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Make me over: Third-person perception about body image and
endorsement of plastic surgery in self and others
Kimberly L. Bissell
Department of Journalism
University of Alabama
Box 870172
Tuscaloosa, Ala. 35487
(205) 348-8247
[log in to unmask]
And
Ron Leone
Stonehill College
Please direct all correspondence to the first author.
A paper submitted to the Mass Comm & Society Division of AEJMC for
review for the annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Make me over: Third-person perception about body image and
endorsement of plastic surgery in self and others
Abstract
Research examining the social effects of mass media as it relates to
body image distortion often considers some behavioral components,
specifically excessive dieting, bingeing, and exercising, but little
is known about the degree in which women turn to plastic surgery to
correct or reshape their bodies. Using a survey of college women,
participants were shown an image of a thin-ideal swimsuit model and
were asked to project how repeated exposure to images like the one
viewed would affect themselves and others. Our findings suggest that
the college women in our sample predicted exposure to thin-ideal
media would effect other target groups more than themselves and that
the college women in our sample were much more likely to view plastic
surgery acceptable for others rather than themselves. These and
other findings are discussed.
Introduction
In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million
males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder
such as anorexia or bulimia. Eighty percent of American women are
dissatisfied with their appearance. Forty-two percent of 1st-3rd
grade girls want to be thinner. Eighty-one percent of 10-year-olds
are afraid of being fat. Furthermore, 91 percent of women recently
surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight
through dieting.
These statistics, compiled by the National Eating Disorder
Association, reveal that America has a problem. Research in the area
of body image distortion suggests the media are one of many potential
variables related to increases in disordered eating, especially in
college and adolescent female women. The media are often held
partially responsible for young females' desire to be extraordinarily
thin because of the number of media messages promoting the "thin
ideal." For example, according to NEDA, the average American woman
is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds, while the average American model
is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. The general conclusion among
researchers is that exposure to thinness-depicting and promoting
(TDP) media is related to greater body dissatisfaction, lower body
self-esteem, and self-objectification in school-aged females. While
a fairly clear link has been established between media exposure and
BID in young women, what we know very little about is if these young
women perceive the effect of media to be greater on themselves or on
others. The primary objective of this project is to examine
third-person perception as it relates to body image distortion in
women. A secondary objective is to examine beliefs about plastic
surgery, specifically the belief that others are more likely to
resort to plastic surgery to fix problems related to body shape and
size. While more than 10 million men and women have a diagnosed
eating disorder, millions more may have trait characteristics related
to the disorder yet remain undiagnosed and are untreated for the
disorder. Although disordered eating does not carry the stigma
commonly associated with other mental illnesses (Public Health Agency
Canada, 2002), women and girls who struggle with weight-related
physical and mental health issues still often feel isolated from peer
groups, family and friends. Because of the prevalence of the problem
and the declining age of girls who report to be dieting or exercising
to lose weight, we hoped to examine the age-based dimension of
third-person perception and gain greater understanding with regard to
the way college women feel the media affect themselves and others.
The Media Exposure Factor
There's little argument that the media content college students are
exposed to and pay most attention to contains repeated messages
promoting the thin ideal (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz & Thompson,
1980; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson & Kelly, 1986; Toro, Cervera &
Perez, 1988; Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann &Ahrens, 1990). Content
analyses of entertainment television, fashion magazines and
advertisements have confirmed that the body shape standard found in
these forms of media has become thinner, even though we are beginning
to see greater diversity in body types represented on television
(Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986; Garner, Garfinkel,
Schwartz, & Thompson,1980; Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens,
1990). The presentation of ultrathin models in the media, and
certainly the presentation of thin models at the exclusion of average
or overweight models, enforces the notion that there is one
acceptable body type for women (Kilbourne, 1995). This situation
sets an impossible standard for average women by enforcing the
mismatch between ideal self and actual self. At the simplest level,
this mismatch between the ideal and actual self could be responsible
for the development of an eating disorder or the development of trait
characteristics related to disordered eating: body dissatisfaction
(Richins, 1991), drive for thinness (Harrison & Canton, 1997),
physique anxiety (Jordan, Smisson, Burke, Joyner, & Czech, 2005),
anorexia (Tiggemann & Slater, 2004) and bulimia (Troop, Allan,
Treasure, & Katzman, 2003).
