Magazine Exposure Research Articles

The Bayes rule of the parameter in (0,1) under Zhang’s loss function with an application to the beta-binomial model

For the restricted parameter space (0,1), we propose Zhang’s loss function which satisfies all the 7 properties for a good loss function on (0,1). We then calculate the Bayes rule (estimator), the posterior expectation, the integrated risk, and the Bayes risk of the parameter in (0,1) under Zhang’s loss function. We also calculate the usual Bayes estimator under the squared error loss function, and the Bayes estimator has been proved to underestimate the Bayes estimator under Zhang’s loss function. Finally, the numerical simulations and a real data example of some monthly magazine exposure data exemplify our theoretical studies of two size relationships about the Bayes estimators and the Posterior Expected Zhang’s Losses (PEZLs).

Media ideals and other-sex peer norms among Belgian early adolescents: equating self-worth with attractiveness

The purpose of this study was to investigate how total amount of television and magazine exposure and heterosocial involvement (i.e., mixed-sex interactions) relate to the endorsement of dysfunctional appearance beliefs. We anticipated a double dose effect in that exposure to media would be related to more dysfunctional appearance beliefs among those who are frequently involved in mixed-sex interactions. A total of 1976 early adolescent boys and girls (Mage = 11.77; SD = 1.04) participated in a cross-sectional study. Results indicated that the internalization of appearance ideals and appearance expectations of opposite-sex peers mediated the association between amount of television and magazine exposure and the endorsement of dysfunctional appearance beliefs. Heterosocial involvement did not, however, strengthen the influence of media exposure on early adolescents’ body image.

The Bayes rule of the parameter in (0,1) under the power-log loss function with an application to the beta-binomial model

ABSTRACTWe propose the power-log loss function plotted in Figure 1 for the restricted parameter space , which satisfies all the six properties listed in Table 1 for a good loss function on . In particular, the power-log loss function penalizes gross overestimation and gross underestimation equally, is convex in its argument, and attains its global minimum at the true unknown parameter. The power-log loss function on is an analog of the power-log loss function on , which is the popular Stein's loss function. We then calculate the Bayes rule (estimator) of the parameter in under the power-log loss function, the posterior expected power-log loss (PEPLL) at the Bayes estimator, and the integrated risk under the power-log loss (IRPLL) at the Bayes estimator, which is also the Bayes risk under the power-log loss (BRPLL). We also calculate the usual Bayes estimator under the squared error loss, which has been proved to be larger than that under the power-log loss. Next, we analytically calculate the Bayes estimators and the PEPLL at the Bayes estimators under a beta-binomial model. Finally, the numerical simulations and a real data example of some monthly magazine exposure data exemplify our theoretical studies of two size relationships about the Bayes estimators and the PEPLLs.

Linking Magazine Exposure to Social Appearance Anxiety: The Role of Appearance Norms in Early Adolescence.

Early adolescents (N=1,591; Mage =11.698; SD=0.892) participated in a two-wave panel study (6-month interval) to examine the longitudinal association between appearance-focused magazine exposure and social appearance anxiety. We revealed that magazine exposure positively correlated with the internalization of appearance ideals and the attribution of social rewards to attractiveness which, in turn, related to social appearance anxiety. Internalization and attribution of social rewards formed a reinforcing spiral; once internalized, early adolescents associate positive things with appearance ideals (e.g., peer acceptance) and the perception of rewards increases early adolescents' inclination to internalize ideals. Given the adverse consequences of social appearance anxiety, the findings warrant research on the role of media in the occurrence of social appearance anxiety.

