Date of Graduation

Summer 2011

Degree

Master of Science in Health Promotion and Wellness Management

Department

Public Health and Sports Medicine

Committee Chair

Sarah McCallister

Abstract

This study investigated college females' general body dissatisfaction and the effects a health disclaimer attached to an airbrushed advertised image of a female model may have on the college females' way of social comparison, internalization of the thin-ideal, and present body dissatisfaction, when compared to an image without such posted health disclaimer. To investigate males' perspective on such topic, additional questions were posed to explore male's preference of female body type and attitudes toward societal pressures. A sample of 20 women were interviewed and were presented images of various female models with and without a health disclaimer. A sample of 20 men were interviewed and were presented two images of female models of different stature. The women did not show any significant change in their body dissatisfaction regardless of the presence of a health disclaimer. The men, as expected, chose the female model of an average healthy stature as more attractive than the model of ultra-thin stature.

Keywords

body image, body image disturbance, body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, social comparison

Subject Categories

Health and Medical Administration

Copyright

© Emily Renee Hegg

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Campus Only

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