Several studies over the last decade have examined women's exposure
to entertainment media and the relationship this exposure has on
disordered eating (see Harrison, 2000; Harrison, 1997; Thompson &
Heinberg, 1999). Other studies examining print media such as
magazines have confirmed similar findings (see Thomsen, 2002). Many
of these studies offer clear evidence that exposure to TDP media
leads to distorted body image perceptions in school-age females and
college women. These studies have further found young males and
college men more likely to endorse thinness in women if exposure to
TDP media is high. One presumed antecedent of disordered eating
tendencies is a degree of anxiety about one's physique. Numerous
studies have examined the subscales of the EDI or EAT in college-aged
women, perfectionism and the psychosocial trait: social physique
anxiety. The general line of thinking is that physique anxiety
serves as one predictor of other disordered eating tendencies such as
body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness or anorexia.
Social physique anxiety relates to the fear of one's physique being
negatively evaluated by others (Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989).
Researchers have indicated that social physique anxiety is related to
weight pressures and eating disorders in female athletes who
participate in lean sports (Reel and Gill, 2001; Hausenblas & Mack,
1999; Taylor & Ste-Marie, 1999) and in non-lean sports (Bissell &
Hines, 2005). Physique anxiety has been studied in athletes and
exercisers in an attempt to better understand how "uniforms" or
athletic attire might be related to increased levels of anxiety about
one's body shape and size. Krane, Stiles-Shipley, Waldron, and
Michalenok (2001) found disordered eating and SPA to be higher in all
athletes and exercisers in their sample, regardless of the type of
uniform worn for competition or exercise. Haase, Prapavessis and
Glynn (2002) analyzed SPA in elite athletes to determine if higher
degrees of physique anxiety would predict disordered eating in these
same athletes. Haase and colleagues found SPA to be "strongly
linked" to perfectionism and disordered eating (pg. 209). While we do
know a little about physique anxiety in athletes, exercisers, and the
general population, no studies have examined its relationship to
media exposure. Subsequently, physique anxiety is one of several
independent variables helping us better understand the relationship
between media exposure and body image distortion in women. In this
case, when examining third-person perception in our sample, we'll
examine how levels of physique anxiety will intensify the
third-person effect or decrease the third-person effect and increase
the first-person effect.
If women struggle with body image concerns or feel continually
dissatisfied with their body shape and size, will these women act on
their dissatisfaction? While the link between certain types of body
image distortion and media exposure has been established by several
scholars (Harrison, 2004; 2003; Bissell, 2004a, 2004b; Botta, 2000;
Thompson & Heinberg, 1999), we know very little about the degree in
which women will act on the dissatisfaction of their bodies by having
plastic surgery. Harrison (2003) argues the media have created an
ideal body image for women that contains unrealistic proportions in
terms of the specific size of bust, waist and hip measurements: "it
bears mentioning that this particular configuration (24-36-36) is not
as balanced as it may appear because it represents a woman who, by
garment industry standards, simultaneously wears a size 4 (hips), a
size 2 (waist), and a size 10 (bust)" (pg. 255). Harrison and others
(Kilbourne, 1995; Pipher, 1991) argue that this ideal body shape
represents a sexual ideal that is not at all representative of "real
women" (Harrison, 2003, pg. 255). Given the discrepancy between
various body parts, adult women, college women, and adolescent girls
may turn to plastic surgery as a means of rectifying this
discrepancy. Recent fervor in reality television programming for
shows such as The Swan or Extreme Makeover, suggests young girls and
women are increasingly interested in a "quick fix" to solve body
image problems. The popularity of the programming may also lend
support to the notion that plastic surgery is becoming a more
socially accepted means of losing weight or reshaping one's
body. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that more
than 3/4 of a million people received breast augmentations, cheek
implants, facelifts or liposuction in 2003. Sandra Boodman, writing
for The Washington Post in October 2004, reported that teenagers are
increasingly becoming patients of plastic surgeons for procedures
such as rhinoplasty (nose job), breast implants, liposuction and
tummy tucks. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
reports the number of girls 18 and younger receiving breast implants
tripled from 3,872 to 11,326 between 2002 and 2003. Boodman credits
shows such as the ones above and shows such as I Want a Famous Face
with fueling the desire of adolescent girls to permanently alter
their bodies. Despite popular press coverage of the issue, very
little empirical research exists documenting the behavioral effects
of media taken to this extreme and no research exists to our
knowledge examining the degree in which perceived media effects on
others will be related to perceived likelihood to have plastic
surgery. Thus, our research objective is to examine traditional
third-person perception as it relates to the media exposure/body
image distortion relationship and expand that analysis by examining
specific, perceived behavioral effects.
