The “Body Beautiful”: English Adolescents' Images of Ideal Bodies (original) (raw)
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Body Image, 2011
We aimed to determine the developmental trajectory for the 'thin ideal' by evaluating discrepancies in objective ratings of female body attractiveness and normality in a sample of children and adults. One hundred and sixty Australian middle class male and female participants from four different age groups (range: 4-26 years) viewed sets of photos depicting female bodies that varied systematically on the dimension of width. Six photo sets were presented. Participants ranked three sets according to their perceptions of body normality and ranked the other three sets in terms of body attractiveness. Results indicated that for all age groups, attractiveness ratings were significantly thinner than normality ratings. These findings indicate that the thin ideal is already present in primary school children and remains stable into adulthood, with concerning implications for body dissatisfaction and related disorders. Further research is required to clarify the developmental origins of preferences for thinner-than-normal female bodies.
Who determines the ideal body? A Summary of Research Findings on Body Image
New media and mass communication, 2012
The globalization of media have paved way for Print and television advertisements to use images of thin female bodies to sell products and these advertisements are viewed by women all over the world. Through the media we are constantly bombarded with the western images of beautiful women and perfect bodies. Many surveys have proved the fact that men and women feel negative about their body image not only in the west but also in other parts of the world and the feminist scholars have tended that one should try to view the portrayal of idealized body image critically . In this connection, this paper, through a survey of relevant literature on body image, attempts to understand the following: 1) The concept of body image 2) Various determinants that idealize a woman’s body and define beauty standards 3) Influence of media on the body image of women 4) How the various determinants are interwoven targeting women, making them vulnerable to the idealized images. Keywords: Body image , Det...
The Idealization of Thin Figures and Appearance Concerns in Middle School Children
Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 2010
Considerable research has been conducted on adolescent body image but much less on preadolescents, even though children as young as six have been shown to be dissatisfied with their bodies. This study investigates figure preferences in 10-12-year-olds and the presence of body dissatisfaction and social physique anxiety (SPA) commonly seen in older ages. Sixty children were recruited from a private school in Australia, who completed a selfreport questionnaire. Results revealed that both genders nominated a significantly thinner ideal figure than they perceived their actual. As seen in the adult literature, gender differences were evident, with females higher in SPA. Results are discussed in relation to implications to prevention and intervention of body image concerns in children.j abr_ 134..143
Biomedical Human Kinetics, 2012
Study aim: To compare the perception of own body by adolescent boys with an external assessment. Material and methods: Two groups of boys (45 from Warsaw, aged 15-16 years, and 49 from a small town in SouthEastern Poland, aged 16 years) were studied by using standard body image templates containing 9 shapes. Every boy indicated the perceived shape and that he wished to have. The external assessment was done by the same investigator and that assessment served to classify boys as underweight (n = 4), normal (n = 51) or overweight (n = 39; Shapes 1-2, 3-4 and 5-9, respectively) and to correlate the scores with BMI. Results: The external and self-assessments were concordant in overweight boys, the desired shapes being significantly lower only in Group 1. The percentage of overweight boys was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Group 1 than in Group 2. "Normal" boys from Group 1 significantly (p<0.001) overrated their body shape compared with external rating. External ratings of body shape significantly correlated with BMI values in both groups alike (r = 0.82, p<0.001). Conclusions: The presented approach to body shape studies may contribute to preventing biosocial disorders in adolescent boys brought about by thoughtless striving for an ideal shape promoted by mass media.
Body-figure preferences in male and female adolescents
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1987
Previous research has examined body dissatisfaction and pressures toward thinness among collegeage and adult women, demonstrating greater dissatisfaction among women than men. Little is known about when such sex differences arise. The present study replicated the procedure used by Fallen and Rozin (1985) to assess body-size preferences in a sample of 288 female and 283 male adolescents aged 10.5 to 15 years. Both sexes revealed a small degree of body-figure dissatisfaction relative to their chosen ideal, but neither sex rated their own figure as significantly different from the size considered most attractive to the opposite sex. Both male and female adolescents held distorted perceptions of opposite-sex preferences. Girls showed a bias toward thinness; boys revealed a bias toward larger figures. The latter bias was associated with pubertal development.
Body Image in Adolescents and Its Relationship to Socio-Cultural Factors
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
This study was planned in order to analyze adolescent body image by age and gender, evaluate the relationship between adolescent body image and socio-cultural factors, and determine the extent to which variables such as age, gender, and Body Mass Index (BMI) can serve as predictors of the influential habits and strategies needed to achieve a better level of body satisfaction. Within this context, the data was collected using the following questionnaires: the Body Image and Body Size Variation Questionnaire; the Perceived Socio-Cultural Effects Concerning Body Image and Body Size Questionnaire; and a Data Form containing the demographic data. One thousand two hundred and eighty 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students were selected for the study using probabilistic, stratified, cluster sampling. The findings show a strong correlation between adolescent body image and socio-cultural factors, as well as between adolescent body image and the importance adolescents place on the media. From the regression analysis conducted using correlated variables, it was demonstrated that body satisfaction, habits and strategies with respect to body-building that pertain to adolescent body image can also be predicted by studying the attitudes and behaviours of the students' parents, peers, and the socio-cultural variables in evidence, such as the perceived effect of the media.
Body Image, 2010
Perceptions of the body are not restricted to the way the body ''looks''; they may also extend to the way the body ''functions''. This research explores body image among male and female adolescents using the Embodied Image Scale (EIS), which incorporates body function into body image. Adolescents (N = 1526, male = 673, female = 853) aged 12-17 (M = 13.83, SD = 1.02), from 26 Western Australian high schools were surveyed. Information was gathered on pubertal timing, body mass index (BMI) and body image. Participants reported significantly higher value of, behavioral-investment in, and satisfaction with the functional dimension of the body compared to the aesthetic dimension. After controlling for age, pubertal timing, and BMI, females reported significantly higher aesthetic values and aesthetic behavioral-investment, and lower aesthetic satisfaction, functional values, functional behavioralinvestment and functional satisfaction than male participants. Grade, pubertal timing and BMI category differences were also explored. ß