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Does Size Matter? The Impact of Body Perfect Ideals in the Media - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Does Size Matter? The Impact of Body Perfect Ideals in the Media Helga Dittmar Dublin, 13th April 2010 Why worry? Media models body size versus reality Gap between body ideal actual body Exposure unavoidable (3,000+ ads a

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Dublin, 13th April 2010

Does Size Matter?

The Impact of ‘Body Perfect’ Ideals in the Media

Helga Dittmar

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Why worry?

Media models’ body size versus reality

  • Gap between body ideal  actual body
  • Exposure unavoidable (3,000+ ads a day)
  • Media models construct “reality” ≠ real
  • Unhealthy and abnormal body ideal
  • Biologically inappropriate
  • Artificial
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Healthy and unhealthy

37 31 25 18 36 30 24 17 35 29 23 16 34 28 22 15 33 27 21 14 32 26 20

19

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Obese Overweight Normal Underweight

Weight relative to height Body Mass Index (BMI)

Average woman Media model

BMI

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Body Image & Well-Being

Body dissatisfaction

Physical Health

Unhealthy body-shaping behaviours

  • Extreme dieting, disordered

eating

  • Cosmetic surgery
  • Abuse of medication & drugs
  • Extreme exercising

Mental Health

Negative affect, clinical disorders

  • Negative self-evaluation
  • Depression
  • Eating disorders
  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder
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Meta analyses

15 experiments

Body dissatisfaction: d = -.43

(Blond, Body Image, 2008)

49 experiments, 28 corr. studies

Body dissatisfaction: d = -.28 Eating behaviors: d = -.30

(Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, Psych Bull, 2008)

10 experiments, 15 corr. studies

Negative body image: d = -.22exp; d = -.19corr

(Barlett, Vowels, & Saucier, JSCP, 2008)

25 experiments

Body dissatisfaction: d = -.31

(Groesz, Murnen, & Levine, IJED, 2002)

Men Women

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The big picture

  • 0.45

Women (2005) Women (2008) Men (2008) Men (2008) Body Dissatisfaction Eating

No harm Negative Body Image Positive Body Image Effect size

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State of the art?

  • Plenty of evidence that ‘body perfect’

exposure makes individuals feel bad about their bodies

  • Negative exposure effects may be stronger

in adolescents than adults

  • What about children?
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Media Exposure Model

  • Psychological Mechanism (mediator)
  • Self-Discrepancy Theory (Higgins, 1987)
  • Gaps between actual and ideal self as cause of

negative affect

  • Chronic self-beliefs vs. acute activation*
  • Specific SDs related to ‘body perfect’ ideal
  • Activation of ideal-body SDs leads to

negative body-focused affect (body dissatisfaction)

*Dittmar & Halliwell, 2005, 2008

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Process Model

‘Body Perfect’ Ideals Activation

  • f ideal-body

self-discrepancies Body-focused Negative affect Media Exposure Outcome Mediator

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Experiment 1

  • Dolls embody female ‘body perfect’ ideal
  • Exposure experiment with images of dolls
  • 5-8-year-old girls
  • First exposure experiment with such

young girls Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive (2006) Developmental Psych

  • Does exposure to images of dolls cause

actual-ideal body-size SDs?

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Experiment 1

  • Girls heard story about “Mira”
  • Picture book featuring images of
  • Thin dolls (Barbie) OR
  • Average-size dolls (Emme) OR
  • No dolls (control baseline)
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Picture book with thin doll

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Picture book average-size doll

Taken from Dittmar (2007), image reproduced with kind permission of Tonner Inc. & Emme Model Agency
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Picture book without doll

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Experiment 1

  • Girls heard story about “Mira”
  • Picture book featuring images of
  • Thin dolls (Barbie) OR
  • Average-size dolls (Emme) OR
  • No dolls (control baseline)
  • After exposure, measures of
  • Actual body size
  • Ideal body size
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Actual vs. Ideal Body

4 3 4 – 3 = 1

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Body-size discrepancy

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 Neutral Emme Barbie

5 years 6 years

Girls’ actual-ideal body-size discrepancy significantly higher after thin dolls than

  • ther images

7 year-olds no effect

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Process Model in Adults

  • Cover story. Advertising effectiveness
  • Stimuli. Sets of advertisements identical in

background, product, slogan, except

  • Presence of idealised media model
  • OR absence of model (control)
  • Measures
  • (a) Self-Discrepancy Index (SDI)

Dittmar et al., 1996, Acta Psych; Halliwell & Dittmar, 2006, PSPB

(b) Body-Focused Negative Affect (BFNA)

adaptation of PASTAS, cf. Dittmar, 2008, Book

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Ad with thin model*

*research

supported by ESRC, see Dittmar & Halliwell (2005)

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Ad without model (control)

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Experiment 2

  • Exposure to ultra-thin models 

significantly stronger BFNA (β = .21; p < .05)

Exposure to ultra-thin models Body-focused Negative affect

Dittmar & Halliwell, 2007, APS

.21*

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Experiment 2

  • Exposure to ultra-thin models 

significantly stronger BFNA (β = .21; p < .05)

  • Body-related self-discrepancy activation

mediates this link (reduced to β = .09; ns)

