Setting the bar: divergent sociocultural norms for women's and men's ideal appearance in real-world contexts |
| |
Authors: | Buote Vanessa M Wilson Anne E Strahan Erin J Gazzola Stephanie B Papps Fiona |
| |
Institution: | aWilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;bWilfrid Laurier University Brantford, Brantford, Ontario, Canada;cUniversity of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada;dUniversity of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | Research suggests that exposure to sociocultural norms for idealized appearance can reduce both women's and men's body satisfaction. Despite comparable effects for both genders in the lab, in the “real-world” women's body satisfaction is chronically lower than men's. Real-world gender differences may arise from discrepancies in men's and women's everyday exposure to norms. Across eight studies using a variety of content analysis, survey, and experimental methods, we examine differences in sociocultural norms for ideal appearance pertaining to women and men in “daily life” contexts. We demonstrate that appearance norms encountered by women in daily life are more rigid, homogenous and pervasive than those for men, and that more messages implying the attainability of the ideal appearance are directed at women. Finally, experimental results show that homogeneous, rigid norms (like those typically encountered by women) are more harmful to body image than heterogeneous, flexible norms (like those typically encountered by men). |
| |
Keywords: | Gender Body dissatisfaction Body image Sociocultural norms Ideal appearance Media |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|