Department of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi-110024
This paper was presented at the European Congress of Psychology in Oslo, Norway, 7–1.1 July 2009
Past research has highlighted the role of media for portraying thinning standards of beauty and causing body dissatisfaction among young women. The present research experimentally investigates the effect of the thin ideal, as portrayed in the media, on body dissatisfaction and negative affect in fenlales. 96 undergraduate female students were randomly assigned to two groups that were shown and asked to rate the attractiveness of thin idealized images of women (experimental group) or pens (control group). After viewing the images, participants were required to complete the Adapted Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction with Body Parts Scale (Stice, Maxfield & Wells, 2003) and PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1991). Participants were briefly interviewed about their conceptions of beauty. Age, BMI and the number of stimulus presentations were matched. Results showed no significant differences between the two groups, as assessed by t-tests, in body dissatisfaction and negative affect (or any of its sub dimensions, fear, hostility, guilt or sadness). Content analysis of interview responses revealed that participants described a beautiful woman as having "inner beauty/mind" than "being slender". Contrary to popular research, it may be concluded that not all young women are affected by media exposure. Body dissatisfaction and preference for thinness are affected by socio-cultural and personal factors.
Body dissatisfaction, negative affect, media exposure, thin ideal