Third-Person Perception
The idea that the media are likely to influence others more than
oneself is referred to as third-person perception (Perloff, 1993;
Davison, 1983). Much of the early work in third-person effects has
examined the role of more harmful media (violence, rap music,
pornography) and related perceptions about the effects of this media
on self and others. Researchers have looked at third-person
perception and several types of media messages, including campaign
messages , negative political advertising , product commercials and
public service announcements , advertising , a television miniseries
, rap music , pornography , television violence (Hoffner et al.,
1999, 2001; Rojas et al., 1996; Scharrer, 2002), and news . Overall,
there has been a movement from the persuasive to the harmful in terms
of media content incorporated into third-person effect
research. Although thin-ideal media content has not been categorized
as harmful media in the same way that violence or pornography have
been categorized, there is little argument that exposure to
thin-ideal media has negatively affected young women and men on
affective, cognitive and behavioral dimensions (Bissell, 2004;
Harrison, 2004; Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003; Harrison, 2001;
Harrison, 2002). Pipher (1991) asserts that the "look-obsessed,
media-saturated, 'girl-poisoning' culture," is damaging to many women
and young girls' self image and body image and further blames the
media for promoting standards of beauty and thinness that are
unattainable for most women.
Body Image Distortion and Third-Person Effect
Third-person effect research is characterized by two separate
components: the perceptual and behavioral (Huh, Delorme, & Reid,
2004). Davison (1983) describes the perceptual component as media
messages having a greater effect on "them"—the third person—than on
"me or you" (p. 3) The behavioral component of third-person effect
is that "people might be influenced to act based on perceived
effects" (Huh et al, 2004, p. 569), especially if they believe they
are less influenced by the media than others One of the underlying
considerations in third-person effects studies is that the effect is
undesirable. David and Johnson (1998) report that the third-person
effect disappears or becomes a first-person effect if the outcome is
socially desirable rather than undesirable. Certainly the
development of anorexia or bulimia could be deemed an undesirable
effect, even though the outcome of the weight loss may be perceived
as a desirable effect. Two factors that are still relatively unclear
in the study of TP effect as it relates to BID is social distance and
attribution.
For years, researchers have looked to psychological theories to
explain and justify the third-person effect (Paul, Salwen, & Dupagne,
2000). Attribution theory has been defined more generally as the
study of the processes used by people to infer the cause of a
behavior (Paul, Salwen and Dupagne, 2000). Applied to the influence
of media messages, attribution theory explains why a person would
think he or she is less susceptible to influence based on his or her
own attributes and disposition and why others' attributes and
disposition make them more susceptible to the media's influence.
Attribution theory is pertinent to the third-person effect simply because
of the consistent bias in estimating situational response There may or
may not be specific dispositional attributes assigned to the greater
persuasibility of others, buy the relevant point is that observers see others
as less responsive to the situation (Gunther, 1991, p. 357).
At the heart of attribution theory is the concept of attribution
error. The general premise of attribution error is that when
individuals interpret the behavior of others, they tend to attribute
others' behavior to personal factors whereas they attribute their own
behavior to external factors (Huh et al., 2004). Along these lines,
Gunther (1991) reported that third-person effects tend to occur
because people feel they are more responsive to the situational
character of a message than are others, and this process is referred
to as fundamental attribution error. In an attempt to examine
differences between the perceived effect of media on self and on
others, McLeod et al. (2001) found that "people use different factors
to generate perceptions of perceived effects on self compared to
perceived effects on others" (p. 690). McLeod et al. (2001) note the
role of the fundamental attribution error (FAE) in understanding
third-person perceptions: People "tend to include situational factors
and other complex contingent conditions when explaining the reasons
behind their own behavior, yet discount or disregard these same
factors when evaluating the behaviors of others" (p. 692). In
addition to the FAE in third-person perceptions, other factors
further explain the process.
When projecting perceived effect on others, some of the age-based
dimensions of third-person effects become useful in better
understanding the way the media influence notions about ideal body
image on women and young girls. Several researchers have reported
that the gap between the perceived effect on self and the perceived
effect on others increases as social distance between self and the
comparison group increases (Cohen et al., 1988; Gunther,
1991). Many researchers hypothesize that the perceived effect on
others will increase as the target group becomes more distance or
unlike the self (Gibbon & Durkin, 1995). The social distance
corollary has received considerable support, confirming the notion
that as the target other becomes more distance or removed from the
self based on the age and/or identification, the perceived effect on
the other is intensified (Perloff, 1999). What is unclear about the
presumed effects of media on development of an ideal body image for
self and others is whether social distance will be greater for women
older than the sample or younger than the sample.
