The Thick and the Thin of It: Contextual Effects in Body Perception

Abstract

This research investigated how and when exposure to different body contexts alters body ideals used in judgment. University students judged the width and pleasantness of human figures, with context manipulated by presenting mostly narrow or mostly wide forms. In Experiment 1, silhouettes were presented simultaneously on the page. In Experiment 2, figures were presented successively on a computer screen as detailed pictures. In both experiments, width ratings were consistent with A. Parducci's (1995) range-frequency theory, which predicted the same figure is judged thinner in the wide context. Pleasantness ratings were well described by an ideal-point model that used a gaussian similarity function, with the ideal shifting to a narrower width in the narrow context. The assimilative shifts in ideals with mere exposure to a small set of contextual stimuli supports the hypothesis that mass media presentations of ultrathin individuals may lead women to adopt a "thin ideal" in judging themselves and others. Although exposure to narrow or wide sets of figures had no consistent effect on measures of body satisfaction, individual differences in body satisfaction were related to ideal-point shifts. Women who were dissatisfied with their own bodies consistently used thin ideals to judge body images and were insensitive to the contextual manipulation of body image.