representation of normal weight and overweight women in media advertisements could help to neutralize or at least reduce the negative impact of media’s practice to idealize thin and overly thin women as symbols of female beauty.

     

Gratitude buffers the adverse effect of viewing the thin ideal on body dissatisfaction

Gratitude has robust associations with multiple aspects of well-being. However, little research has explored whether the psychological benefits of gratitude extend to body image. We used a repeated measures experimental design to test whether a brief period of grateful reflection would buffer the adverse effect of exposure to thin-ideal media. Female undergraduates (N = 67) completed three sessions one week apart. The conditions were specifically designed to isolate (a) the effects of viewing thin models on body dissatisfaction and (b) the moderating effect of grateful contemplation. Results showed that body dissatisfaction scores were lower for women who engaged in a brief period of grateful contemplation before viewing photographs of thin models than for women who reflected upon life hassles before viewing the same photographs. The magnitude of this decrease depended on BMI. Gratitude offers an innovative direction for future research directed toward helping women to accept their bodies.     

Self-esteem threat combined with exposure to thin media images leads to body image compensatory self-enhancement

This study examined the effect of a self-esteem threat combined with exposure to thin images on body image (BI) satisfaction and investment. Female participants (N = 94) received a self-esteem threat consisting of false failure feedback or received false success feedback on an intellectual task allegedly highly predictive of academic and professional success. They then viewed media images featuring thin models or products. After viewing thin models, women who had received failure feedback declared themselves more satisfied about their appearance and less invested in it than did women who had received success feedback. These results suggest that exposure to the thin ideal may inspire women experiencing self-esteem threats to use appearance as an alternative source of worth, thus maintaining their global esteem through BI compensatory self-enhancement. Potential long-term implications of this strategy, such as a paradoxical increase in BI investment and the development of eating pathology, are discussed.     

The effect of viewing fitness imagery on body dissatisfaction: sex and physical activity differences

Exposure to cultural bodily ideals featuring thinness and muscularity can have deleterious effects on body satisfaction. The current study explores the effect of exposure to such imagery on body dissatisfaction and the influence of internalisation of cultural and athletic ideals. 188 (97 male) adults (18–25yrs; M = 20.97) were grouped according to a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed between-within subjects design (male/female; high/low physical activity; intervention/control). Participants were exposed to images of idealised physiques or neutral images. Internalisation-general, sex, physical activity levels, and Body Mass Index were associated with baseline levels of body dissatisfaction. Internalisation of cultural ideals appears to be an important factor for the prediction of body dissatisfaction. Exposure to idealised images resulted in increases in body dissatisfaction across all groups compared to controls. Neither sex nor physical activity levels buffer young adults from the negative effects of viewing images featuring idealised bodies.     

The effects of TV commercials using less thin models on young women's mood, body image and actual food intake

This study experimentally tested the effects of exposure to television commercials using less thin models on mood, body focused anxiety and food intake, as compared to the effects of commercials using thin models. In a naturalistic setting, 110 young women were exposed to a neutral movie, interrupted by two commercial breaks. The commercial breaks contained real commercials using either less thin (n = 32) or thin models (n = 39), or neutral commercials (n = 39). During watching television, participants could freely eat snack food. Further, their mood and body focused anxiety was assessed. ANOVAs revealed no effects on body focused anxiety, but women reported a more negative mood and ate less after exposure to commercials using less thin models than after exposure to commercials using thin models. These results imply that using less thin models in commercials explicitly referring to the thin ideal does not make women feel better.     

Culture and body image: Body perception and weight concern in young Asian and Caucasian British women

The comparatively lower prevalence of eating disorders among Asian and Afro-Caribbean than Caucasian women in the UK has often been attributed to cultural differences in pressures for slimness. However, there have been no attempts to evaluate cultural differences in ideals for female physique directly among women in the at risk age groups. In the present study, cultural influences on body image were evaluated by comparing the body size ideals, body image and dieting concerns in a sample of 274 young white and Asian British women. The results indicate that Asian women are less likely to describe themselves as too fat, were less dissatisfied with their body size, less likely to want to lose weight and less restrained. However, Asian women were slimmer than white women and, after controlling for the difference in body size, the effects were reduced. The hypothesis that any body satisfaction differences could be explained by differences in ideal body size between the two groups were not supported; Asian women favoured even slimmer ideal body sizes than white women. Alternative explanations in terms of cultural differences in evaluation of fatness are discussed.     

