The impact of media images of super-slender women on women's self-esteem: Identification, social comparison, and self-perception

Some women enjoy examining media depictions of extremely slender models, while others find such depictions produce feelings of inadequacy. The two reactions appear to reflect differences in the impact of bodily information in generating feelings. Forty-one women were randomly assigned to view pictures of slender or normal-weight models and to respond to scales measuring body esteem and self-esteem. The importance of personal, bodily cues in feeling processes was also determined by inducing the women to adopt facial expressions of emotion and assessing whether their feelings changed to match their expressions. Among women whose emotions were based on personal cues, looking at slender models produced lower self-esteem and satisfaction with their weight as compared to women viewing more robust models, apparently reflecting social-comparison processes. Among women unresponsive to personal cues, looking at slender models increased self-esteem and satisfaction with their weight, apparently due to identification. (C) 2000 Academic Press.