Our research objective was to employ social distance as a marker for
understanding how third-person effects are perceived for groups that
are younger and older than the sample. What is fairly well
established is the degree in which body dissatisfaction and body
image distortion occurs in college-aged women and high school girls,
but we know surprisingly little about the phenomenon with older
women. If an age group is perceived to be more socially distance,
the social-distance corollary of third-person effect should be
evident, yet what isn't known is the degree in which our
sample—college women—will identify with the various target
groups. Of secondary interest is the degree in which our sample will
feel the perceived effects of the media extend to a behavioral
outcome for self and target groups. Again, a key component in
understanding this relationship is knowing if our target group
perceived these procedures to be socially undesirable or desirable.
Based on the literature reviewed, we advance the following hypotheses:
H1: Perceived effects of a thin-ideal swimsuit model on female target
groups will be greater than the perceived effects of it on the self.
The first hypothesis tests Davison's (1983) basic finding, which
examines the role
of self in third-person media effects.
H2: As target group is identified as increasingly younger than
respondent, the magnitude of the third-person perceptual gap will increase.
H3: The perceived effect of media on self will be greater among
participants with high physique anxiety than among those with low
physique anxiety.
Research in this area suggests participants with higher degrees of
physique anxiety are more likely to have higher degrees of some or
all of the subscales related to disordered eating: body
dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, anorexia, and bulimia. Those
with physique anxiety are also said to have lower general self-esteem
and body self-esteem; subsequently, it is possible physique anxiety
might play a role in the degree in which perceived effects on self
and others occurs.
H4: The perceived effect on self will be greater when the ethnicity
of the respondent matches the ethnicity of the model in the ad than
when the race does not match.
David, Morrison, Johnson and Ross (2002) found the perceived effects
of advertising on body image factors to be greater when the race of
the model in the advertisement matched the race of the
respondent. In this case, we hoped to assess if a group appeared to
be socially more distant, i.e via race rather than age. David and
colleagues (2002) extended previous social distance research by
manipulating two components of social distance that were critical in
eliciting the third-person effect: similarity between the model and
self, and similarity between the model and the comparison group. In
this project, we use the similarity between the model and the self as
a means of projecting perceived effect on self and others.
H5: Endorsement in plastic surgery will be greater as social
distance increases than for self and related age groups.
RQ1: What is the relationship between exposure to makeover reality
programs and participants' belief that others will be more likely to
have plastic surgery than self?
We do not have a baseline of information indicating college
students' preferences for plastic surgery for themselves and
others. However, we would expect college students to project women
who are older than themselves to be more likely to have plastic
surgery and to project girls who are their own age to be less likely
to have had plastic surgery or desire plastic surgery. The
projection here is based on the social desirability/undesirability
factor related to plastic surgery. We predict that social
desirability related to plastic surgery may increase as a woman gets
older but that the social desirability of it for oneself and similar
others may not be as high. With the second research question, we
examine exposure to reality programming and use that as an
independent variable, potentially a predictor of projecting
behavioral effects of that media content on others.
Method
To facilitate comparisons between groups reporting different exposure
patterns and attitudes that might be related to that exposure,
students enrolled in an introductory mass communication class during
the fall semester 2004 at a university in the South were recruited to
participate in a survey. Students enrolled in this course were
required to participate in three hours of research projects as part
of their course grade, and the students' participation in this
project earned them one-half hour of research credit for the course.
All students signed up to participate in the research project, came
to a laboratory within the college, and then completed a survey
related to entertainment and sports media exposure, third-person
perception, endorsement in plastic surgery, and exercise
frequency. Data from approximately 200 participants was collected
(N=214). Of the 214 participants, 79 percent were white, 16 percent
were black, 1 percent was Asian, and 4 percent reported to be of
mixed ethnicities. While data was collected from men and women, only
data collected from the women was used in this study.
Stimulus and General Exposure Measures
Female respondents were presented with an instrument containing
several items related to media exposure and media use. Respondents
were also shown an image of a swimsuit model and asked a series of
questions about the model's overall attractiveness, thinness, and
respondents' feelings of similarity to the model. The female
swimsuit model was used as the stimulus for questions related to
perceived effects on self and other target groups.
In addition to asking respondents about the thin-ideal swimsuit
model, we also recorded exposure to several types of media—televised
and print. Exposure to all entertainment television was measured by
asking respondents to record the total number of minutes per day they
spent viewing entertainment television. Female respondents reported
viewing between 0 and 990 minutes of entertainment television per day
(M=174.70, 136.65).
