Task 2Bair, A., Steele, J. R., & Mills, J. S. (2014). Do these norms make me look fat? The effect of exposure to others’ body preferences on personal body ideals.

Question 1

Aims of the study

Answer 1

Examine whether womens body ideals are influenced by normative body ideals in the form of preferences of peers.

Examine whether gender of the source of the body preference has any different influence on personal body ideals .

Examine the influence of normative body ideals on women´s body dissatisfaction and whether high levels of body dissatisfaction could inhibit the influence of peer preference on women´s body ideals

Question 2

Hypothesis of the study

Answer 2

Women exposed to a thinner peer preference would choose ideal than those exposed to a hevair preference

male and female peer preferences influence personal body ideals

Personal body ideals of women with higher levels of body dissatisfaction are less susceptible to the influence of manipulated cues relating to body size

Question 3

Conduction of the study

Answer 3

Participants were assigned to three conditions

1. Thin ideal - shown a graphic representation of the number of previous votes that depicted a preference for a thin body.
2. Heavy condition- Preference for a heavy body type was impressed

3 control condition - no preference

The gender of the previous participant was manipulated as well

Participants should pick their ideal body size and indicate it on the graphic representation and their body satisfaction was assessed.

Question 4

Results of the study

Answer 4

1 Women exposed to a thinner peer preference had a thinner ideal than women exposed to heavier preferences

women in the control group picked a thin ideal ( such as in the thin condition ) which might be due to the thin current body ideal.

no effect of the gender of the normative body ideal provider was found - women are influenced both by man and woman

No impact on the personal body dissatisfaction was found(short-term)