Appearance-related commentary, body image, and self-esteem: Does the distress associated with the commentary matter?
Introduction
A variety of diverse factors have been found to be associated with body image disturbance, including biological (BMI), societal (media), intrapersonal (dispositions such as self-esteem), and interpersonal (peer and parents) sources of influence (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). In the area of interpersonal influences, specific sources that have received examination include peers, parents, romantic partners, and other important social contacts (coaches, teachers, etc.). Interpersonal factors may consist of such disparate variables as peer conversations regarding appearance, parental and peer modeling of body dissatisfaction, comparison of one's own body to that of significant others, and direct comments from various interpersonal sources regarding appearance (Keery, van den Berg, & Thompson, 2004; Wertheim, Paxton, & Blaney, 2004). With regard to the latter category of comments, a wealth of research suggests that this type of interpersonal feedback, especially in the form of “teasing,” is strongly associated with body image disturbance (Neumark-Stzainer & Haines, 2004; Thompson, Herbozo, Himes, & Yamamiya, 2005). “Teasing” may range from good natured verbal bantering to nasty and cruel comments (Thompson et al., 1999), yet research indicates that a generic rating of the frequency of receiving teasing comments is associated with higher levels of weight dissatisfaction and overall appearance dissatisfaction (Thompson et al., 2005).
Although there are a few exceptions, typically the assessment of appearance-based feedback has focused on the measurement of the frequency of specific comments (Thompson et al., 2005), rather than the distress produced by the comments (i.e., the effect). For instance, Thompson and Psaltis (1988) found that teasing frequency and effect were associated with body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance in a nonclinical sample of female college students. Cash and colleagues (Cash, 1995; Rieves & Cash, 1996) also investigated both aspects of teasing in the same type of sample. The nonclinical female college samples in their study reported high percentages of frequency of teasing from various sources (e.g., peers, friends, family) and a high level of distress associated with the teasing. Over 70% of the samples found the teasing experiences moderately upsetting or higher.
Overall, however, little work has focused on a comprehensive examination of the two dimensions of appearance feedback. In particular, because of limitations in measurement, studies have exclusively focused on negative commentary, typically labeled “teasing” whereas some appearance comments that naturally occur may be “positive.” We recently developed a scale that allows for the assessment of both frequency and effect aspects of positive and negative comments regarding appearance (Herbozo & Thompson, in press). The current study is designed to extend previous work in the area of appearance-based feedback by examining the frequency and effect dimensions of positive and negative comments.
Based on previous work, it was expected that both dimensions of negative commentary would be positively associated with concurrent levels of body image disturbance and low self-esteem. However, there is no previous data to inform a hypothesis regarding the associations between positive feedback, body image disturbance, and self-esteem. Conceivably, the experience of receiving positive feedback may be associated with a more positive body image and higher self-esteem. However, it is also possible that some individuals may find that being the recipient of positive feedback produces a negative feeling. For instance, for some individuals, such feedback may serve to heighten the feeling that they are being evaluated based on appearance (as opposed to other attributes), leading to a negative affect upon receiving a “positive” comment. Therefore, a hypothesis for this nascent area of research is not offered.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 246 undergraduate female students drawn from the subject pool at the University of South Florida. This sample consisted of ages 18–25 (M = 19.58, SD = 1.78). One hundred and thirty-five (55%) of the participants were Caucasian, 63 (26%) were African American, 22 (9%) were Hispanic, 12 (5%) were Asian-American, and 14 (6%) identified themselves as other. All participants received extra credit for a psychology course as compensation for their participation in the study. Only females
Results
The mean effect ratings for each VCOPAS subscale are as follows: Negative Weight and Shape = 3.6 (.76), Positive Weight and Shape = 2.3 (.82), and Positive General Appearance = 1.8 (.63). These means reflect the manner in which the participants experienced the comments. Higher means indicate that the comments of that subscale had a more negative impact on the participants. In contrast, lower means suggest that the particular set of comments had a more positive effect.
Correlations between the
Discussion
This study evaluated the contributions of four dimensions of appearance-related commentary (positive and negative appearance-based comments and the subjective rating of the negative effects of such statements on the individual) in explaining variance associated with several measures of body image and a single indicator of self-esteem. Correlational analyses suggested significant associations between the VCOPAS frequency and effect subscales, body image and self-esteem, but little relation to
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