Thought-shape fusion in young healthy females appears after vivid imagination of thin ideals

Background and objectivesIt has been shown that exposure to female thin ideals in media has minimal to moderate direct effects on body image satisfaction (BIS), mood and dysfunctional eating in healthy young women. Evidence has been found for several intervening variables such as social comparison processes. Accordingly it is assumed, that cognitive processing (rather than mere media exposure) is crucial. Consequently, vivid imagination of thin ideals after exposure to a fashion magazine was induced in order to trigger cognitive processes. Changes in mood, BIS and resulting bodyrelated cognitive distortions (Thought-Shape Fusion Body, TSF-B) were assessed. MethodsA total of 91 healthy women (mean age 21.9 years, SD = 2.0) were exposed to either a fashion magazine (thin-ideal group) or a nature magazine (control group) in a waiting room design. Afterwards they were instructed to vividly imagine either the thin ideals or landscapes. ResultsWhen exposed to thin ideals, a significant decrease in mood and BIS emerged after vivid imagination, but not after mere magazine exposure. Imagining thin ideals triggered body-related cognitive distortions (TSF-B). A higher degree of eating disorder (ED) symptomatology amplified this effect. LimitationsThese findings apply to young healthy females and cannot be generalized to samples with obesity, EDs or males. Internal validity is limited since the intensity of the exposure has not been systematically controlled. ConclusionsVivid imagination of thin ideals promoted by magazines results in impaired mood and BIS and moreover in body-related cognitive distortions (TSF-B) in healthy women, especially, for those with stronger ED symptomatology.

Magazine Exposure and Body Dissatisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Thin Ideal Internalization and Fat Talk

The current research sought to investigate whether exposure to societal ideals via magazines is associated with thin ideal internalization, the prevalence of fat talk, and body dissatisfaction. Specifically, this study explored the relationship between magazine exposure and body dissatisfaction through a two-part mediation effect of thin ideal internalization and fat talk in serial. Female participants completed an online questionnaire in regard to fashion, health, and sports magazine exposure, as well as internalization, fat talk, and body dissatisfaction. The mediated models revealed that fashion and health magazines were associated with higher body dissatisfaction, and sports magazines were associated with lower body dissatisfaction. Connecting fat talk to media exposure suggests that women may be advocating and perpetuating the messages they view in media, signifying that both interpersonal and mass communication work together in cultivating the thin ideal.

Mirroring the Media: The Relationship Between Media Consumption, Media Internalization, and Profile Picture Characteristics on Facebook

Social cognitive theory suggests that stereotypes of attractiveness from mainstream media may function as models for online profile pictures. The present study explores the relationship between media consumption, internalization, and body-ism, clothing, and gaze through a content analysis of the Facebook profile pictures of 288 students, and a survey to assess their media consumption and internalization. The relationship between magazine exposure and pictures was mediated by internalization: magazine readers who internalized media ideals were more likely to select pictures showing their body in revealing clothing. Television viewing had a direct effect on picture selection, but was not mediated by internalization.

Media Exposure, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating in Middle-aged Women

The primary aim of our study was to examine the influence of media exposure on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in middle-aged women. A sample of 101 women, aged between 35 and 55 years, completed questionnaire measures of media exposure, thin-ideal internalization, social comparison, appearance investment, aging anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating. Television, but not magazine exposure, was positively related to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. In contrast, both television and magazine exposure were positive correlates of all four proposed media-processing variables (internalization, social comparison, appearance investment, and aging anxiety), which were themselves positive correlates of both body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Structural equation modelling revealed that the influence of media exposure was fully mediated by the proposed media processes. The analyses also indicated that our proposed sociocultural model of disordered eating provided a reasonably good fit to the data, suggesting that sociocultural theory can be extended to women of middle-age. An important practical implication of this finding is that strategies aimed at challenging and minimizing these media processes may reduce some of the negative impact of media exposure in middle-aged women.

