The Effects of Print Media on Female Body Image

Mollie Farrell, Adair Kennedy, and Rami Kuseybi

Introduction • This study will explore

the effects that print media has on one’s perception of self and perception of the opposite sex

• “Body positive” ad campaigns

Background• Print advertisement was

the first promotional medium

• Scholars have been fascinated for years with the effects that print media have on society and the individual psyche.

• The communication culture of the United States reflects the type of advertisements that are put out.

Background• Society expects women to

be concerned with their appearance.

• Print media uses models that have idealized body shapes and appearances

• Popular magazines read by most women are known for showing unrealistic, doctored images of all women

Purpose• To find a correlation

between idealized body depictions and the negative effect it may have on females.

• To research the possibility that print media affects our expectations of the opposite sex.

Theoretical Framework

• Cultivation Theory • Social Cognitive

Theory • Social Comparison

Theory

Discussion of Theories

• Cultivation Theory- Gerbner • The more media one inhales, the more likely

they are to believe that what the see, hear, and read through various mediums of media. (Sherif, Sherif, & Nebergall, 1965).

• We hypothesized that the higher amount of print media viewed, the more likely the reader is to want to change her body

Discussion Of Theories• Social Cognitive Theory - Bandura • Certain external influences harness through one’s

cognitive process. These influences develop as a learned behavior or ideals. (Bandura, 1994)

• This relates to hypothesis two, where we are seeking to find a correlation between body positive images and one’s body perception.

• We want to see if body positive advertisement counteracts the cognitive, learned beliefs about thin beauty ideals.

Discussion of Theories • Social Comparison Theory- Festinger• This theory states that we are constantly

comparing ourselves to those around us. • This relates to all of our hypothesis and research

questions, as they all explore how one feels about their own appearance in comparison to what they are exposed to in print media.

Literature Review• Paul Schilder – began research in 1920’s• The Becoming of Bodies: Girls, Media Effects, and

Body Image (Coleman, 2008) • The Male Gaze was a term coined by Laura Melvin

in 1975

Literature Review• Advertised messages effect

view of brand and view of self.

• Women see attractive idealized images and evaluate themselves.

• Women are punished for not being beautiful, and yet stigmatized when they have low self-esteem or disordered eating

Literature Review

• Research conducted by Badmin, et al. (2002) found that within 235 adolescents, only the girls associated body dissatisfaction with the concept of self esteem.

• Few studies have been conducted on male eating disorders and body dysmorphia because men are far less likely to admit to such, considering them “female issues” (Badmin, et al., 2002).

Literature Review• “Body positive”

advertisements haven’t seen much popularity

• A study conducted by Steve Sohn and Seounmi Youn that surveyed college students found that the use of a thin model in advertising was not more effective than using an averaged-sized model.

Literature Review• Dove Real Beauty

Campaign • The Campaign is

diluted by its contradictory imperative to promote self-love and acceptance, while attempting to increase sales by promoting female consumption of products that encourage conformity to hegemonic beauty ideology (Johnston & Taylor, 2008).

Research Question 1 • RQ1: Does exposure to the

idealized body form in print media lead women to believe that what is portrayed is what men expect them to look like?

• IV: Exposure to idealized women in print media.

• DV: females' beliefs about males expectations regarding females' bodies.

Research Question 1• Conceptually speaking, the

idealized body form means to be extremely thin, with the emphasis placed on slim hips, backside, and thighs (Badmon, Furnham, & Sneade, 2002).

• Operationally, this will be measured with the Contour Drawing Rating Scale.

Research Question 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Research Question 2 • RQ2: Do women have

unrealistic expectations for the male body based on their exposure to idealized male forms in print media?

• IV: Exposure to idealized male bodies in print media.

• DV: Expectations for the male body.

Research Question 2• Conceptually defined, unrealistic expectation for

the male body is a V-shaped figure with an emphasis placed on large biceps, chest, and shoulders (Badmon, Furnham, & Sneade, 2002).

• ((Operationally, the expectation and idealized form can be defined by the research to be conducted, as there is not previous research on this topic.))

• Measured the unrealistic expectations females have on the male body form by using the male version of the Contour Drawing Rating Scale

Hypothesis 1• H1: A high consumption

of print media has a negative effect on how women perceive their own appearance.

• IV: The consumption of print advertisement.

• DV: Perception of physical appearance.

