The past studies have shown the negative effects media can have by being deceitful; I then wanted to explore the effects on individuals if exposed to the truth about media regarding body image. Researchers Haas, Pawlow, Pettibone, and Segrist (2012) conducted a study to find whether there would be an advantage to exposing women to the truth about enhancements made to model’s images in the media, as well as regarding facts about the average woman’s figure. Specifically, they wanted to see if exposing women to the truth about model’s enhancements in media images, and the truth about average woman’s figure would reduce body dissatisfaction for women. They hypothesized after being exposed to thin women in media, the women viewing the images would
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They hypothesized older women would be less likely than younger women to compare themselves with fashion models as well as comparing to models would be inverse of body satisfaction. For this study, 281 women aged 30 to 80 completed a Body-Image Questionnaire (BIQ) to measure appearance self-discrepancy which asked participants to rate the extent they believe they look like their ideal 10 personal attributes on a four-point scale. They then rated the personal importance of each characteristic to their attractiveness using another four-point scale. BIQ composite scores were calculated for discrepancy by importance for each of the 10 attributes. Participants were also given a Body-Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS), a five-point Likert scale, to rate their satisfaction with each of the either personal characteristics. Participants also rated on a five-point scale how frequently they compared themselves to fashion models on personal characteristics such as height, weight, shape, face, and attractiveness (Comparison to Models Scale). Standard measures were used to collect demographic information, as well as age identification. Results revealed participants perceived little discrepancy between their ideal and actual psychical appearance, suggesting they felt their body resembled their ideal closely. Participants also believed the 10 attributes were somewhat important to achieving their ideal appearance. Specifically, participants felt the most discrepancy between their ideal and actual self for weight and body proportions and least between height and skin complexion; and perceived weight, body proportions as most
They hypothesized older women would be less likely than younger women to compare themselves with fashion models as well as comparing to models would be inverse of body satisfaction. For this study, 281 women aged 30 to 80 completed a Body-Image Questionnaire (BIQ) to measure appearance self-discrepancy which asked participants to rate the extent they believe they look like their ideal 10 personal attributes on a four-point scale. They then rated the personal importance of each characteristic to their attractiveness using another four-point scale. BIQ composite scores were calculated for discrepancy by importance for each of the 10 attributes. Participants were also given a Body-Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS), a five-point Likert scale, to rate their satisfaction with each of the either personal characteristics. Participants also rated on a five-point scale how frequently they compared themselves to fashion models on personal characteristics such as height, weight, shape, face, and attractiveness (Comparison to Models Scale). Standard measures were used to collect demographic information, as well as age identification. Results revealed participants perceived little discrepancy between their ideal and actual psychical appearance, suggesting they felt their body resembled their ideal closely. Participants also believed the 10 attributes were somewhat important to achieving their ideal appearance. Specifically, participants felt the most discrepancy between their ideal and actual self for weight and body proportions and least between height and skin complexion; and perceived weight, body proportions as most