Does Media Type Matter? The Role of Identification in Adolescent Girls’ Media Consumption and the Impact of Different Thin-Ideal Media on Body Image

By Beth T. Bell, H. Dittmar. 2011

158 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Previous research on media exposure and body image focuses on TV and magazines, rather than the under researched types of media heavily consumed by adolescents, such as music videos. The present research, involving 199 adolescent girls (aged 14–16) from South-East England, examines girls’ media consumption (types and genres) and identification with media models, then uses an exposure experiment to investigate whether the different media formats in which ‘body perfect’ ideals are presented affects their impact on body image. “Study 1” showed that neither type nor amount of media use was related to body dissatisfaction, however media model identification was. “Study 2” demonstrated that regardless of media type, experimental exposure to the body perfect led to significantly higher body and appearance dissatisfaction, compared to control images, but primarily amongst those girls who strongly identified with media models. Theoretical and intervention implications are discussed.

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Citations in the corpus

When media become the mirror: a meta-analysis on media and body image (2020, background): “Since only few studies (e.g., Bell & Dittmar, 2011; Murnen & Kohlman, 2007) have demonstrated whether media type would differ in their effects on audiences’ body image concerns, it is necessary for the present study to conduct a systematic comparison between different media types in which an ideal…”
The Mediating Role of Appearance Comparisons in the Relationship Between Media Usage and Self-Objectification in Young Women (2015, background): “Although there is evidence to suggest that magazine usage is declining among young women (Bell & Dittmar, 2011), this demographic has reported spending large amounts of time on Facebook (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013).”
Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research (2014, background): “Research, primarily conducted in the U.S., UK, and Australia, has obtained considerable evidence for media effects on thinness ideals and body dissatisfaction (see Bell and Dittmar 2011 for a study conducted in the UK).”