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Dale L. Cusumano and J. Kevin Thompson1
Three aspects of a sociocultural influence on appearance-media exposure, awareness of societal ideals, and internalization of sociocultural messages-were assessed in college females (75% White, 7% Black, 10% Hispanic, 7% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1% other) and related to measures of body image disturbance, eating dysfunction, and overall self-esteem. The exposure variable consisted of an empirically derived index of coded body shape images from magazines specifically selected because of their high readership in the tested sample of females. Awareness of societal pressures regarding appearance and internalization of these messages were measured with the two subscales of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire. Correlational and regression analyses failed to find any relationship between simple exposure and indices of body image, eating dysfunction, and self-esteem. Awareness of societal pressures was a significant predictor in regression analyses; however, internalization of social standards of appearance accounted for significant and substantial levels of variance beyond that explained by awareness. The findings are discussed in light of recent cognitive-behavioral and psychoeducational interventions for body image disturbance.
A large number of theories have been offered to explain the development and maintenance of body image disturbance (Heinberg, 1996). Perhaps the most empirically supported approach is a sociocultural model, which identifies social pressure as the impetus behind an individual's need to conform to body shape standards (Fallon, 1990; Stormer & Thompson, 1996). Social endorsements of an ideal body shape, such as those found in print and film media formats, have been related to body image disturbance (Altabe & Thompson, 1996; Heinberg & Thompson, 1995) as well as implicated in the development of eating disorders (Fallon, 1990; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, & Stein, 1994).
In perhaps the classic investigation in this area of research, Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, and Thompson (1980) examined the changing body shape of Playboy centerfolds. Playboy magazine was selected for this study because its models were considered to epitomize the female body shape ideal. The researchers collected bust and hip measurements as well as weights of centerfolds for a 20-year period (1959-1978). An initial examination of the mean weight for the centerfolds indicated a weight significantly lower than that of the average female for the same time period. Similarly, an analysis revealed a decrease...