The Effect of Idealized Media Images on Body Dissatisfaction in a Nonclinical Population — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Effect of Idealized Media Images on Body Dissatisfaction in a Nonclinical Population

Name: Lauren Burleson
Major: Psychology and Sociology
Hometown: Brookfield, WI
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors: Lyng, Stephen
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

The Effect of Idealized Media Images on Body Dissatisfaction in a Nonclinical Population

Social science research has consistently supported the idea that body dissatisfaction occurs due to exposure to the mass media (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002). However, there is a lack of research devoted to studying the different effects the media has on males and females. Therefore, within this thesis, differences in the impact of idealized media images on individuals within a nonclinical population of males and females were measured through the utilization of the Body Satisfaction Scale (BSS), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale (SATAQ-3), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and Drive for Muscularity Scale (DFMS). Overall, 191 Carthage College students were surveyed. Three hypotheses were derived from the compilation of the sociocultural, objectification, and social comparison theories. First, it was predicted that females would have statistically higher mean body dissatisfaction scores, pressure, internalization, and information subscale scores than males. Second, a significant positive correlation was expected to be found between body dissatisfaction score and behavior score for females, but not for males. Third, in regards to engagement in negative weight management behaviors, it was anticipated that males would report using behaviors characterized by a “drive for muscularity,” while women would report using behaviors that would help them lose the most weight in a short amount of time. All of the hypotheses were confirmed through independent sample t-tests and Pearson-r correlations.

Poster file