The effect of priming a thin ideal on the subsequent perception of conceptually related body image words

Our research examined the effects of thin ideal priming on the perception of body image words in participants without an eating disorder. Half of the participants were primed by viewing thin models, and half were primed with gender-neutral shoes. Subsequently, all participants (N = 56) completed a Stroop task for three categories of words: neutral (BOOKS), shoe (CLOGS), and body (THIGHS). Lastly, all participants completed a body dissatisfaction questionnaire. We predicted that body dissatisfaction scores would be correlated with the Stroop effect. We found a significant correlation between body dissatisfaction and the body effect of slower color naming times for the body related words compared to the neutral words. Our study demonstrates that body dissatisfaction and a brief priming with thin models results in subsequent differences in performing a Stroop task in a non clinical population of female participants.     

The hijab as a protective factor for body image and disordered eating: a replication in French Muslim women

We examined differences in body image and disordered eating between Muslim women who do and do not wear the hijab in France, a nation marked by religious-based sartorial censorship. In an online survey, 450 French Muslim women completed measures of hijab use, weight discrepancy, disordered eating, body image-related constructs, religiosity, perceived support from Allah, and perceived discrimination. Controlling for religiosity and support from Allah, women who wore the hijab reported significantly lower weight discrepancy, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, social physique anxiety, internalisation of the thin and muscular ideals, and pressure to attain ideals from peers and the media, though they also reported significantly higher perceived discrimination than those who did not wear the hijab. Further analyses showed that use of the hijab was significantly associated with weight discrepancy and disordered eating. Our results suggest that use of the hijab may offer a protective element for French Muslim women.     

Body size preferences and sociocultural influences on attitudes towards obesity among Moroccan Sahraoui women

The purpose of this investigation was to study body size preferences and to examine the influence of sociocultural factors on obesity among 249 Moroccan Sahraoui women. Participants rated their ideal body size and the size they thought to be “healthy,” using a figural scale consisting of nine images ranging from thin to obese. They also noted which particular sociocultural influences affected their body size ratings. The results indicated that women's rating of ideal body size (4.88) was significantly larger than their rating of healthy body size (4.33). The desire to lose weight was very low even among the majority of obese women, and educational level did not affect desire to lose weight. Women not satisfied with their body size were more likely to report trying to gain weight rather than to lose it. The major factors reported to influence body size ideal were mothers, men, and traditional clothing. It is an enormous challenge for the health institutions of Morocco to prevent obesity and its complications. Prevention programs should include teenagers and key family members.     

The Effects of Gender Stereotypic and Counter-Stereotypic Textbook Images on Science Performance

ABSTRACT

We investigated the effect of gender stereotypic and counter-stereotypic images on male and female high school students' science comprehension and anxiety. We predicted stereotypic images to induce stereotype threat in females and impair science performance. Counter-stereotypic images were predicted to alleviate threat and enhance female performance. Students read one of three chemistry lessons, each containing the same text, with photograph content varied according to stereotype condition. Participants then completed a comprehension test and anxiety measure. Results indicate that female students had higher comprehension after viewing counter-stereotypic images (female scientists) than after viewing stereotypic images (male scientists). Male students had higher comprehension after viewing stereotypic images than after viewing counter-stereotypic images. Implications for alleviating the gender gap in science achievement are discussed.     

GI Joe or Average Joe? The impact of average-size and muscular male fashion models on men's and women's body image and advertisement effectiveness

Increasing body size and shape diversity in media imagery may promote positive body image. While research has largely focused on female models and women's body image, men may also be affected by unrealistic images. We examined the impact of average-size and muscular male fashion models on men's and women's body image and perceived advertisement effectiveness. A sample of 330 men and 289 women viewed one of four advertisement conditions: no models, muscular, average-slim or average-large models. Men and women rated average-size models as equally effective in advertisements as muscular models. For men, exposure to average-size models was associated with more positive body image in comparison to viewing no models, but no difference was found in comparison to muscular models. Similar results were found for women. Internalisation of beauty ideals did not moderate these effects. These findings suggest that average-size male models can promote positive body image and appeal to consumers.     

Body images of patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and female control subjects: a comparison with male ideals of female attractiveness

Body images of female patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa were assessed against females without eating disorders and compared with male ideals of female attractiveness. A computer program was applied to examine body images of 62 patients with anorexia nervosa, 45 patients with bulimia nervosa, and 40 female and 39 male control subjects. Body size overestimation was most distinct in the two patient groups. Self-ideal discrepancy was highest in bulimia nervosa. Estimation of the society's ideal female body in all three female groups did not differ from men's perception of the most attractive female body. Congruence of ideals of female attractiveness in patients, female, and male control subjects and described differences between patients and female controls support the theory that body image disturbance is a problem of processing self-referential information regarding body image rather than a problem of processing body image related information per se.