Respondents were also asked to report their frequency of viewing
reality television programs, including several reality makeover shows
such as Extreme Makeover and The Swan. Respondents in our sample
reported a great interest in television programs such as The
Bachelor, The Apprentice, Extreme Makeover, The Swan, America's Next
Top Model, and Survivor. Respondents were also asked about their
general interest in viewing reality makeover shows, and responses to
this series of questions were used to create a scale that served as
an independent variable for the first research question. On a 1-5
scale representing interest in reality makeover shows, participants
indicated the greatest interest in Extreme Makeover (X=2.77,
SD=1.49), Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search (X=2.67, SD=1.30),
and The Swan (X=2.09, SD=1.49).
Independent and Dependent Variables
Hypothesis one measured the perceived effect of exposure to a
thin-ideal media model on self and others. We used three types of
perceived effect measures, one cognitive, one affective and one
behavioral. The measures of perceived impact estimates used in this
study were adopted from those used by David and Johnson (1998).
Respondents were asked the following series of questions related to
their own estimate of how much they and other groups would be
affected by images similar to the thin ideal model in the
stimulus: How much do you think images like this affect your
perception of ideal body weight? How much do you think images like
this affect your own self esteem? How much do you think images like
this affect your likelihood to develop an eating disorder. The three
questions were repeated for the five "other" groups (American women
in general, other college women my age, high school girls, junior
high girls, and elementary school girls). For hypotheses one, two,
and four, we compared mean scores for the self and five target groups
on the individual perceived effect measures and then combined
responses to all nine statements and ran similar
comparisons. Cronbach's alpha was run on the responses for each
group, and the scales proved to be reliable: self (.77), American
women (.70), other college women my age (.79), high school girls
(.81), junior high girls (.85), and elementary school girls
(.65). When responses for all other target groups were combined,
Cronbach's alpha indicated the 15-item scale was reliable (.88).
Social Physique Anxiety Scale
One independent variable for this project was the social physique
anxiety scale. The SPAS is an affective measure of body image and is
used to assess "self-presentational physique anxiety" (Martin,
Rejeski, Leary, McAuley, & Bain, 1997). Using statements such as "I
am uncomfortable with the appearance of my body shape and physique"
or "It would make me uncomfortable to know others were evaluating my
body shape and physique," participants indicated the degree that each
item was characteristic or true of them using five responses: not at
all (5) to extremely true for me (1). Responses to the 12 items were
reverse-coded after data collection so that a higher score
represented greater social physique anxiety. The SPA scale had good
internal consistency (alpha=.90) and has proven reliable in many
other studies (Hausenblas & Fallon, 2002; Motl & Conroy, 2001; Hart,
Leary, Rejewski, 1989).
Endorsement in plastic surgery in self and others
Respondents were asked a series of questions related to their
likelihood to engage in several different activities to improve their
own body shape and size. The statement used on the instrument read
as follows: "If cost were not an issue, how likely would you be to
do each of the following to improve your appearance?" Respondents
then chose one of the following responses: highly unlikely, unlikely,
feel neutral, likely, I have already done this. Using Harrison's
(2003) framework for endorsement of plastic surgery in self,
respondents were asked to report their likelihood to do the
following: leg-length surgery, liposuction, breast reduction surgery,
rib removal, breast implants, diet, exercise, wear a girdle, wear
control top pantyhose, wear a padded bra, wear a minimizing bra, wear
height-altering shoes, gastric bypass surgery, tummy
tuck. Respondents reported being most likely to diet (X=3.59,
SD=1.31), exercise (X=4.01, SD=1.17), wear a padded bra (X=2.61,
SD=1.64), or wear height-altering shoes (X=2.87,
SD=1.74). Respondents were also asked to project how likely American
women in general and other college women their age would be engage in
similar activities to alter their body shape or size and were asked
to project how likely the other two target groups would be to do the
same series of activities to alter their body shape and size.
Results
Descriptive Results
Just under half of the sample were freshmen (48%), 30% were
sophomores, 15% were juniors, 5% were seniors and 2% were graduate
students. The mean age for participants was 19. Participants in
this project had fairly high levels of physique anxiety (X=36.82,
SD=10.42) and reported watching a good deal of entertainment
programming in general--just under three hours a day (X=174.70,
SD=136.65)--and reported watching reality shows and reality makeover
shows with a good deal of frequency also: Survivor (X=2.50, SD=2.12,
1-5 scale); The Bachelor (X=1.77, SD=1.57, 1-5 scale); Extreme
Makeover (X=1.26, SD=1.35, 1-5 scale); The Swan (X=1.86, SD=1.89, 1-5
scale). When asked about the social acceptability of having plastic
surgery to improve their own appearance, for college women to improve
their appearance, and for American women in general to improve their
appearance, respondents indicated plastic surgery would be the most
acceptable for American women in general (X=3.72, SD=.80, 1-5 scale
with 5 representing greatest acceptability), followed by college
women their age (X=3.50, SD=.93), followed by themselves (X=2.90, SD=1.20).