The Association Between Exposure to Mass Media and Body Dissatisfaction Among Spanish Adolescents

Objectives Correlational research has found associations between magazine and television exposure and body dissatisfaction. However, this relation is not direct, and various psychological variables may moderate and/or mediate this relation, such as awareness and internalization of the thin ideals, comparing oneself with ideal body image or self-esteem, as well as the patient’s body mass index (BMI). The aim of this study was to assess the association between magazine and television exposure and body dissatisfaction among Spanish adolescents by gender. A second aim was to determine the predictors of body dissatisfaction by gender. Methods A cross-sectional national survey of 1,165 Spanish secondary students aged 14 to 16 years was conducted. Frequency exposure and type of TV program/magazine as well as other psychological variables, such as thin-ideal internalization and self-esteem, were associated with high levels of body dissatisfaction (BD) based on a cutoff point of 16 or above on the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) by gender. Multiple linear regressions were used to examine associations between body dissatisfaction, mass media topic exposure, BMI, and psychological variables. Results Mass media exposure to a specific kind of content, rather than to total exposure frequency, was more associated with body dissatisfaction in females versus males. In males, five factors accounted for 35% of the total variance of body dissatisfaction and were associated with lower TV and magazine exposure to fitness topics and lower self-esteem and with greater BMI, disordered eating behaviors, and awareness of the thin ideal. For females, high body dissatisfaction was associated with greater internalization of the thin ideal, disordered eating behaviors, BMI, and lower self-esteem (54% of total variance explained). Conclusion There does not seem to be a clear association between media exposure and body dissatisfaction. Further research is necessary to enhance our understanding of how the media’s role affects adolescents’ awareness and internalization of the thin ideals, which may in turn lead to the development of body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight control behaviors.

The mass media exposure and disordered eating behaviours in Spanish secondary students

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between disordered eating behaviours/attitudes and mass media exposure in a cross-sectional national survey of 1165 Spanish secondary students (age between 14 and 16 years). A battery of questionnaires were used to investigate mass media influence, body dissatisfaction, physical appearance, sociocultural attitudes and self-esteem. Likewise, the EAT-26 questionnaire was used to assess disordered eating behaviours/attitudes, identifying that 6.6% (n = 32) of the male and 13.6% (n = 68) of the female students reached a cut-off point of 20 or above. The main finding was that female and male adolescents with disordered eating showed an increased exposure to TV and magazine sections related to body image, specifically regarding music video channels, in comparison with those without eating disordered, gender-matched counterparts. However, findings indicate that media exposure was different to some degree between males and females with disordered eating behaviour. Males with disordered eating behaviours and attitudes were associated with higher TV and magazine exposure to health sections and also greater body dissatisfaction, internalisation of the thin-ideal and social and appearance comparison. In females, disordered eating was associated with higher TV and magazine exposure to dieting, fashion and sport sections, greater body dissatisfaction, internalisation and awareness of the thin-ideal and lower self-esteem. Understanding the mechanism involved in the media exposure's influence on adolescents is critical in preventing disordered eating.

Magazine exposure, tanned women stereotypes, and tanning attitudes

This study investigated whether magazine exposure is related to stereotypical beliefs about tanned women. A survey of White college women ( n = 205) assessed their exposure to beauty/fashion and health/fitness magazines. Outcome variables were the beliefs that tanned women are fashionable, fit, and shallow. Attention to the tanned women's images in health magazines positively predicted the belief that tanned women are fit and that tanned women are shallow; in contrast, attention to the images in beauty magazine negatively predicted the belief that tanned women are fit. Number of beauty magazines women read negatively predicted the belief that tanned women are shallow. The belief that tanned women are fit was unrelated, but the belief that tanned women are shallow was negatively related, with tanning attitudes.

Male Body Image: The Role of Muscle Magazine Exposure, Body Mass Index, and Social Comparison in Men's Body Satisfaction

Unrealistic images of male beauty are on the rise (e.g., Baghurst, Hollander, Nardella, & Haff, 2006). However, research on male body image tends to assume that the same theoretical models used to account for body satisfaction in women are appropriate for men (e.g., McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004). Few have tested the assumption that female-typical models can be applied to men. Three variables have proven instrumental in accounting for body satisfaction in women: (a) exposure to relevant content, (b) BMI, and (c) social comparison (e.g., Blond, 2008). We present an exploratory study, using path modeling, to simultaneously assess the relative impact of each of these on body satisfaction in young men.

