The Role Of Media On Body Dissatisfaction

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The Role of Media on Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescent Girls

Through the shaping of an ideal that measures thinness as a means of beauty and success, many individuals in today’s society are in discontent with their bodies. Young women are at particularly high risk for experiencing feelings body dissatisfaction because of the contributions of sex-role expectations and the various portrayals depicted by the media. As described by Tompson and Stice (2001) (as cited in Clark & Tiggemann, 2007), because many women cannot meet the unrealistic societal standard of a perfectly toned and slender figure, many feel a discrepancy between their actual and ideal self, causing a body dissatisfaction. Negative views about one’s body increase the risk of …show more content…

(2008) conducted a meta-analysis looking at this effect. Through the comparison of over 130 correlational and experimental studies, Grabe and colleagues suggest that media exposure does, in fact, play a significant role in feelings of general dissatisfaction, and the findings are robust as well. Regardless of age, individual differences, or the specific type of media, women view their bodies more negatively with the increased exposure to media ideals. Although the findings are significant and can be useful for future prevention and intervention methods, it is important to note the gap in literature that remains. Their examination may be insensitive to different age effects of media exposure. For example, the majority of media influences depict older, more physically developed girls. Although pre-pubescent girls may not be able to make a direct body comparison to older females, these exposures could influence their future views of themselves. Because adolescence begins the body transition period, media influences may play a strong role in their development of identity and personality, which in turn contribute to feelings of body dissatisfaction. Thus, media influences in adolescents could have a deeper impact than this study

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