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Body Image
Volume 1, Issue 4, December 2004, Pages 351-361

Idealized media images

and adolescent body
image: “comparing”
boys and girls
Duane A. Hargreaves , Marika Tiggemann

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.10.002
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Abstract

Sociocultural theories of body image suggest

that body dissatisfaction results from unrealistic
societal beauty ideals, and one way of
transmitting these ideals is through the mass
media. The present research aimed to examine
the effect of exposure to images of idealized
beauty in the media on adolescent girls’ and
boys’ body image. The participants (595
adolescents) viewed television commercials
containing either images of the thin ideal for
women, images of the muscular ideal for men,
or non-appearance television commercials. Body
dissatisfaction was measured before and after
commercial viewing. It was found that exposure
to idealized commercials led to increased body
dissatisfaction for girls but not for boys.
Idealized commercials led to increased negative
mood and appearance comparison for girls and
boys, although the effect on appearance
comparison was stronger for girls. Further,
participants high on appearance investment
reported greater appearance comparison after
viewing idealized commercials than those less
strongly invested in their appearance. The
results suggest the immediate impact of the
media on body image is both stronger and more
normative for girls than for boys, but that some
boys may also be affected.

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Introduction

Body dissatisfaction, which is common among

women of all ages, is especially prevalent during
adolescence when body image is “the most
important component” of adolescent girls’ self-
esteem (Levine & Smolak, 2002a, p. 77).
Arguably the most likely cause of body
dissatisfaction among adolescent girls is the
current unrealistic standard of female beauty
which places an inordinate emphasis on
thinness (Fallon, 1990, Heinberg, 1996; Rodin,
Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1985), and which
is unattainable for most girls (Ackard & Peterson,
2001; Rosenblum & Lewis, 1999). This ideal
standard of beauty is conveyed to individuals via
a number of sources including family, peers and
the mass media (van den Berg, Thompson,
Obremski-Brandon, & Coovert, 2002). The mass
media, which include magazines and television,
are often regarded as the single strongest
influencing factor on adolescent body image
(e.g., Irving, 1990, p. 239; Levine & Smolak, 1996,
p. 238; Mazur, 1986; Raphael & Lacey, 1992;
Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986).

A small number of studies have examined the

impact of media images on the body image of
adolescents. Correlational studies show that
adolescent girls who read more magazines and
watch more television report greater body
dissatisfaction (Anderson, Huston, Schmitt,
Linebarger, & Wright, 2001; Botta, 1999, Field et
al., 1999, Harrison, 2000, Harrison, 2001;
Hofchire & Greenberg, 2002; Levine, Smolak, &
Hayden, 1994). Experimental studies show that
exposure to idealised media images leads to
increased state body dissatisfaction for girls
(Durkin & Paxton, 2002; Groesz, Levine, &
Murnen, 2002; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2002,
2003; Stice, Spangler, & Agras, 2001). To date,
however, only a few correlational studies have
included boys (Anderson et al., 2001, Botta,
2003, Harrison, 2000, Harrison, 2001; Morry &
Staska, 2001). While a small number of
experimental studies have found a negative
impact of muscular-ideal magazine images on
college-aged men (Grogan, Williams, & Connor,
1996; Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2002; Ogden &
Mundray, 1996, but see Kalodner, 1997), no
experimental studies of the media's immediate
impact on the body image of adolescent boys
have been conducted. Although boys’ body
dissatisfaction is typically less severe than for
girls (e.g., Feingold & Mazzella, 1998; Field,
Colditz, & Peterson, 1997; Garner, 1997, Muth
and Cash, 1997; Thomas, Ricciardelli, &
Williams, 2000), they too express dissatisfaction
with their body weight and appearance (Cohane
& Pope, 2001; Levine & Smolak, 2002a;
Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001). Such
dissatisfaction has been linked to a number of
negative consequences including the
development of dieting, excessive exercise, and
low self-esteem (Olivardia, 2002).

Like girls, the most likely cause of body

dissatisfaction among boys is an unrealistic
appearance ideal (Labre, 2002, Mishkind et al.,
1986; Westmoreland-Corson & Andersen, 2002).
The current ideal male body is lean but highly
muscular, characterised by a “well-developed
chest and arms, with wide shoulders tapering
down to a narrow waist” (Pope et al., 2000, p.
30). Images of this ideal have become
increasingly common in the media (Pope et al.,
2000). For example, compared to 25 years ago,
men are now more often bare chested in
magazines (Pope, Olivardia, Borowiecki, &
Cohane, 2001), in accord with increased sexual
objectification of male bodies in mainstream
advertising (Rohlinger, 2002). Repeated
exposure to images of unrealistically muscular
male ideals may cause men to feel insecure
about their own bodies, parallel to the way in
which exposure to images of unrealistically thin
models promotes body dissatisfaction among
girls.

