The effects of self-generated comparison targets, BMI, and social comparison tendencies on body image appraisal

Thin ideals in music television: A source of social comparison and body dissatisfaction

“…Along with a number of studies (Cattarin et al, 2000;Faith, Leone, & Allison, 1997;Heinberg & Thompson, 1992, 1995Posavac, Posavac, & Wiegel, 2001;Tiggemann & McGill, in press), we suggest that the process of social comparison may provide the mechanism by which exposure to media images induces negative effects. We reason that acute exposure to the thin ideal images in music videos will elicit appearance concerns and evoke comparison processing in vulnerable women.…”

Who is Beholding my Beauty? Thinness Ideals, Weight, and Women’s Responses to Appearance Evaluation

“…This is illustrated by studies conducted in multiple Western countries with female adolescents, college students, and adults; evidence from these studies consistently shows that appearance is more important for a woman's self-concept than for a man's (Muth and Cash 1997;Paxton and Phythian 1999), that women are more dissatisfied with their appearance than men are (Davison and McCabe 2005;Feingold and Mazzella 1998;Sondhaus et al 2001), and that concern about appearance evaluation affects self-esteem for women but not men (Davison and McCabe 2006;Paxton and Phythian 1999). Additionally, a tendency towards appearance social comparison, or comparing one's appearance to others, is associated with body dissatisfaction in studies of American and Australian college students (Faith et al 1997;Tiggemann and McGill 2004). Appearance may be particularly salient for young women in the U.S., where young characters are highly visible in the media.…”

“…Step women experience body dissatisfaction in situations where appearance is made salient (Faith et al 1997). In the experimental setting of the present study, appearance salience may have been invoked either through expecting another person's evaluation of one's appearance, or through expecting comparison of one's appearance to a similar peer.…”

“…For instance, thin ideal internalization, a construct well-validated in studies of American college women and defined by adherence to the belief that women should be thin (Heinberg et al 1995), is a likely contributor to how women respond to appearance-salient situations (Klaczynski et al 2004). Appearance itself, particularly being overweight, is also likely to influence how women respond to situations in which appearance is evaluated (Faith et al 1997).…”

The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A meta‐analytic review

“…The indexes of ®ve journals from 1991 through 1999 were also reviewed: Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention; International Journal of Eating Disorders; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; and Sex Roles. Further, we carefully perused the reference sections of articles on body image and media (Champion & Furnham, 1999;Crouch & Degelman, 1998;Cusumano & Thompson, 1997;Faith, Leone, & Allison, 1997), as well as relevant chapters , books (Cash & Pruzinsky, 1990;6 Thompson et al, 1999), and dissertations in progress (Strong, personal communication, August 25, 2000). This multifaceted search resulted in 140 studies that addressed various aspects of the relationship between mass media and body satisfaction, including methods to circumvent possible negative effects from the media .…”