Body-part compatibility effects are modulated by the tendency for women to experience negative social comparative emotions and the body-type of the model

Abstract

Although exposure to physique-salient media images of women’s bodies has been consistently linked with negative psychological consequences, little is known about the cognitive processes that lead to these negative effects. The present study employed a novel adaptation of a computerized response time (RT) task to (i) assess implicit cognitive processing when exposed to the body of another individual, and (ii) examine individual differences in social comparative emotions that may influence the cognitive processing of human bodies. Adult females with low (n = 44) or high (n = 23) tendencies for comparative emotions completed a task in which they executed responses to coloured targets presented on the hands or feet of images of ultra-thin, average-size, and above average-size female models. Although the colour of the target is the only relevant target feature, it is typically found that the to-be-ignored location of the target on the body of the model influences RTs such that RTs are shorter when the target is on a body-part that is compatible with the responding limb (e.g., hand response when target was on hand) than on a body-part that is incompatible with the responding limb (e.g., hand response when target was on foot). Findings from the present study revealed that the magnitude of the body-part compatibility effect (i.e., the index of the cognitive processing of the model) was modulated by tendencies for affective body-related comparisons. Specifically, women who were prone to experiencing social comparative emotions demonstrated stronger and more consistent body-part compatibility effects across models. Therefore, women with higher social comparison tendencies have heightened processing of bodies at a neurocognitive level and may be at higher risk of the negative outcomes linked with physique-salient media exposure.

EmojiGrid: A 2D Pictorial Scale for the Assessment of Food Elicited Emotions

“…These facial features represent a minimal set needed to express the range of emotions over the Affect Grid. To avoid potential biases in ratings due to the emotional connotation of colors ( Clarke and Costall, 2008 ; Suk and Irtel, 2010 ), we adopted a monochromatic (yellow) color scheme in the design of the EmojiGrid. Users place a check mark at the location in the grid that corresponds to the emoji (facial expression) that best represents their affective state (feelings) after perceiving a certain food or beverage.…”

Barbie’s new look: Exploring cognitive body representation among female children and adolescents

“…Previous research has focused on such self-schema constructs to measure core beliefs about the importance of appearance, as well as appearance discrepancies between self-perceived ideal and actual selves [26–30]. More recent research has focused on the self-schema of the body (the “body schema”) to further understand the cognitive processing of body-related information, and the implications of such implicit processes for one’s body image [31]. For the purpose of the present study, body schema is defined as an internal, cognitive representation of the human body which not only enables one to know where their own body is in space, but becomes activated during the observation of another human body form (see Peelen & Downing, 2007 [32] for a review of the neural structures involved in the processing of observed bodies) [31–35].…”

“…More recent research has focused on the self-schema of the body (the “body schema”) to further understand the cognitive processing of body-related information, and the implications of such implicit processes for one’s body image [31]. For the purpose of the present study, body schema is defined as an internal, cognitive representation of the human body which not only enables one to know where their own body is in space, but becomes activated during the observation of another human body form (see Peelen & Downing, 2007 [32] for a review of the neural structures involved in the processing of observed bodies) [31–35]. The body schema is thought to provide information that allows individuals to perceive and act in their sensory and social environment [36].…”

“…In support of the notion that the body-part compatibility effect indexes body-schema activation and the self-other body matching mechanisms that may be involved in social comparisons, the presence and magnitude of the effect has been shown to be determined by the species and posture of the model in the image [35,49], the tendency for the observer to engage in social comparison [31], and the age and gender of the observer and model [50]. While most of the body-part compatibility work to date has focused on adult participants, Pacione et al [50] asked male and female children and adolescents to complete a body-part compatibility effect task when viewing images of 7, 11, and 15 years old males [50].…”

“…Specifically, the body schema develops based on the sensory information provided by the moving body and socially formed images of the body (e.g., peer interactions, family interactions, magazine and television exposure) [28,36]. As a result, the body-part compatibility effect may not emerge for every viewed body for people of every age and, as mentioned, may be influenced by the individuals’ tendency to engage in social comparison as well as the characteristics of the body that is observed [31,50]. For example, in their recent investigation, Pila et al [31] utilized the body-part compatibility task to test the automatic and involuntary nature of appearance-based social comparisons among young adult women (18–25 years old) during exposure to physique-salient media images–female models with ideal, average or above average body sizes wearing bikinis [31].…”