Hypothesis Testing
The first hypothesis is the standard test of third-person perception,
testing the perceived effect of media on self and other target
groups. A series of paired t-tests were conducted to examine whether
respondents perceived various female target groups to be more
influenced by a photo of a thin-ideal swimsuit model than themselves
along cognitive (perceived ideal body weight), affective (self
esteem), and behavioral (likelihood to develop an eating disorder)
dimensions. An identical pattern was followed along each dimension:
respondents perceived college-aged, high-school-aged, and junior high
school-aged females to be more influenced than themselves, but
perceived elementary-aged girls as significantly less influenced by
the photo than themselves. Further, the largest perceptual gaps were
detected along the behavioral measure of likelihood to develop an
eating disorder. When the three items were combined into an additive
index, a similar pattern was seen (see Table 1). Similarly, we found
the college students in our sample much more likely to project
greater media effects on American women in general than themselves
for all three measures and the combined measure. For example,
college women projected media influence on their own body image to be
6.67 (SD=2.83) and projected media influence on American women's body
image to be 8.95 (SD=1.31). Paired t-tests reported significant
differences between all the groups. The greatest difference between
self and other target groups was found for the projected effects of
the media on the development of an eating disorder. Respondents'
projected effect on self was 3.67 (SD=3.17) and their projected
effects on American women in general was 6.98 (SD=1.72). Thus, the
traditional test of third-person perception was supported for all
target groups except for the youngest (elementary school girls), so
we report H1 was partially supported.
Taken in conjunction with the findings for H1, H2 was not completely
supported. It was predicted that the magnitude of the perceptual gap
between perceived effects on the self and perceived effects on
increasingly younger, and more distant, targets would
increase. Instead, a different pattern was established. As noted,
respondents perceived a first-person effect compared to
elementary-aged girls, the most socially distant group. Also, among
the three target groups respondents felt were more influenced than
themselves by the image of the thin-ideal model, the largest gap was
between the self and high school girls. For example, respondents'
projected media effect on their own body image was 6.67 (SD=2.83)
whereas their projected effect on high school girls was 9.29
(SD=1.16), junior high girls 8.64 (SD=1.71), and elementary school
girls 4.84 (SD=2.69). While the third-person effect was greater for
two of the other target groups, the conventional pattern related to
social distance was not followed.
The third hypothesis tested the first-person effect of the media but
predicted the effect would be greater among participants with higher
physique anxiety than among those with lower physique
anxiety. Responses to the SPA scale ranged from a low of 12 to a
high of 60. The variable was recoded and respondents with scores of
12-32 were placed in the "low" group, 33-41 in the "moderate" group,
and 42 and above in the "high" group on the physique anxiety
measure. A series of ANOVAS were run in order to examine the effect
of physique anxiety on individuals' perceived effects on themselves
(each individual effect and the three-item effects scale). As
predicted, greater dissatisfaction with one's own physique had a
significant effect on individuals' perceived effects of exposure to
the thin-ideal model's photograph (see Table 2). Bonferroni's
post-hoc tests indicated that all mean differences were significant,
except between "low" and "medium" groups on the behavioral (eating
disorder) measure.
The fourth hypothesis predicted the perceived media effect on self on
the three dimensions would be greater when the ethnicity of the
respondent and the thin-ideal model were the same rather than
different. A photograph of a white thin-ideal swimsuit model was used
in the study, and it was predicted that respondents who identified
themselves as white would perceive greater effects on themselves. A
series of t-tests were conducted to test this hypothesis(see Table
3). For the cognitive (ideal weight) and affective (self esteem)
items, and the three items scaled together, whites did in fact
perceive themselves to be more affected by the images similar to what
was shown than non-whites. However, for the behavioral measure
(eating disorder), the predicted relationship was not found. Thus,
H4 received partial support.