  • Full mediation

Exposure to ultra-thin models Activation

  • f weight-related

self-discrepancies Body-focused Negative affect

Dittmar & Halliwell, 2007, APS

.30* .52***

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Ad with muscular model

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Ad without model (control)

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Experiment 3

  • Exposure to muscular models 

significantly stronger BFNA (β = .27; p < .05)

  • Ideal-body self-discrepancy activation fully

mediates this link (β = .14; ns)

  • Exposure to

muscular models Activation of muscularity-related self-discrepancies Body-focused Negative affect

Dittmar, Phillips, & Halliwell (in preparation), Study 3

.36*** .39**

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Process Model

  • Model applicable to both women & men
  • Good support for process (full mediation)
  • Individual differences in vulnerability

‘Body Perfect’ Ideals Activation

  • f ideal-body

self-discrepancies Body-focused Negative affect Media Exposure Outcome Mediator

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New Media & Adolescence

  • Magazine advertisements (typically studied)
  • Media consumption changed
  • Music videos*
  • Computer games**
  • Teenage drama TV***
  • Exposure to ‘Body Perfect’ Ideals causes

greater body dissatisfaction

  • Important addition: Direct effect on eating

behaviour

*Bell, Lawton, & Dittmar (2007), Dittmar, Barker, & Bond (2010) **Dittmar, Bond, Moorehouse, & Rees (2010) ***Stonebridge & Dittmar (2010)

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Do we need ‘perfect’ models?

  • Advertisers claim “thin models sell”
  • Evidence?
  • Our research = first systematic studies

to examine claim

  • Experiments assessed advertising

effectiveness

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Advertising effectiveness

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Thin models Average models

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Advertising effectiveness

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Thin models Average models

Average-size models = Thin models True for different products

personal care make-up diet foods

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Therefore…

  • Perceived advertising effectiveness not

compromised by average-size models

  • No need for advertisers to use thin models
  • Average-size models no negative

impact on body image (Dittmar & Howard, 2004)

  • Use alternative models!
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Don’t need thin models to sell moisturiser

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What can we do?

  • Intervention (e.g., in schools)
  • Critical media analysis
  • Increase body confidence
  • Other sources of self-worth
  • Advertising and media policy
  • Use of models with an average body size
  • Diversity of body shapes
  • Kitemark airbrushed models (clear labels)
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Publications

. Bell, B. T., Lawson, R., & Dittmar, H. (2007). The impact of thin models in music videos on adolescent girls’ body

  • dissatisfaction. Body Image, 4, 137-145.

Dittmar, H. (2005). Vulnerability Factors and Processes Linking Sociocultural Pressures and Body Dissatisfaction: An Introduction to the Second Special Issue on Body Image. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 1081-1087. Dittmar, H. (2008). Consumer culture, identity, and well-being: The search for the ‘good life’ and ‘body perfect’. European Monographs in Social Psychology (Series editor: Rupert Brown). London: Psychology Press. Dittmar, H. (2009). Do ‘Body Perfect’ Ideals in the Media have a Negative Impact on Body Image and Behaviors? Factors and Processes Related to Self and Identity. Editorial note for Special Issue on Media, Body Image and Eating Behaviors, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Dittmar, H. Barker, L. & Bond, R. (2010) . Who is taking the rap? The impact of body ideals and Rap and Indie music videos on adolescent boys’ body dissatisfaction. Paper presented at Appearance Matters, Bristol, June. Dittmar, H., Bond, R., & Moorehouse, A., & Rees, J. (2010). Computer games increase adolescent boys’ body

  • dissatisfaction. Manuscript in preparation.

Dittmar, H. & Halliwell, E. (2005). The role of self-beliefs in women’s responses to idealised media images. ESRC report at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre. Dittmar, H., Halliwell, E., & Ive, S. (2006). Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5-8- year-old girls. Developmental Psychology, 42, 283-292. Dittmar, H. & Howard, S. (2004a). Ideal-body internalization and social comparison tendency as moderators of thin media models’ impact on women’s body- focused anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 768-791. Dittmar, H. & Howard, S. (2004b). Professional hazards? The impact of model’s body size on advertising effectiveness and women’s body-focused anxiety in professions that do and do not emphasize the cultural ideal of thinness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 1-33. Grabe, S., Ward, L. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational

  • studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 460-476.

Groesz, L. M., Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2002). The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 1-16. Grogan, S. (2007). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge. Halliwell, E., Dittmar, H., & Orsborn, A. (2007). The effects of exposure to muscular male models amongst men: Exploring the moderating role of gym use and exercise motivation. Body Image, 4, 278-287. Halliwell, E. & Dittmar, H. (2004). Does size matter? The impact of model’s body size on advertising effectiveness and women’s body-focused anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 105-132. Special issue on Media and Body Image. Halliwell, E., Dittmar, H. & Howe, J. (2005). The impact of ideal media images on advertising effectiveness and body-focused anxiety in women with an eating disorder history. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 406-413. Halliwell, E. & Dittmar, H. (2005). The role of self-improvement and self-evaluation motives in social comparisons with idealised female bodies in the media. Body Image, 2, 249-261. Stonebridge, J. & Dittmar, H. (2010). The impact of realistic and fictional teenage TV drama on adolescents body image and eating. Unpublished final year dissertation, University of Sussex.

E-mail: h.e.dittmar@sussex.ac.uk

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Thank you!