Magazine exposure: Internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students

The relationships among magazine exposure, self-objectification, body shape dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology in men and women were investigated. Women reading beauty magazines and men reading fitness magazines internalized societal ideals (internalization). For women, beauty magazines predicted self-objectification, mediated by internalization. For men, only internalization predicted self-objectification. For men, fitness magazines predicted body shape dissatisfaction, mediated by internalization. For women, only internalization predicted body shape dissatisfaction. Reading magazines also predicted eating problems for men and women, for women this was mediated by internalization. These findings suggest that magazine reading is related to concerns with physical appearance and eating behaviours. Many of the relationships previously found for women are similar for men. A sociocultural model is used to explain these results.