The fifth hypothesis tested the age-based dimension of social
distance, predicting that as the target groups were perceived to be
more socially distance from the self, the perceived acceptability of
plastic surgery would be greater. In this case, we projected greater
differences for the older target group, American women in general,
than for the target group similar to themselves in age, other college
women. Paired t-tests were run, and we found respondents to be much
more likely to believe it was acceptable for American women to have
plastic surgery, mean=3.72 (SD=.80, 1-5 scale with 5 representing the
greatest acceptability), followed by other college women, mean=3.50
(SD=.93), followed by themselves, mean=2.90 (SD=1.21). Paired
t-tests indicated the differences were significant between all
groups. When comparing respondents' likelihood to have specific
types of plastic surgery to enhance their body shape and size to
their perceived beliefs about American women and other college women
to do the same, paired t-tests indicated significant differences
between the groups as well. For example, the mean for respondents on
the likelihood to have plastic surgery scale was 29.21 (SD=7.82), and
respondents' perceived beliefs about American women in general having
plastic surgery was 54.75 (SD=10.74, p<.001). Similar differences
were found between self and the closer target group, other college
women: (X=50.24, SD=11.97, p<.001). Thus, the H5 was supported.
The research question examined the relationship between exposure to
reality makeover television programs and the projected beliefs that
other target groups would be more likely to have plastic surgery than
respondents. Exposure to reality programming was recoded into three
groups: low, medium and high. Respondents who reported viewing the
most reality makeover programming were more likely to endorse plastic
surgery in themselves (X=31.87, SD=8.88), compared to those in the
medium exposure group (X=29.85, SD=7.28), and compared to those in
the low exposure group (X=27.34, SD=8.25). Post-hoc bonferroni tests
indicated significant differences between the low and high exposure
groups but no significant differences were found between the high and
medium groups and medium and low groups. Respondents' beliefs about
American women and other college women having the same types of
plastic surgery followed similar patterns based on exposure to
reality programming. Respondents in the high reality makeover
exposure group were most likely to believe American women and college
women would have plastic surgery, followed by those in the medium
exposure group and the low exposure group. In this case as well, the
only significant differences were found between the low and high
exposure groups. Results suggest heavier exposure to reality
makeover programming may tend to influence women's perceptions about
the acceptability of having plastic surgery and further convince
women that "everyone else is doing it."
Discussion
While there is a great deal of literature available documenting the
behavioral effects of the mass media on patterns of
disordered-eating, a smaller band of literature examines third-person
perception as it relates to the media's effect on self and others'
body image distortion. Research examining the social effects of mass
media as it relates to body image distortion often considers some
behavioral components, specifically excessive dieting, bingeing, and
exercising, but little is known about the degree in which women turn
to plastic surgery to correct or reshape their bodies. Using a
survey of college women, we examined third-person perception as it
related to body image distortion in women. Participants were shown
an image of a thin-ideal swimsuit model and were asked to project how
repeated exposure to images like the one viewed would affect
themselves and others. We expanded the traditional test of
third-person perception by controlling for social physique anxiety, a
psychosocial scale that measures one's fear of his/her physique being
negatively evaluated by others, in order to determine if participants
high in physique anxiety would project greater effects on self than
on others. To a large degree, our findings suggest that the college
women in our sample predicted exposure to thin-ideal media would
affect other target groups more than themselves. Findings from our
test of the age-based dimension of social distance suggest that the
magnitude of the perceptual gap between perceived effects on the self
and target others who were younger and more socially distant did not
increase as predicted but decreased. Despite the lack of support for
this component of the test of third-person perception, we believe our
results contribute to knowledge in the area, specifically because
what we know about the media's effect on body image distortion in
women and girls continues to evolve.
We feel that controlling for social physique anxiety when testing for
third-person effects is one contribution to research related to
third-person effect. Beyond that, our findings have implications for
better understanding the effect the media have on body image
perceptions in women and girls by incorporating the behavioral
outcome of having plastic surgery. We examined the perceived effect
of thin-ideal media exposure on self and four other target groups,
including target others older and younger than self, for three
outcomes with differing degrees of undesirability: the effect on
ideal body weight perceptions, the effect on body self-esteem and the
effect on the likelihood to develop an eating disorder. For all
three outcomes, a significant third-person effect was observed for
all target groups except the youngest target group, elementary school
girls. Somewhat surprisingly though, the third-person perceptual gap
was the widest for the two groups least socially distance, American
women in general and high school girls. It is not too surprising to
find that women in our sample projected greater first-person effects
than third-person effects when considering elementary-aged girls
because it is quite possible many presume girls in third and fourth
grade do not spend a great deal of time obsessing about their body
shape and size and it may also be presumed they are not as influenced
by thin-ideal media because of a perceived lack of exposure to it.
However, Gibbon and Durkin's (1995) prediction about target groups
having fewer dispositional traits and personal characteristics in
which to process media content thus increasing the effect on the
target group, did not hold true with this study. Again, as noted,
perceived exposure may play an important role in the degree of
perceived effect on this specific target group. Our findings suggest
that the college women in our sample believe the media do in fact
have an effect on all women and girls' beliefs about ideal body
image, but the degree of effect may be predicated on age and
perceived exposure to the harmful media.
