Male Body-Satisfaction and Ideal Body Images in the Media: A Positive Intervention
Project Type
Event
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to discover if body-satisfaction in male participants would differ between those who receive a positive intervention after viewing media images of ideal male body types and those who do not receive a positive intervention. It also sought to examine the correlation between participants’ likelihood of engaging in social comparison and participants’ body-satisfaction. All participants viewed ten images taken from the media of ideal male body types. They were randomly assigned to receive the positive intervention essay or the control essay. Next, all participants filled out a measure of body-satisfaction and a measure of social comparison orientation. My hypotheses were 1) those who received the positive intervention essay would report higher body-satisfaction than those who received the control essay after exposure to media images of the male body ideal and 2) there would be a negative correlation between social comparison orientation and body-satisfaction. This study found that body-satisfaction scores did not differ between the positive intervention essay group and the neutral essay group. However, a significant negative correlation was found suggesting that those who scored higher on social comparison orientation were more likely to score lower on body-satisfaction.
Male Body-Satisfaction and Ideal Body Images in the Media: A Positive Intervention
Reed 330
The purpose of this study was to discover if body-satisfaction in male participants would differ between those who receive a positive intervention after viewing media images of ideal male body types and those who do not receive a positive intervention. It also sought to examine the correlation between participants’ likelihood of engaging in social comparison and participants’ body-satisfaction. All participants viewed ten images taken from the media of ideal male body types. They were randomly assigned to receive the positive intervention essay or the control essay. Next, all participants filled out a measure of body-satisfaction and a measure of social comparison orientation. My hypotheses were 1) those who received the positive intervention essay would report higher body-satisfaction than those who received the control essay after exposure to media images of the male body ideal and 2) there would be a negative correlation between social comparison orientation and body-satisfaction. This study found that body-satisfaction scores did not differ between the positive intervention essay group and the neutral essay group. However, a significant negative correlation was found suggesting that those who scored higher on social comparison orientation were more likely to score lower on body-satisfaction.