Mass Media and Self-Esteem, Body Image, and Eating Disorder Tendencies

Abstract

This study examines whether the level of exposure to mass media is related to self-esteem, body image, and eating disorder tendencies in a nonexperimental setting based on Festinger's social comparison theory. A convenience sample of 114 female college students participated in this study. Significant positive relationships between exposure to fashion or beauty magazines and (a) overall appearance dissatisfaction and (b) eating disorder tendencies were found. No relationship resulted from television exposure. In addition, risk of eating disorder tendencies was associated with (a) low self-esteem, (b) body dissatisfaction, and (c) overall appearance dissatisfaction.

How Important are Media Characters to You?: The Effects of Media Images on Body Concern

“…Kim and Lennon (2007) found significant positive relationships between women who were exposed to fashion and beauty magazines and body dissatisfaction and eating disorder tendencies. In a similar vein, Thornton and Maurice (1999) found that women exposed to an idealized thin physique expressed decreased self-esteem, insecurity, depression, and other negative effects.…”

“…Researchers who examined the effects of media exposure to the ideal physique found decreased body satisfaction (Harper & Tiggerman, 2008;Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2009;Lin & Kulik, 2002), weight-related appearance anxiety (Harper & Tiggerman, 2008), decreased self-esteem (Clay, Vignoles, & Dittmar, 2005), increased mood disturbance (Wegner, Hartman, & Geist, 2000), and increased eating disorder tendencies (e.g., Kim & Lennon, 2007).…”

“…A sample of only female participants was chosen because a large amount of body-image related research has emphasized the damaging effect of thin-idealized images in media on women (Bessenoff, 2006;Groesz et al, 2002) and college women's negative body concerns are well-addressed in several previous research (e.g., Heron & Smyth, 2013;Kim & Lennon, 2007;Thompson, 1990). A survey was conducted at a major Midwestern university in the U.S.…”

“…In relation to the effects of mass media on body concerns, a number of studies have examined body dissatisfaction, eating disorder tendencies, and other negative influences (Bessenoff, 2006;Kim & Lennon, 2007; McLean, Paxton, & Wertheim, 2013;Mills, Polivy, & Tiggermann, 2002). Kim and Lennon (2007) found significant positive relationships between women who were exposed to fashion and beauty magazines and body dissatisfaction and eating disorder tendencies.…”

Pós-feminismo, misoginia online e a despolitização do privado

“…Embora as utilizadoras da Net saibam da falta de autenticidade das imagens, não deixam de se sentir influenciadas pelos padrões normativos que tendem a associar a feminilidade a um corpo esbelto, ginasticado e jovem (Paraskeva et al, 2015;McKenney & Bigler, 2016). Nalguns casos, as expectativas frustradas sobre os seus corpos pode redundar em trolling, feito pelas próprias mulheres, contra web-celebridades cujos corpos ostentam os padrões idealizados de beleza (Kim & Lennon, 2007). Na sua explicação do termo 'name and shame' (nomear e envergonhar), Jacob Rowbottom (2013) aponta três objectivos desse tipo de acção.…”