A secondary objective of this project was to examine college women's
beliefs about plastic surgery, specifically the belief that others
are more likely to resort to plastic surgery to fix problems related
to body shape and size. Our results related to endorsement in plastic
surgery in self and others are also interesting, simply because of
the lack of empirical research in the area. Our findings suggest the
college women in our sample tended to feel plastic surgery was not
acceptable for themselves but were a little more accepting of it for
other women their age and were significantly more accepting of it for
older women. With that in mind, participants were much more likely
to believe American women in general had either already had plastic
surgery or would certainly do so if money were not a
concern. Participants were less inclined to feel they would have
plastic surgery even if money were not a concern. However, these
beliefs were intensified when respondents were heavier viewers of
reality makeover television programs such as The Swan or Extreme Makeover.
It would certainly be a stretch to categorize reality makeover
television programs as harmful media, at least to the same extent as
violence and pornography have been categorized. Yet, we argue
researchers should continue to examine the effecs of this type of
media because of the popularity of the shows and the arguably harmful
messages presented. These types of reality television programs were
popular with our sample, and it is fairly safe to believe they are
somewhat popular with the public in general because they remain on
the air. The underlying premise of these makeover shows is to take
an "ugly duckling" or an "average girl" and turn her into a "swan" or
"beauty queen" with the help of a few plastic surgeons. It is not
uncommon for participants on these reality shows to receive a nose
job, cheek implants, new teeth, breast implants, liposuction, and a
tummy tuck, along with new hair, makeup and wardrobe. Solutions not
emphasized on many of these reality programs are diet and
exercise. Thus, repeated exposure to these types of programs may
increase the social acceptability of plastic surgery in general,
especially as a means of reshaping one's body shape and size.
We have several suggestions for future research: We feel this study
should be one of many addressing third-person perception as it
relates to disordered eating and body image distortion by continuing
to examine target groups identified in this study: women older than
the sample and girls significantly younger than the sample. Along
these lines, replicating this study with women of various ages might
yield interesting findings as it relates to the social distance
corollary. While we examined the more traditional test of
third-person effect, we expanded on the test by controlling for
important variables related to body image distortion and disordered
eating. We feel physique anxiety was an important control variable
when examining these types of effects because participants who felt
uncomfortable about their physique were more likely to believe the
media had a greater effect on themselves than on others. Along these
lines, better understanding participants' similarity or social
comparison to the media model may be another important control
variable as it may relate directly to the degree of first-person
effect. Since research in this specific area is fairly new, we feel
these ideas are one of several directions in which knowledge in the
area can be advanced.
Our results, to a large degree, resonate with others' work in similar
areas, and while our predictions were largely supported, this study
isn't without its limitations. While we collected data from men, we
did not include the results in this study. Gender certainly plays an
important role in third-person effects, especially as it relates to
the media's effect on body image distortion. We also failed to
include a measure of perceived exposure on the instrument. If we had
asked respondents about target others' perceived exposure to
thin-ideal media and reality makeover programming, we would have a
more solid baseline for perceived effects on these same target
groups. Finally, we feel our study could have been stronger if we
had asked a series of questions related to the social acceptability
of specific types of plastic surgery. Our measure was a more
generalized measure, and it is possible some forms of plastic surgery
may be perceived to be extreme, and thus less socially acceptable,
while other forms of plastic surgery may be perceived to be somewhat
acceptable.
Despite the limitations, the results here shed light on a small
portion of third-person effect research that hasn't received a great
deal of attention in the past, and most importantly, we contribute to
the current body of knowledge by extending the perceived behavioral
effects to an outcome that hasn't received a great deal of attention
in mass communication research. A very important consideration in
this study and future studies is the perceived "realness" of the
reality programming. Even though women and young girls may "know"
women they have seen in the reality programming have had plastic
surgery, college women still seem to be inclined to believe the
drastic measures to achieve the look are acceptable for some
people. With women and young girls choosing to watch these reality
shows in addition to being pummeled with "objectifying images"
(Harrison & Fredrickson, 2001, p.24) in other forms of entertainment
media, women and girls become "culturally conditioned…to hate their
bodies" (Pipher, 1994, p. 184). The goal for future research should
be to continue to find ways to combat the negative and/or harmful
messages often found in entertainment media and to find ways to keep
girls from destroying their physical and mental health at such early ages.
References
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