The Effect of “Thin Ideal” Television Commercials on Body Dissatisfaction and Schema Activation During Early Adolescence

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of viewing televised images of female attractiveness on the body dissatisfaction of young adolescent girls and boys. Adolescents (160 females and 197 males) aged 13-15 years viewed either 20 commercials containing idealized female thin images or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 2003-10, Vol.32 (5), p.367-373
Main Authors: Hargreaves, Duane, Tiggemann, Marika
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Body image
Body Weight
Child development
Children & youth
College Students
Commercials
Dissatisfaction
Early Adolescents
Eating Disorders
Females
Girls
Grade 8
Hypotheses
Influence
Information Processing
Interpersonal Relationship
Longitudinal Studies
Males
Mass media
Meta Analysis
Personal appearance
Scientific Concepts
Self Concept
Self image
Sociocultural factors
Students
Teenagers
Television advertising
Television Commercials
Thinness
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Summary:The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of viewing televised images of female attractiveness on the body dissatisfaction of young adolescent girls and boys. Adolescents (160 females and 197 males) aged 13-15 years viewed either 20 commercials containing idealized female thin images or 20 nonappearance television commercials. Body dissatisfaction was measured before (Time 1), immediately following (Time 2), and 15 min after (Time 3) commercial viewing. Appearance-schema activation was assessed using a word-stem completion task. Girls, but not boys, who viewed the appearance commercials reported significantly higher body dissatisfaction at both Times 2 and 3 compared with the nonappearance condition. Participant age had no effect. Both girls and boys in the appearance condition reported greater schema activation, but appearance schematicity did not moderate the commercial effect. The results support the general hypothesis that televised images of attractiveness lead to increased body dissatisfaction and schema activation for girls as young as 13 years old. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1023/A:1024974015581