Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Idealized media images and adolescent body image: "comparing" boys and girls
Duane A Hargreaves1, Marika Tiggemann
1School of Psychology, Flinders University of South Australia, G.P.O. Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia.
Abstract:
Sociocultural theories of body image suggest that body dissatisfaction results from unrealistic societal beauty ideals, and one way of transmitting these ideals is through the mass media. The present research aimed to examine the effect of exposure to images of idealized beauty in the media on adolescent girls' and boys' body image. The participants (595 adolescents) viewed television commercials containing either images of the thin ideal for women, images of the muscular ideal for men, or non-appearance television commercials. Body dissatisfaction was measured before and after commercial viewing. It was found that exposure to idealized commercials led to increased body dissatisfaction for girls but not for boys. Idealized commercials led to increased negative mood and appearance comparison for girls and boys, although the effect on appearance comparison was stronger for girls. Further, participants high on appearance investment reported greater appearance comparison after viewing idealized commercials than those less strongly invested in their appearance. The results suggest the immediate impact of the media on body image is both stronger and more normative for girls than for boys, but that some boys may also be affected.
Related Concept Videos
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Signs of Puberty
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Anorexia Nervosa
Symptoms and Physical Effects
Individuals with anorexia nervosa commonly exhibit extreme...

