Week 4-Body Image and Mental Health Flashcards
What is Body Image?
-A subjective picture of one’s own physical appearance.
-Established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others.
What are 2 constructs about body image to consider?
- Body image evaluation: one’s evaluative thoughts and beliefs about their physical appearance.
- Body image investment: behaviours aiming at managing or enhancing the way one looks.
Why is Body Image Important? (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006; Swami & Furnham, 2008)
Body dissatisfaction is related to harmful behaviour:
-Binge eating
-Unhealthy weight control behaviour
-Smoking (men)
Lower uptake of healthy/preventative behaviour:
-Lower levels of physical activity
-Lower fruit and vegetable intake
-Breast self-examination
Body Image and Gender: What is it like among females?
-Higher tendency of body image dissatisfaction (Fallon, Harris and Johnson, 2014).
-Starts in childhood, around 6 – 7 years (Dohnt and Tiggemann, 2004, 2005).
-Linked with a desire for thinness (Swami et al., 2010).
What did Hargreaves and Tiggemann (2006) investigate regarding male body image taboo?
- Qualitative study which aimed to examine adolescent males regarding body image investment and body image evaluation
- Some males care but pretend they don’t
- Generally wanted to be muscular but reported other issues e.g., acne
- Taboo? i.e., appearing feminine or gay if talking about these issues
What did McCabe and Ricciardelli (2004) find about body image and gender?
- Strong similarities in levels of body dissatisfaction of male and female children.
- During adolescence, boys are about equally divided between wanting to lose weight and increasing weight.
- In adulthood, men evidence a stronger desire to lose weight as they get older.
What did Furnham, Badmin & Sneade (2002) find about body image and gender?
- Both males and females are dissatisfied with their bodies. However, direction is different
- Men – 37% wanted to be heavier vs 43% wanted to be thinner
- Women – only 8% wanted to be heavier
- Seems this problem is evident in both genders but each gender shows different concerns
Define Representations (Hall, 1997)
“Representations are images, descriptions, explanations and frames for understanding what the world is and why and how it works in particular ways.” (in this case it acts as a comparison showing whether we do or do not look like certain individuals).
Define a Reflectionist Approach
Media functions as a mirror of reality, it should reflect what is real e.g., news reports
Define a Constructionist Approach
Media serve as a reconstruction of certain elements of reality in order to represent them and give them a meaning e.g., cover magazines
Why do media representations matter? (Foucault, 1991)
-Representation = Power (the more you see something, you more you see it as the standard).
-BINARY OPPOSITIONS: one pole designed as dominant against which the other one is defined (e.g., skinny good, overweight bad)
-STEREOTYPES: reducing opposed identities to simplified, exaggerated traits e.g., lazy, pathetic, ugly etc.,
What did Eggbert and Belcher (2012) find about the correlation between reality television and body image?
- 472 young adults
- Exposure to RTV and body dissatisfaction
measured - Higher exposure to RTV shows associated
with body dissatisfaction
What did Tiggemann and Slater (2013) find about the correlation between internet use and body image?
- 95.9% of 1087 girls aged 12-14 had access to the Internet in their home.
- Time spent on the Internet associated with
internalization of the thin ideal, body
surveillance, and drive for thinness.
Define Appearance Exposure
Time spent on specific websites with appearance-focused content.
What did Meier and Gray (2014) find about the correlation between Facebook and Appearance Exposure?
- 103 middle and high school females
- APPEARANCE EXPOSURE SCORE: activities related to use of FB photo applications (e.g. tagging) relative to total FB use (e.g. taking a quiz).
- Appearance exposure, but not overall FB usage, significantly correlated with weight
dissatisfaction
What are some challenges in Correlational Research?
➢ Time spent on a medium doesn’t tell us anything on what people see
➢ Correlation isn’t causation
➢ How can we find out what type of content is influential? (could do an experimental study which could compare an image with a body or without/edited photo or unedited photo, and give participants a Body Satisfaction Questionnaire to fill following this to see if these images have an impact)
What did Grabe, Ward and Hyde (2008) find when conducting a meta-analysis on ad exposure?
- 77 studies, 141 effect sizes
- Effect size = -.28 – Small to moderate effect
- Viewing adverts featuring thin models
makes women feel more dissatisfied with
their bodies
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997): What is Objectification?
“Sexual objectification occurs whenever a woman’s body, body parts, or sexual functions are separated out from her person, reduced to the status of mere instruments, or regarded as if they were capable of representing her. In other words, when objectified, women are treated
as bodies – and in particular, as bodies that exist for the use and pleasure of others.”
- Occurs outside of the objectified person’s control.
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997): How does objectification affect body image?
- View self through objectifying lens (Internalization)
- Third-person perspective
- Looks become part of your own sense of self
- Habitual monitoring of the way you look
(Body surveillance) - Strategy to anticipate how you will be viewed and treated by others
- Can be a state (i.e. temporary) or a trait (across situations)
What did John Berger (1972) say about Objectification, media and women?
“You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for you own pleasure.”
I.e., it is a double-edged sword: made to feel anxious about looking perfect, but then made to feel guilty if you look good
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997): Where does objectification take place?
- Within interpersonal and social encounters
- Media that shows objectifying interpersonal and social encounters (e.g., snog, marry, avoid)
- Media that spotlight bodies and body parts (implicit sexual gaze) (happens with both genders!)
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory: What is the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale? (McKinley & Hyde, 1996)
- Originally developed for women, but reliability studies indicate it can be acceptable for men too (.79).
- 3 subscales: body surveillance, body shame, and beliefs about body control
- Each subscale has 8-items and is scored on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7)
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory: What did Karsay et al. (2020) find about Self-objectification in women?
Aim: to the association between mass media use, self-objectification, and positive body image
Population: Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and South Korean boys and girls (N = 1,983; Mean Age = 14.41, SD = 1.08)
Measures: different kind of media, self-objectification, positive body image
-Facebook is negatively associated with self-objectification
-Instagram is positively associated with self-objectification but also positive body image too (both for men but negatively associated with body image for women)
-Music videos are negatively associated with positive body image (for women)
-Pornography is positively associated with self-objectification (for men) but negatively associated with positive body image
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory: What did Aubrey (2006) find about Self-objectification in women?
Aim: longitudinal relationship between objectifying media and body perceptions
Design: 2 years panel study, 149 female undergrads
-The more exposed you are to self-objectifcation media content, the more you are likely to have self-objectification tendencies BUT moderated by self-esteem (i.e., strong self-esteem=weaker association)
-Trait self-objectification, body shame and appearance anxiety is associated with less exposure to self-objectifying media (i.e., more likely to avoid this)
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory: What did Tiggemann & Linch (2001) find about Self-objectification in women?
Aim: body image and self-objectification across the lifespan
Sample: 322 women
Measures: of body dissatisfaction, sexual objectification and disordered eating
- Self-objectification, appearance anxiety, and disordered eating decreased with age (i.e., we tend to care less as we get older)
- Self-objectification was found to mediate the relationship between age and appearance anxiety
- Objectification could clarify the changes in body image that occur with age
Body Image Theory-Objectification Theory: What did Rohlinger (2001) find about Objectification in men?
- There has been significant movement
toward advertisements in which the
male model is objectified. - Men are being sexualized and
objectified in an effort to appeal to
multiple audiences.