The Role of Lad Magazines in Priming Men’s Chronic and Temporary Appearance-Related Schemata: An Investigation of Longitudinal and Experimental Findings

We present a program of research investigating the effects of lad magazines on male body self-consciousness and appearance anxiety. Study 1, based on panel data from undergraduate men, showed that lad magazine exposure in Year 1 predicted body self-consciousness in Year 2. Study 2 was an experiment that showed that men assigned to view objectified women in lad magazines reported significantly higher levels of appearance anxiety and appearance-related motivations for exercise than men assigned to view male fashion models. We speculated that participants believed that to be romantically successful with these women would require them to conform to an idealized appearance standard. Study 3 replicated the finding that exposure to sexually objectified women primed body self-consciousness, and it further showed that this effect was mediated by romantic confidence.

Exposure to ‘lad magazines’ and drive for muscularity in dating and non-dating young men

Existing research argues that the muscular male body ideal, often promoted in the media, is associated with male body dissatisfaction and increasingly problematic attempts to attain unrealistic body shape by young males. The present study sought to examine the influence of “lad magazines”, a highly popular media sector over the last decade, and also the role of dating, or relationship, status, on the association between internalization of appearance ideals and drive for muscularity. One hundred and Sixty-one males between the ages of 18 and 36 from a UK university completed measures of exposure to lad magazines, eating disturbance, sociocultural attitudes towards appearance, and drive for muscularity. Internalization of appearance ideals was found to be a possible mediator of the relationship between lad magazine exposure and both drive for muscularity and eating disturbance. These effects were significantly stronger among non-dating males, suggesting that, especially for single men, preoccupation with attaining the ideal male body may be enhanced by the use of media that promote traditional masculine ideals.

59: Relations Among Media Exposure, Internalization, and Body Dissatisfaction for White and Asian-American Females

Body dissatisfaction is a key risk factor for the development of eating disorders. Although media exposure is associated with body dissatisfaction for White females who subscribe to, or internalize, the Western thin-ideal, little is known about these associations for Asian-Americans, one of the fastest-growing yet least studied U.S. minority groups. To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the associations between (1) media exposure and body dissatisfaction, and (2) media exposure and internalization of the thin-ideal, for Whites and Asian college females. Moreover, (3) we tested the hypothesis that, as with Whites, internalization of the Western thin-ideal mediates the association between media exposure and body dissatisfaction for Asian-Americans. Participants were 289 college undergraduate females (44.5% White; 52.2% Asian) who completed surveys. Groups did not differ on age (mean 20.48, SD = 1.52) or body mass index (mean 21.98, SD = 3.43). We used hierarchical regression to test associations. Magazine exposure, but not TV exposure, was significantly associated with body dissatisfaction (p < 0.01) and with internalization of the thin-ideal (p < 0.001) for Whites and Asians. As hypothesized, aspects of internalization of the thin-ideal mediated the association between magazine exposure and body dissatisfaction in both groups. Specifically, for Whites, the relation between media exposure and body dissatisfaction was explained in part by perceived pressure to conform to the thin-ideal (p < 0.001), one key aspect of thin-ideal internalization. In the Asian group, however, two key aspects of internalization were found to partly account for the media exposure-body dissatisfaction relation: perceived pressure to conform to the thin-ideal (p < 0.001) and internalization of the media-prescribed athletic ideal (p < 0.01). Ethnicity and culture do not seem to protect against the influence of Western media exposure for Asian females. The results suggest that Asian-American young women are as vulnerable to the development of eating disorders as their White peers. It is likely, however, that this risk often goes undetected because of stereotypical perceptions that Asians are the “model minority” or because Asian women are thought to be naturally thin (Lau et al., 2006). Research has shown, for example, that Asian-American women who use laxatives are significantly less likely to be recommended for clinical evaluation (Franko et al., 2007). Clinicians serving this population should be cognizant of this risk and should treat appropriately. In addition, future research is warranted on treatment approaches that are most effective for this population.

