Brief research reportWomen's exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions
Introduction
Body image is not strictly a stable trait, but is also a variable state influenced by specific contextual events (Cash, 2002a, Cash, 2002b), such as exposure to media images and messages. Researchers have found that in the United Sates, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman (e.g., Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995), with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life (Tiggemann, 2002). The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin. However, an idealization of thinness is positively correlated with body image dissatisfaction (Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, & Stein, 1994), which is often accompanied by social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002).
According to Groesz, Levine, and Murnen's (2002) meta-analysis, women are significantly more body dissatisfied after viewing thin-and-beautiful media images versus average-size, oversize, or nonbody images. At least two factors account for varying body image responses to media exposure: (1) level of internalization of the media-promoted thin-ideal (Cattarin, Thompson, Thomas, & Williams, 2000; Halliwell & Dittmar, 2004; Tiggemann & McGill, 2004), and (2) social comparison processes (Heinberg & Thompson, 1992; Tiggemann & McGill, 2004). These variables may be viewed within the broader construct of “appearance schematicity,” or one's cognitive structures vis-à-vis one's physical appearance, which organize and influence the processing of self-relevant information (Cash, 2002b, Tiggemann, 2002). Thompson developed the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire to measure women's media-ideal internalization and comparison (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). High-internalization (HI) women are especially likely to use high profile persons (e.g., media images) as upward comparison targets (Heinberg & Thompson, 1992) and feel inferior for not meeting social “norms” of attractiveness.
Media literacy interventions involving critical analyses of contents of the media messages have been advocated to prevent internalization and social comparison processes (Levine & Piran, 2004). In an experiment by Posavac, Posavac, and Weigel (2001), women received two types of psychoeducational, media-literacy information. The “Artificial Beauty” condition argued that media images of females are inappropriate “standards” because their flawless looks are created by various techniques, including make-up and air-brushing. The “Genetic Realities” condition argued that genetics influence body weight/shape and that most women are biologically predisposed to be heavier than women in the media. Results indicated that exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images increased women's weight concerns. Providing either or both psychoeducational conditions comparably prevented the effect.
Although the present study was modeled after Posavac et al. (2001), certain changes were made. First, they excluded body-satisfied women; we did not. Second, they used a trait measure of weight concern as their dependent measure, but we used a state measure that taps a range of current body image evaluations and feelings. Whereas the two variables are quite likely related, a state measure is more appropriate to capture an immediate effect of media exposure (Cash, 2002a). Third, because the male narrator in their videotaped materials explicitly urged the audience not to compare themselves to media images, it is uncertain whether it was substantive content of the message that was effective or an instructional demand. Thus, we adapted message content without the explicit demand, using an audiotaped presentation by a male narrator. In both studies, he was identified as a psychologist and expert on the topic.
Investigating specific procedures to reduce thin-ideal internalization, Stice, Chase, Stormer, and Appel (2001) used an intervention based on dissonance theory. This framework maintains that when people have inconsistent cognitions, they experience psychological discomfort and are motivated to change their cognitions to restore consistency. Females who had internalized the thin-ideal were asked to voluntarily take a stance against thin-ideals by discussing ways to help adolescent girls avoid internalization. Post-test data revealed a resultant decrease in both thin-ideal internalization and body image dissatisfaction.
The two aforementioned studies were the bases for this experiment. We also examined a potentially important moderator variable—the disposition for media-ideal internalization and social comparison. We hypothesized that: (1) without the psychoeducational, media-literacy information described above, women's state body image experiences would be negatively affected by thin-and-beautiful media image exposure (Groesz et al., 2002); (2) giving the psychoeducational, media-literacy information would reduce these media-exposure effects; (3) having individuals construct arguments against thin-ideal based on the media-literacy information would also reduce the effects; (4) adding this dissonance-induction technique to the provision of the psychoeducational information would have a greater effect than the information alone. In all conditions, only those with a stronger disposition for internalization and social comparison were expected to be significantly affected by the experimental manipulations.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 123 White female students at Old Dominion University. They were between 18 and 29 years old (M = 21.4, SD = 2.86) and volunteers for the study in exchange for extra credit in psychology courses. White women were studied given that the model slides only depicted White women, who may be less relevant social comparison standards for other ethnic groups. Participants’ average body mass index (BMI = kg/m2) was 24.1 (SD = 5.72).
Materials
Experimental stimuli were 20 pictures of young White fashion
Results
Preliminary data analyses revealed no significant age or BMI differences across conditions. LI group scores on SATAQ-3 Internalization were comparable across conditions, as were the HI group scores.
Planned contrasts tested the study's four hypotheses within a 2 (high versus low internalization) × 4 (conditions) general linear model analysis of variance. We examined post-experimental differences as a function of condition and internalization level. Because multiple contrasts were carried out that
Discussion
The study's results indicate that even a 5 min exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images results in a more negative body image state than does exposure to images of neutral objects, particularly among young women with high media-ideal internalization levels and social comparison tendencies. The adverse effect of the media exposure was significantly reduced among high-internalization women when they were given media-literacy information and either asked to recall and write down the information
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