The Influence Of Body Images In The Media And Body Image

What exactly is body image? It is the way individuals think and feel about their body that can be affected by self-discrepancy. This is the representation in the self-concept of ways in which one falls short of some important standard (Higgins, 1987, 1989). It can be linked to social comparison which states that we seek to compare ourselves to others we believe are similar to ourselves, particularly to determine our own levels of abilities and successes (Festinger, 1954)

The amount of unrealistic and stereotyped images used by the media and fashion industries have been increasing; and it can influence young people’s body images and impact on their feelings of self-discrepancy, self-esteem and confidence. (Berman, 2013) In this age, too many

___ stated that another factor that could influence youths to feel bad about their body image is the choice to oppose the norm consciously. (Bessenoff, 2006)

However, some of the factors in this research shed a more positive light on self-discrepancy. Firstly, the viewing of these images could inspire or encourage youths to get healthy since increased feelings of body dissatisfaction might lead to an increased desire to look like the media-ideal, longing for the “perfect” body, and willingness to engage in efforts to attain it. (Rodgers, R. F., McLean, S. A., & Paxton, S. J. 2015)

Youths may have different reactions to the exposure of idealised images due to a number of reasons like personality differences, family, gender, age as well as school environment. (Clay, D., Vignoles, V. L., & Dittmar, H., 2005) The journal focus more on adolescent girls and their perception on body image – it did minimal coverage on the other forms of media which could possibly affect the same type of effects on

In line with our findings, this endorsement of the media-ideal might therefore lead to increased social comparison with peers, as increased importance is placed on physical appearance and further sources of comparison are sought to evaluate the results of efforts to attain the thin-ideal. Consistent with this, it has been proposed that social appearance comparison might be motivated by hopes of self-improvement. (Rodgers, R. F., McLean, S. A., & Paxton, S. J.