The influence of fashion magazines on the body image satisfaction of college women: an exploratory analysis

Adolescence, Fall, 1997 by Sherry L. Turner, Heather Hamilton, Meija Jacobs, Laurie M. Angood, Deanne Hovde Dwyer

One question raised by these studies concerns the nature of the relationship between media depictions of females and women's perception of their own bodies. An implicit assumption underlying previous research is that the portrayal of the thin body ideal and the focus on dieting and exercise cause women to become dissatisfied with their own bodies and to prefer the thin body type. Although previous researchers (i.e., Spillman & Everington, 1989) have implied that the media have changed our perceptions of the female body, few studies have actually tested this hypothesis empirically. Further research is needed that examines whether exposure to media depictions of the thin female body does influence women's body image satisfaction.

Evidence that perceptions of their own bodies may be affected by media portrayals of women has been provided by Irving (1990) who investigated the impact of exposure to slides of thin, average, and oversize models on the self-evaluations of 162 college women exhibiting varying levels of self-reported bulimic symptoms. Irving found that exposure to thin models was related to lower self-evaluations, regardless of the level of bulimic symptoms. Additional research is needed to determine whether the thin models featured in popular women's magazines would have a similar effect on women's self-perceptions.

The aim of the present investigation was to explore whether the depictions of women in magazines do, in fact, affect women's perceptions of their own bodies. Specifically, the impact of exposure to fashion magazines on women's body image satisfaction was investigated. Consistent with previous research, we hypothesized that viewing fashion magazines would lead to lower levels of body image satisfaction among college women. Because of the small nonrepresentative sample, the data are offered to stimulate further investigation of the effects of the mass media on females' development.

METHOD

Subjects

Participants were 49 undergraduate females enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a New England women's college. Participants were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: half (n = 24) were assigned to the fashion magazine group, and the remaining half (n = 25) were assigned to the news magazine group. Preliminary analyses revealed no significant differences in the mean height, weight, or age of the two groups of participants. Mean weight for the sample was 129.43 pounds and ranged from 92 to 160 pounds. Mean height was 64.98 inches and ranged from 60 to 71 inches. Mean age for the sample was 18.63 years and ranged from 17 to 21 years.

Materials

Magazines. Eight magazines were used as stimulus materials. Each magazine was selected on the basis of its popularity and availability. Four magazines that had reputations for exhibiting the thin fashion ideal among women were chosen: Vogue (November, 1991), Bazaar (October, 1991), Elle (November, 1991), and Allure (November, 1991). The four news magazines used in the control condition included Time (November 4, 1991), Newsweek (October 28, 1991), U.S. News & World Report (October 28, 1991), and Business Week (November 4, 1991).(3)