Hypothesis 1 • Print media is conceptually defined as any

media that spreads information in printed manner (Gulas & McKeage, 2000).

• The conceptual definition of perception of physical appearance is the evaluation of one’s body when exposed to images of idealized beauty standards (Frisby, 2004).

• This can be operationally measured with the use of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale-3, which is referred to as the SATAQ-3 (Thompson et al., 2003).

Hypothesis 2• H2: There is a correlation between exposure to

body positive images in print media and one’s perception of their own body.

• IV: The presence of body positive images in print media.

• DV: Perception of physical appearance.

Hypothesis 2 • “Body Positive” is conceptually defined as

counterhegemonic advertisement that contains realistic depictions of women and better represent the average woman in America (Johnston & Taylor, 2008).

• The operational definition of perception of physical appearance is the level of satisfaction that one has in their physical appearance.

Methodology • Conducted face-to-face questionnaire type

survey. • Handed out questionnaires throughout Queens

Campus so we could get an accurate sample of our population.

• Survey was made up of 30 Likert Scale questions that dealt with the effects of print media on perception and the 3 theories that went along with our research.

Methodology• At the end of the survey, we included a Contour Drawing Rating

Scale, which we found in our research. This scale helped analyze our participants’ view of their own body.

• Gave questionnaires out to people in our classes, the cafeteria, the library, the coffee shop, and throughout the Greek village.

• The sample we chose for our survey is a non-probability convenient sample of women who are either enrolled in or work at Queens University of Charlotte

• Gave out surveys to faculty working in the registrars office.

Findings

Pilot Study

• Queens University of Charlotte• 10 surveys • Minor changes to questionnaire

Sample Demographic and

Characteristics

Age of our Sample

Sample Demographic and Characteristics Body Shapes of Our Demographic

Sample Demographic and Characteristics

Perception of physical appearance after looking at print media

Statistical Test• Pearson r correlation

o Estimate the strength of relationshipo Determine direction of relationship

Data FindingsRQ 1 – “Does exposure to the idealized body form in print media lead women to believe that what is portrayed is what men expect them to look like?”

o Statistically significanto Negative correlationo Answer – “Women believe men expect females to look like the images of

idealized bodies portrayed in print media, regardless of how often those women are exposed to such images.”

RQ 2 – “Do women have unrealistic expectations for the male body based on their exposure to idealized male forms in print media?”

o Not statistically significanto Weak negative correlationo Answer – “Data does not support the idea that women have unrealistic

expectations for the male body based on their exposure to idealized male forms in print media.”

Data FindingsH1 – “A high consumption of print media has a negative effect on how women perceive their own appearance.”

o r = -.157; n = 100o Negative correlationo Not statistically significant (1-tailed, .060)o Did not support hypothesis

H2 – “There is a correlation between exposure to body positive advertisements in print media and one’s perception of their own body.”

o r = -.030; n = 100o Negative correlationo Not statistically significant (2-tailed, .771)o Did not support hypothesis

Sample Visual Correlation for H1Exposure to Print Media and Level of Body Confidence

Sample Visual Correlation for H2Body Positive Print Media’s Effect on Satisfaction of Appearance

DiscussionWhat do these findings mean in light of the theories?

Social Comparison Theory

• Social comparison theory related to our study by explaining the need we have to compare ourselves to what we see in print media.

Cultivation Theory • We were surprised to find that the cultivation

theory did not support any of our research except for RQ1. o Women believed that men were victim to cultivation theory. ((Whether

this is actually true for men or not, women agreed to statements such as “I think men have unrealistic expectations of women’s bodies based on images in print media.”))

o Across the board, the women in our study believed that men preferred the smaller shapes on the body contour scale.

Social Cognitive Theory

• The fact that H2 was not supported relates to Social Cognitive Theory.

• The data’s lack of a relationship between body positive images and perception of ones physical appearance suggest that such images cannot counteract the negative cognitive schemas described in the theory

Implications and

Conclusion

Limitations of the Study

-Lack of “high consumers”-Mean age of sample-Lack of diversity in sample-Print media perhaps no longer significant-Too many questions-Question placement-Directional questions proved to be problematic, whether positive or negative

Recommendations for Future Research

• Recommendation 1:o Control for higher print media consumption

• Recommendation 2:o Include other medium as a variable

• Recommendation 3:o Researching patterns of consumerismo How one will act in light of their learned beliefs on what is beautiful.

• Recommendation 4:o Lower number of questions