In recent years, there has been a worldwide increase in the extent of overweight and obesity as well as other eating disorders, especially among youths. Alongside genetic and biological factors that can explain some aspects of these phenomena and the psychological outcomes associated with them, researchers attributed an important role to social and cultural factors, including the mass media. This study examined the relationship between media exposure and early adolescents’ body image. It applied social comparison theory to the study of favorite television characters, an original extension of past research on general social comparison processes. Specifically, the parasocial relationships and motivations for self-comparison with the characters were examined. Based on a survey among 391 seventh and eighth graders, the study found that media exposure negatively predicted body image both directly and through a mediation process involving parasocial relationships with favorite characters, motivations to self-compare, and engagement in social comparison with them. Further, social comparison with favorite characters was found to positively predict an actual/ideal body shape discrepancy which negatively predicted body image. The findings are discussed in light of theory, developmental considerations associated with this unique age group, past research, and educational and policy implications.

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Purpose This study aims to examine the role of involvement in saving money (ISM) to better understand children’s saving behavior and allow a deeper understanding of financial literacy processes among children. The emphasis on ISM is based on previous studies indicating the central role of involvement variables in information processing among young people. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on one-on-one interviews among 103 first-grade children. The interviews explored the relationship between the child’s ISM and substantial finance-related outcomes (attitudes toward saving money, intention to save money and saving behavior) and factors that might explain the child’s ISM (access to money, perceived importance of parental and peer attitudes toward saving money and actual parental and peer attitudes toward saving money). Findings Children with a high level of ISM expressed more positive attitudes toward saving, as well as more positive behavior with regard to saving. With respect to the factors that might explain the child’s level of ISM, two out of the three variables, namely, the perceived importance of parental and peer attitudes toward saving money and the child’s access to money, played a significant role in determining the child’s level of ISM. Originality/value This initial study demonstrates the importance of the involvement variable in the context of financial literacy and the need to investigate the child’s perceptions of, and motivation for, saving, with a focus on the child’s viewpoint.

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Considering the alarming worldwide increases in eating disorders among adolescents, thought to be linked with body image, this study uses social cognitive theory as a framework to combine the examination of adolescent body image with the topic of mediated characters. The study places a new focus in this realm on favorite television characters, extending past research on general social comparison tendencies or comparisons with unfamiliar mediated models. A survey of 756 students in Grades 7-8 and 10-11 identified their favorite same-gender television characters as well as the adolescents' body image and social comparison with the characters. The survey was accompanied by a content analysis of the favorite characters and their body sizes. Adolescents' favorite television characters were mostly identified as thin or average in body size. The thinner the characters, the more adolescents self-compared with them. The discrepancy between the adolescents' body size and that of their favorite characters significantly and negatively predicted adolescents' body image both directly and indirectly through its relationship with social comparison with the character. The study finds that television characters are important references for adolescents and may serve as targets for social comparison in the context of body image.