Body talk and the internalization of the ideal body image: examination based on the tripartite influence model

Based on the tripartite influence model, this longitudinal study investigated the relationship between body talk and the internalization of ideal body images, mainly focusing on female university students. It was hypothesized that negative fat talk and positive body talk would interact with exposure to thin-ideal images on the internet to influence the internalization of the thin ideal, leading to body fat dissatisfaction among women. This study also tested the hypothesis that negative muscle talk-a form of body talk focusing on dissatisfaction with one's muscularity-would be associated with the internalization of athletes' bodies, which corresponds to a toned or mesomorphic physique, among women.

We conducted a two-wave longitudinal study over a 4-week interval with female (n = 386, mean age = 19.22 years) and male students (n = 216, mean age = 19.62 years) who completed self-report measures assessing frequency of body talk, the internalization of the thin ideal or athletes' bodies, exposure to thin-ideal images on the internet, and body dissatisfaction.

Path analyses conducted separately by gender revealed no significant interaction between baseline body talk and exposure to thin-ideal images in predicting the internalization of the thin ideal four weeks later. However, exposure to thin-ideal images directly predicted increased internalization of the thin ideal for both genders after controlling for baseline levels. Exposure to thin-ideal images indirectly predicted body fat dissatisfaction through increased thin-ideal internalization among women. Additionally, baseline negative muscle talk was associated with increased internalization of athletes' bodies for women only. Among men, baseline negative fat talk was positively related to the subsequent internalization of athletes' bodies.

Negative fat talk and positive body talk did not moderate the effect of exposure to thin-ideal images on the internalization of the thin ideal. In contrast, exposure to thin-ideal images emerged as a significant factor in promoting the internalization of the thin ideal. Among women, negative muscle talk promoted the internalization of athletes' bodies. These findings may advance future research in eating disorder pathology and media psychology.