Gaming magazines and the drive for muscularity in preadolescent boys: A longitudinal examination

The development of a drive for muscularity among boys has been linked to various cultural influences, one of which is exposure to mass media depicting the muscular male body ideal. We sought to determine whether self-reported exposure to four ideal-body magazine genres (health/fitness, fashion, sports, and gaming) predicted an increased drive for muscularity 1 year later. A sample of 104 Black and 77 White preadolescent boys (mean age 8.77) participated in a 2-wave longitudinal panel study. Controlling Wave 1 grade, perceived thinness/adiposity, and drive for muscularity, exposure to video gaming magazines predicted a significant increase in Wave 2 drive for muscularity, but only for White boys. Discussion calls for the inclusion of video gaming magazine exposure measures in future research on print media and male body ideals, along with empirical exploration of racial themes in gaming magazines.

Childhood obesity stigma: Association with television, videogame, and magazine exposure

Although the stigmatization of obesity among children is highly prevalent, its origins and relationship to mass media exposure are largely unknown. Ninety boys and 171 girls aged 10–13 years (mean BMI = 19.84) were asked to rank, in order of liking, 12 figures of peers depicted both with and without various disabilities or obesity, and to rate their attitudes towards the obese child on visual analogue scales. Weekly time spent watching television, watching videogames, and reading magazines on weekdays and weekends was assessed. Total media use, magazine use, and videogame use were significantly correlated with more negative reactions to obese girls and boys. Regression analyses revealed that greater dislike of obese children relative to their non-overweight peers was uniquely predicted by magazine reading time. Thus, media exposure was associated with stigmatizing attitudes towards obese children. Mass media sources may lead children to devalue and stigmatize peers with above-average body weights.

Sociocultural Influences and Body Image in 9 to 12-Year-Old Girls: The Role of Appearance Schemas

This study tested whether an individual's beliefs about the importance of appearance in their life is a mediator of sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction in young girls. Participants were 265 girls in Grades 4 to 7 (M age = 10.71 years) from 5 private primary schools in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Girls completed questionnaire measures of appearance television and magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations, autonomy, appearance schemas, and body dissatisfaction. Appearance media exposure and peer appearance conversations were negatively related to body esteem, and autonomy positively predicted body esteem. Most important, appearance schemas mediated between all sociocultural variables and body dissatisfaction.

Effects of Mass Communication on Attitudes toward Anabolic Steroids: An Analysis of High School Seniors

Drawing on a national probability sample of high school seniors (n = 2,560), this research explores relationships between exposure to four types of mass communication—magazines, movies, newspapers, and television—and attitudes toward anabolic steroids, operationalized along three dependent measures. Logistic regression analyses revealed statistically significant relationships among (a) magazine exposure and estimates of drug use in professional sports, (b) newspaper and television exposure and disapproval of steroid use, (c) newspaper exposure and estimates of self-inflicted harm caused by steroid use, and (d) exposure to anti-drug spots and each of the three dependent variables. Theoretical and methodological implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Media Exposure, Current and Future Body Ideals, and Disordered Eating Among Preadolescent Girls: A Longitudinal Panel Study

Internalization of the thin body ideal is considered by many to account for the relationship between media exposure and disordered eating among girls and young women, but almost all supporting research has employed adolescent and adult samples. Using longitudinal panel survey data collected from 257 preadolescent girls at 2 points in time 1 year apart, we tested relationships between self-reported television and magazine exposure at wave 1 and current (prepubescent) and future (postpubescent) body ideals and disordered eating at wave 2. Controlling age, race, perceived body size, and body ideals and disordered eating measured at wave 1, television viewing at wave 1 predicted increased disordered eating and a thinner postpubescent body ideal at wave 2. In contrast, none of the media variables predicted a thinner prepubescent body ideal at wave 2. These findings suggest that the thin-ideal internalization construct needs refinement to enhance its developmental sensitivity.