Consumer culture is characterized by two prominent ideals: the 'body perfect' and the material 'good life'. Although the impact of these ideals has been investigated in separate research literatures, no previous research has examined whether materialism is linked to women's responses to thin-ideal media. Data from several studies confirm that the internalization of materialistic and body-ideal values is positively linked in women. After developing a prime for materialism (N = 50), we present an experimental examination (N = 155) of the effects of priming materialism on women's responses to thin-ideal media, using multiple outcome measures of state body dissatisfaction. Priming materialism affects women's body dissatisfaction after exposure to thin media models, but differently depending on the dimension of body image measured. The two main novel findings are that (1) priming materialism heightens the centrality of appearance to women's self-concept and (2) priming materialism influences the activation of body-related self-discrepancies (BRSDs), particularly for highly materialistic women. Exposure to materialistic media has a clear influence on women's body image, with trait materialism a further vulnerability factor for negative exposure effects in response to idealized, thin media models.

Cosmetic surgery is increasingly common, and the way it is advertised has raised concern (American Society of Plastic Surgeons [ASPS], 2004; British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons [BAAPS], 2008). Two experimental, between-participants studies examined the impact of cosmetic surgery advertising on body image and attitudes toward surgery. Study 1 examined the impact of different types of information in such advertising. Women (N = 161) viewed cosmetic surgery advertising containing either discount incentives, risk information, no additional information, or the control advertisements. Study 2 investigated the role of different imagery in cosmetic surgery advertising. Women (N = 151) viewed advertising containing images of models, clinics/their location, scalpels, or the control advertisements. Exposure to cosmetic surgery advertising led to increased dissatisfaction with weight (Study 1) and appearance (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, materialism moderated weight dissatisfaction such that highly materialistic women were more weight dissatisfied when exposed to cosmetic surgery advertising (Study 1) and to advertising containing images of clinics (Study 2). Perceived benefits of surgery were lower following exposure to cosmetic surgery advertising, whereas consideration of undergoing surgery was higher in women exposed to advertising containing risk information (Study 1). Perception of risks associated with cosmetic surgery varied according to the types of images included in the advertisements (Study 2). Overall, results suggest advertising for cosmetic surgery impacts women’s body image negatively, and information provided in such advertising impacts attitudes toward surgery differently.

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Cosmetic surgery media coverage has become common in recent years, with surgery featuring in advertising and reality TV. Concerns have been expressed by the American and British Associations for Plastic Surgery about the nature of this coverage, particularly with respect to the impact on adolescents (ASPS, 2004; BAAPS, 2004). This study was the first to investigate adolescent girls' responses to a cosmetic surgery TV show using an experimental design. Girls (N ϭ 99) aged 15 to 18 (M ϭ 16.6) years were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: a cosmetic surgery TV show, which (1) mentioned risks associated with surgery, (2) did not mention risks, or (3) to the control condition, a home makeover show. Results showed that exposure to cosmetic surgery shows resulted in girls reporting more dissatisfaction with their weight and appearance, but no changes were observed in attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. Girls' responses to cosmetic surgery shows varied according to their materialistic values and the extent that they derived self-worth from their appearance. Results suggest that cosmetic surgery reality TV can be damaging to adolescent girls' body image and that there is a need for research to consider factors that may affect how girls respond to such shows.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to analyse the prevalence of hospital visits and nature of injuries caused by intimate partner violence (IPV) against women and associated costs. Methods: All visits to Landspitali National University Hospital by women 18 years or older subjected to IPV, inflicted by a current or former male partner during 2005–2014, were observed and analysed. Information was obtained on number, date and time of visits and admissions, place of occurrence, patients’ and perpetrators’ age and relationship, number of perpetrators, medical diagnosis, aetiology, injury severity and cost. Results: The number of new hospital visits due to IPV was 1454, of which 92.6% were to the Emergency Department. The average age of the women was 34 years and 3.2% were admitted. According to the Injury Severity Score, physical injuries were mostly minor (92.4%) and mainly located on the upper body (64.3%) – namely, face, head and neck (37.1%) and upper limbs (27.2%). The majority of injuries were superficial (76.2%) and punching (29.7%), shoving (17.8%), kicking (10.5%) and attempted strangulation (9.8%) were the most common types of aetiology. Repeated new visits were 37.8%. The total cost for the hospital relating to IPV was €783,330. Conclusions: The total number of new visits resulting from IPV was 1454, and prevalence was 1.69 per 1000 women in the capital area over the research period. The majority of women were shown to have minor physical injuries of a superficial nature, located on the upper body. Although a low percentage of women were admitted, the associated cost for visits and admissions was substantial.