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Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Sexting as the mirror on the wall: Body-esteem attribution, media models, and objectified-body consciousness
Dora Bianchi1, Mara Morelli2, Roberto Baiocco1
1Department of Developmental & Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Sexting motivations during adolescence are related to developmental dimensions-such as sexual identity and body-image development-or harmful intentions-such as aggression among peers and partners. Sociocultural and media models can affect explorations of sexuality and redefinitions of body image, which in turn are related to sexting behaviors and motivations. In this study, we investigated the roles of body-esteem attribution, the internalization of media models, and body objectification as predictors of three sexting motivations: sexual purposes, body-image reinforcement, and instrumental/aggravated reasons. The participants were 190 Italian adolescents aged from 13 to 20 years old (Mage = 17.4, SDage = 1.8; 44.7% females). Sexual purposes were predicted by body-esteem attribution and body objectification; body-image reinforcement was predicted by the internalization of media models, and instrumental/aggravated reasons were not predicted by any variable. Thus, only sexual purposes and body-image reinforcement appeared to be affected by body-image concerns due to media models.
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