The Benefits and Trajectory of Digital Editing-Based Media Literacy Among Girls

Abstract

The societal thin-ideal for women is damaging to the body image of both adults and children. Women representing this thin-ideal in the media are now digitally edited (airbrushed/Photoshopped), creating unachievable goals. A growing body of literature has proposed media literacy training and investigation to help combat the damage of these images on body image. This study assessed the knowledge and impact of digital editing in four female age groups (i.e., 3rd grade, 7th grade, 11th grade, and college students) collected in the U.S. state of Ohio. A within-subjects experimental design both extended previous work on media literacy by examining body image pre- and postexposure to edited images and investigated digital editing knowledge reflection as an intervention on body image harm. The current study also assessed the digital editing knowledge of all participants, creating an age trajectory. College-age emerging adults’ body image decreased after exposure to digitally edited images. However, this decline in body image was smaller when engaging in digital editing reflection. On average, younger participants did not show a decrease in body image after exposure. Results also indicated that girls begin to learn about digital editing around 12 to 13 years of age.