The purpose of the present experiment was to

examine the impact of televised images of
idealised male attractiveness, in addition to
female attractiveness, on adolescent body
image. Effects on the underlying process, and
individual differences in reaction, were also
examined. Social comparison theory (Festinger,
1954; Suls & Wheeler, 2002; Wood, 1989) would
suggest that the mechanism by which media
exposure influences body image is appearance-
related social comparison. Specifically, a number
of authors (Cattarin et al., 2000; Durkin &
Paxton, 2002; Martin & Kennedy, 1993; Richins,
1991; Tiggemann & McGill, 2004) reason that
viewing television, or reading magazines,
prompts individuals to evaluate their own
appearance by comparison to the salient and
highly attractive models who pervade such
media. Because this process leads most
individuals to find themselves wanting, such
upward social comparison produces a negative
evaluation of one's own physical appearance,
resulting in a state-like increase in body
dissatisfaction.

In addition there are likely to be stable

individual differences in comparison tendency
relating to appearance (Wood, 1989). Such
differences might predict who engages in “state”
appearance-related social comparison to media
images, and is therefore most vulnerable to the
media's effect on body image. Recent evidence
suggests girls are more likely to engage in
appearance-related social comparison than boys
(Jones, 2001). Moreover, individuals who have a
trait-like tendency to engage in appearance-
related social comparison (Thompson, Heinberg,
& Tantleff, 1991), or who are more strongly
invested in their appearance, sometimes
referred to as appearance schematics (Cash &
Labarge, 1996), may be particularly likely to
engage in appearance comparison to media
images. We propose that these stable individual
difference variables (e.g., trait social comparison,
appearance schematicity, and gender) interact
with characteristics of the media image (e.g.,
salience of the model's attractiveness) to predict
when media exposure will prompt appearance-
related comparison and increased body
dissatisfaction.

To date this perspective has been investigated

only for women and girls. In a recent study,
Tiggemann and McGill (2004) showed that both
the experimental variable of media type (thin-
ideal or control) and the stable individual
difference variable of trait social comparison
predicted actual comparison to media images
and increased body dissatisfaction. We believe
this perspective is equally applicable to an
understanding of men's and boys’ body image.
The present study used a 2 × 2 between subjects
experimental design to investigate the effects of
commercial condition (thin ideal, muscular
ideal, non-appearance control) and instructional
set (appearance-focus, distracter) on boys’ and
girls’ appearance-related social comparison and
state body dissatisfaction. Trait social
comparison and appearance schematicity were
assessed as possible moderating variables. It was
predicted that boys (girls) would report greater
body dissatisfaction and appearance comparison
after viewing muscular-ideal (thin-ideal)
commercials than non-appearance commercials,
and that adolescents high on trait social
comparison and appearance schematicity would
be most strongly affected.

Section snippets

Participants

The participants were 595 adolescent students

(310 girls, 285 boys) from two South Australian
metropolitan coeducation public high schools of
medium socio-economic status. Students were
in years 8–12 and with a mean age of 14.3 years
(SD = 1.4). Participants were allocated to the
thin-ideal, muscular-ideal, or non-appearance
commercial condition by random allocation of
class group (n = 42), and were randomly
allocated to the instructional set conditions on
an individual basis. This procedure…

The effect of television commercials

on girls’ and boys’ body dissatisfaction

The adjusted means (controlling for pre-

commercial state) for girls and boys after
commercial viewing on the body dissatisfaction
outcome variable (average of fat, weight
dissatisfaction, appearance dissatisfaction) are
presented in Table 1. A 2 (Gender) × 2
(commercial condition) × 2 (Instructional set)
ANCOVA (controlling for the pre-commercial
variable) was conducted to test the prediction
that viewing thin/muscular-ideal commercials
would lead to greater body dissatisfaction than
viewing…

Discussion

The present study has replicated the results of

previous research for adolescent girls (Durkin &
Paxton, 2002; Groesz et al., 2002; Hargreaves
and Tiggemann, 2002, Hargreaves and
Tiggemann, 2003; Stice et al., 2001). As
predicted, exposure to thin-ideal commercials
led to significantly greater body dissatisfaction
and negative affect among girls than non-
appearance commercials. Although the effect
sizes were only small, the results are consistent
with the conclusion that exposure to thin-
ideal…

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