The Impact of Media Exposure On Males' Body Image: Agliata and Tantleff-Dunn
The Impact of Media Exposure On Males' Body Image: Agliata and Tantleff-Dunn
The Impact of Media Exposure On Males' Body Image: Agliata and Tantleff-Dunn
7-22
AGLIATA
THE IMPACT
ANDOFTANTLEFF-DUNN
MEDIA EXPOSURE
7
8 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN
Murnen, 2002). Rodin and colleagues (1985) have suggested that mass
media may define where on the continuum of body image dissatisfac-
tion/eating disorder pathology one falls. However, the proverbial
“chicken or the egg?” question regarding media and body image re-
mains since some research supports the notion that the media give peo-
ple what they already want(Raphael & Lacey, 1992; Silverstein, Perdue,
Peterson, & Kelly, 1986). Most likely, the relationship between mass
media and body image is complex, reciprocal, and defined by many
moderating variables (for review see Tiggeman, 2002; Thompson et al.,
1999).
Despite the apparent impact media have on females’ body image, little
research has attended to the effects of media exposure on males’ body
image. Further, the influence of television viewing on body image has
only recently been addressed (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995;
Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Stice & Shaw, 1994). To date, there are only
three published studies that specifically investigated the impact of tele-
vision advertisements on body image satisfaction, and only one of these
included males. Contrary to their hypotheses, Myers and Biocca (1992)
found that watching appearance-related programming and advertising
decreased body size overestimations and depression levels in females.
In contrast, Heinberg and Thompson (1995) found that women became
more depressed, angry, and had higher degrees of body image distur-
bance following exposure to appearance and thinness-related television
advertisements. Women with high levels of disturbance became more
dissatisfied with their weight and overall appearance following expo-
sure, suggesting that some individuals may be especially vulnerable to
negative effects of appearance-related media. Lavine et al. (1999) found
that, compared to men exposed to neutral advertisements, men exposed
to advertisements that portrayed women as sex objects rated their own
bodies as thinner. Viewing sexist ads also led to larger discrepancies be-
tween actual and ideal body size (with men preferring a larger body and
chest) and overestimations of the ideal male size selected by their male
peers. Thus, television advertisements may impact males’ body image
via messages that lead to inaccurate, stereotyped perceptions of the ideal
and negative self-appraisals. Many of the sexist advertisements also
depicted males as sex objects. Such portrayals of the muscular ideal male
may shape the body images of men, much like thin models impact
women (Fallon, 1990).
In sum, although little empirical evidence exists regarding media’s di-
rect impact on males’ body image, research does suggest that the rate of
body image dissatisfaction among males may be increasing (Garner,
1997; Serdula et al., 1993) and that appearance-related media messages
are influential (Murphy, 1993; Pope et al., 2000). Further research is
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 11
METHOD
PARTICIPANTS
Although similar studies with females have reported effect sizes of .50
(Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Lavine et al., 1999; Myers & Biocca, 1992),
a more conservative estimate for this unstudied male population was
used. With an estimated effect size of .40 and a suggested power of .80,
Cohen (1988) recommends a sample size of 100. Since the current study
compared the upper and lower thirds of the population based on levels
of body image and internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward ap-
pearance, a larger sample of 158 male undergraduates at a large open en-
rollment university in the southeast was obtained. Of the participants,
98% were between 17 and 27 years, with a mean age of 21.3 (SD = 4.01);
66% of the sample were Caucasian, 14.0% were Hispanic, 10.2% were
African American, and 5.1% were Asian. Participants’ weights (M =
172.5 pounds, SD = 29.1) and heights (M = 70.9 inches, SD = 2.7) were
used to calculate Quetelet’s Index (Wt/Ht2), M = 24.1, SD = 3.5. All par-
ticipants received extra credit for volunteering their participation.
Each participant was randomly assigned to either the appearance
advertisement(experimental) group or a nonappearance
advertisement(control) group. No significant differences were found be-
tween the two video groups with regard to demographic information,
12 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN
Appearance Non–appearance
Group (n = 81) Group (n = 77)
Variable M SD M SD t–value p–value
Age 20.88 2.29 21.85 5.25 1.53 .13
Weight (lb) 70.80 2.90 70.93 2.38 0.30 .76
Height (in) 169.28 29.40 176.08 28.64 1.47 .15
BMI 23.69 3.48 24.56 3.53 1.55 .12
TV viewing (hrs/day) 2.32 0.93 2.41 0.96 0.64 .52
Comprehension check % 9.34 0.50 9.42 0.56 0.81 .42
MEASURES
Four subscales of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Question-
naire (MBSRQ; Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990; Cash, Winstead, & Janda,
1985; Cash et al., 1986) were used to assess appearance satisfaction, im-
portance of outward appearance, feelings of being physically fit, and
overall investment in appearance and fitness. Separate analyses were
done for each subscale. Internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha) for the
current male sample were .86 for MBSRQ-AE, .89 for MBSRQ-AO, .80
for MBSRQ-FE, and .91 for MBSRQ-FO.
The 21-item Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Question-
naire - Male Version (SATAQ-M; Heinberg, Thompson, & Stormer,
1995) was used to assess awareness and acceptance of cultural ideals of
attractiveness. Cronbach’s alpha was .85 for the Internalization scale
and .84 for the Awareness scale.
The nine-item Physical Appearance Subscale of the Bulimia Cognitive
Distortions Scale (BCDS-PA; Schulman, Kinder, Powers, & Prange,
1986) was used to measure irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions as-
sociated with physical appearance. Cronbach’s alpha for the BCDS-PA
was .89.
Visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess immediate changes
in mood and body dissatisfaction after viewing the televised program
and advertisements. Participants were asked to place a small vertical
mark across a 10cm horizontal line anchored with the labels “no” dis-
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 13
tress on the far left and “extreme” distress on the far right to represent
how they felt at that time. Individual responses were measured to the
nearest millimeter, producing a numerical representation of the mark-
ing on a 100-point scale. Participants provided several ratings of mood
and body image, including anxiety, depression, happiness, anger, confi-
dence, weight dissatisfaction, and satisfaction with overall physical ap-
pearance. A second set of visual analogue scales was used to assess lev-
els of dissatisfaction with particular body sites most important to males,
including face, hair, biceps, chest, abdomen, and calf muscles. Past re-
search has indicated significant relationships between VAS measures of
depression, anger, and anxiety and their respective subscales on the Pro-
file of Mood States (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995). Similarly, VAS mea-
sures for body dissatisfaction have been significantly correlated with the
Body Dissatisfaction Subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory (Gar-
ner, Olmstead, & Polivy, 1983). Because they are highly sensitive to
small state changes, VAS are useful in counteracting the effects of de-
mand characteristics for participants who are more reluctant to report
extreme levels of mood and body disturbance (Thompson, 1996). After
the initial scoring, a second rater was used to measure a random sample
(20%) of the total VAS questionnaires to ensure scoring accuracy.
Interrater agreement was 91%.
VIDEOTAPE STIMULI
Two 30-minute video segments were created, the first containing ap-
pearance-loaded advertisements and the second containing nonappear-
ance-related advertisements. The commercials were videotaped from
standard and cable television channels during peak viewing hours. A
series of four advertisements was shown during four separate commer-
cial segments of the television program Family Feud (with original host
Richard Dawson), chosen because of its neutral body image content and
absence of references to sociocultural ideals. An initial sample of com-
mercials featuring male actors was compiled from 40 hours of taped tele-
vision and rated by a pilot sample of 30 male students according to the
degree to which they reflected the male ideal of attractiveness (1 = unat-
tractive to 7 = very attractive) as well as their overall appeal (1 = disliked
very much to 7 = liked very much). The participants also rated the attrac-
tiveness and appeal of the television program to ensure its neutrality,
controlling for threats to construct validity of putative causes and effects
(Cook & Campbell, 1979), and thereby attributing the experimental ef-
fects to viewing male ideal commercials. The results of this pilot led to
the selection of 16 commercials that each contained actors judged to be
the most indicative of the male ideal (based on sample mean scores).
14 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN
PROCEDURE
Participants were informed that they would be taking part in two sepa-
rate studies (on two different days), the first of which investigated be-
liefs about appearance, and the second of which examined television
viewing and attention. Participants provided basic demographic infor-
mation and completed the visual analogue scales, followed by the body
image measures (MBSRQ, SATAQ, BCDS). Upon completion of the
Time 1 survey packet, each participant was scheduled to return approxi-
mately one week later to view the videotape and complete the last set of
measures. This seven- to ten- day lag was used to minimize priming ef-
fects of Time 1 questionnaires. Upon return for the second session, par-
ticipants were randomly assigned to either the appearance or
nonappearance video condition and sent to the appropriate room in
groups of three to eight per condition. Participants were told that they
were participating in a short study about television viewing and reten-
tion to minimize hypothesis guessing, evaluation apprehension, and
similar threats to construct validity (Cook & Campbell, 1979).
Prior to beginning the videotape, the experimenter read a scripted set
of instructions asking all participants to watch the entire videotape and
to refrain from any interaction during the program to avoid distracting
(or influencing) other participants. Following the video presentation,
participants were asked to complete the visual analogue scales and a
brief manipulation check. The manipulation check contained multi-
ple-choice questions about the program and advertisements to ensure
comprehension and attention, and to assess for hypothesis guessing.
Students were debriefed and awarded extra credit for their participa-
tion. With the exception of seven participants, all participants who
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 15
RESULTS
Information obtained during Time 1 indicated a high degree of exposure
to television advertisements. All participants reported having at least
one television in their homes (M = 3.1, SD = 1.5) and watched an average
of 2.4 hours per day (SD = 0.94), most frequently (97%) on commercial
networks. Results of the manipulation check revealed that all partici-
pants were able to accurately answer over 90% of the posttest questions
about video content(M = 9.3, SD = 0.53), indicating a high degree of stim-
ulus attention and comprehension. Only four participants (two experi-
16 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN
DISCUSSION
The findings suggest that exposure to media images of the ideal male
body, defined as lean and muscular, can have deleterious effects on
mood and body satisfaction in men. The results indicate that exposure to
ideal images of attractiveness via television advertisements can signifi-
cantly increase one’s muscle dissatisfaction, whereas exposure to non-
appearance advertisements shows no effects on body dissatisfaction.
Viewing ideal male images also was associated with a significant in-
crease in depression, whereas exposure to neutral advertising had the
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 17
TABLE 2. Mean Levels of Muscle Dissatisfaction and Negative Mood Dimensions for
Appearance and Non–Appearance Advertisement Groups over Time
Time 1 Time 2
Non Non
Appearance Appearance Appearance Appearance
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD
a
Muscle Dissatisfaction 56.6 14.6 56.2 16.5 58.3 14.8 62.9 14.4
b b
Depression 27.3 19.1 28.4 19.9 23.9 16.7 31.1 16.7
c c
Anger 26.9 20.9 26.9 21.0 19.1 19.7 22.3 20.3
c c
Anxiety 34.6 21.2 35.9 21.5 29.5 20.9 30.0 21.3
a b c
Significant time × condition interaction, p < .05. Significant time × condition interaction, p < .01. Sig-
nificant main effects for time, p < .005.
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