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Media influence on teenagers
The effect of media on women's self - image
The effect of media on women's self - image
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The Effect of Media Images on Women’s/Girls Self- Perceptions
People are more likely to judge the image of themselves by what they see in the media. The mass media surrounds us with images of the “thin ideal” for females, an ideal that has become increasingly thin since the 1950’s and thus increasingly unrealistic for most girls and women” (Stice, E. & Shaw, H.E., 1994). In the past and present, the mass media has been surrounding girls and women with the ideal thin image for females. This affects the majority of female’s self-esteem and confidence in a negative way.
Brief Review of Literature
Eyal and Te’eni-Harari (2013) studied the relationships between the extent of media exposure and early adolescents’ body image. For the adolescents, their favorite television characters serve as a character they idolize and this character determines the motivation for the adolescent to compare themselves with the character. This study examined two types of variables that were associated with the favorite characters: the parasocial relationship (PSR) and the incentive to compare themselves with the character (Eyal,K., & Te’eni-Harari, T, 2013). The method used to conduct this research were questionnaires that were distributed to 391 seventh and eighth graders in two different middle schools. The participants were asked to state the average number of hours that they spend watching television, using the internet, and playing video games. The study shows that exposure to media is related to motivations of self-compare which leads to a body shape inconsistency and a lower body image perceptions. “In relation to the study the favorite television character serves as an important comparison target – extending past research on more general social ...
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...ology: Theories, Methods, And Applications, 25(3), 129-141. doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000094
Franko, D. L., Rodgers, R. F., Lovering, M., Fernandes, C., Alfieri, A., Matsumoto, a., & … Thompson-Brenner, H. (2013). Time trends in cover images and article content in Latina magazine: Potential implications for body dissatisfaction in Latina women. Journal Of Latino/O Psychology 1(4) 243-254. Doi:10.1037/lat0000007
Levine MP, Smolak L. Media as a context for the development of disordered eating. In: Smolak L, Levine M, editors. The Developmental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders: Implications for Research, Prevention, and Treatment. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc; 1996.
Stice, E., & Shaw, H. E. (1994). Adverse effects of the media portrayed thin-ideal on women and linkages to bulimic symptomatology. Journal of Social and Clinical
Psychology, 13, 288–308.
The media has a crucial influence on adolescents. Golan, Hagay and Tamir (2013) stated that “Since puberty, by its very nature, is associated with weight gain, adolescents frequently experience frequently experience dissatisfaction with their changing bodies” (p. 1). Young boys grow up with the expectation of having to become a strong, muscular, masculine man. Young girls see skinny models and movie stars and grow up thinking that it is only socially acceptable and attractive if they are also skinny, or very thin. “In a culture that glorifies thinness some adolescents, mostly girls, become excessively preoccupied with their physical appearance and begin to diet obsessively in an effort to achieve or maintain a thin body (Golan, Hagay & Tamir, 2013, 1). Little girls play with dolls that have narrow waists, full busts, lots of makeup and their hair done a certain way. Advertisers and manufacturers are portraying a particular body image with the dolls, and this makes little girls form an opinion on how they should look. “Young girls may engage in conversations...
Derenne, Jennifer L., and Eugene V. Beresin. "Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders." Academic Psychiatry 30. June (2006): 257-61. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.
Smolak, Linda, Michael P. Levine, and Ruth Striegel-Moore. "Media as Context." The Developmental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders: Implications for Research, Prevention, and Treatment. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1996. 235-53. Print.
One of the main external factors in the development of an eating disorder is the media. The media objectifies both men and women throug...
Harrison, K., & Hefner, V. (2006). Media exposure, current and future body ideals, and disordered eating among predolescent girls: A longitudinal panel study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(2), 146-156. McCabe, M.A., & Ridge, A.R. a.
There are many more reasons to developing an eating disorder other than the media. After looking at the affects of media and how researchers explore the concept of development: we will now focus on the other key opponents to the development. Ultimately, if a person’s life situation, environment, and/or genetics leave them open to an Eating ...
The sociocultural approach to the issue of body image among women states that women receive harmful and negative cultural messages about their bodies. These messages can come from the media as well as from family and peer influences (Swami, 2015). By promoting the thin ideal for attractiveness, the media contributes to women rating their bodies more negatively and thus increases their likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms (Spitzer, Henderson & Zivian, 1999). In a meta-analysis studying the effects of media images on female body image, Groesz and Levine (2002) found that women’s body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing average or plus size models. Harmful body messages from family can be direct, such as verbal criticism or teasing, or in...
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
Derenne, J. L., & Beresin, E. V. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders. Academic Psychiatry, 30(3), 257-61. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.waketech.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/196508089?accountid=15152
Researchers have used various abstract foundations for examining the relationship between media and body image ( Holmstrom, 2004). Here I review the theory that has been used by researcher in the area. Bandura’s Social cognitive theory (1994) assumed that “people learn and model the behaviors of attractive others”. The supporters of this theory suggest that young women find slim models in the media attractive and try to imitate them through dieting which leads them to eating disorders.
Derenne, J. L., & Beresin, E. V. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders. Academic Psychiatry, 30(3), 257-261.
The media have been criticized for portraying the thin women as “ideal” .This research plans to look at the effects of media on the body image of women. This cumulates the findings of empirical studies that observe the effects of media on body image. This study will also look at the different social comparison theories that relate media and body image. It will also investigate the different sources of media that have an impact on the body image of women. It also scopes to find out which sources have a greater consequence than the others. Furthermore it also researches about how the women could be prevented from comparing their body image from that of the models and actresses portrayed in the media.
The media’s way of portraying a woman can be skewed and unrealistic from what reality is. Teenage girls then have a desire for this look or style. In this essay, the three ways I will describe as to why the media can negatively affect a teenage girls body image is by showing unrealistic bodies and women, women whose bodies are desirable by a mass number of people, and lastly not allowing all body types to be equally shown as “attractive.” The pattern is similar for the portrayal of women on television, magazines, and other parts of the media. The way media represents women is for them to be thin-like models and other women on television to be the high standard of “attractiveness” to others.
The media bombards the youth with gender representations and the types of bodies that are deemed to be attractive. Many teenagers all around the world are desperate to lose weight to be “beautiful”. A study shows that 44% of Latino high school students aim to lose weight due to the representations of media and stereotypes. This study also shows that these students turn to extreme measures of weight loss, such as vomiting and laxative abuse. The need for these students to lose weight as quickly as they can, is caused by how the media presents what is attractive and what is not - for example, women in the media are shown to be thinner than average (Lopez et al., 2013).
Vargas, L E. (2013) The Negative Effects of The Media on Body Image. Personal.psu.edu. Retrieved 30 Nov. 17 from: