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Relationships Amongst Body Dissatisfaction, Internalisation of the Media

Body Ideal and Perceived Pressure from Media in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Article in Body Image · December 2007

DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.06.007 · Source: PubMed

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 Author's personal copy

Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360

www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage

Relationships amongst body dissatisfaction, internalisation

of the media body ideal and perceived pressure from
media in adolescent girls and boys
Christine Knauss a,b, Susan J. Paxton a,*, Françoise D. Alsaker b
a
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne 3086, Australia
b
Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland
Received 16 January 2007; received in revised form 15 May 2007; accepted 21 June 2007

Abstract
Sociocultural factors that underpin gender differences in body dissatisfaction have not frequently been explored. We examined
the relative contribution of internalization of media body ideals and perceived pressure to achieve this ideal in explaining body
dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls. A sample of 819 boys and 791 girls completed measures of internalization of body
ideals, perceived pressure, body mass index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction. As expected, girls showed higher body dissatisfaction,
internalization and pressure than boys. Internalization, pressure and BMI contributed to the prediction of body dissatisfaction in
boys and in girls although these variables explained less variance in body dissatisfaction in boys. In addition, for girls the strongest
predictor of body dissatisfaction was internalization, whilst for boys the strongest predictor was pressure. Differences in extent of
internalization and pressure may contribute to higher body dissatisfaction in girls than boys. These sociocultural factors may affect
girls and boys differently.
# 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Gender differences; Adolescents; Body dissatisfaction; Internalization; Pressure

Introduction differences in body image that 40% of females and 22%

of males were not satisfied with their body. Results from
Many studies have shown that body dissatisfaction is a representative sample of 7420 adolescents in the Swiss
highly prevalent during adolescence (e.g., Kostanski, Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health (Narring
Fisher, & Gullone, 2004; Ricciardelli & McCabe, et al., 2004) showed that nearly 50% of girls and 18% of
2001). Moreover, there has been substantial empirical boys were not satisfied with their body. Wardle and
evidence indicating that girls show greater body Marsland (1990) found similar results with 47% of girls
dissatisfaction than boys (e.g., Barker & Galambos, and 72% of boys being satisfied with their body.
2003; Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, & Paxton, 2006; Whilst body dissatisfaction in girls is mostly related
Kostanski et al., 2004; Muth & Cash, 1997). Muth and to a desire to be thinner (Kostanski et al., 2004;
Cash (1997) found in their study focusing on gender Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001; Wardle & Marsland,
1990), in boys, body dissatisfaction is related either to a
desire to lose or gain weight or to be more muscular
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 3 94791736;
(Cohane & Pope, 2001; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001;
fax: +61 3 94791956. Smolak, Levine, & Thompson, 2001; Smolak & Stein,
E-mail address: [email protected] (S.J. Paxton). 2006). Although gender differences in frequency and

1740-1445/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.06.007
 Author's personal copy

354 C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360

intensity of body-image concerns are widely recog- stronger influence on body image than biological
nized, few studies have examined attitudes and beliefs factors such as BMI (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2003).
that might contribute to these differences or the manner Although there are distinct body ideals for males and
in which they operate. To address these issues, the females presented in media and it has been suggested
present study aimed to compare the extent of that both girls and boys are influenced by these ideals
internalization of media body ideals, and the pressure (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2003; Smolak et al., 2001),
to conform to these ideals, in adolescent girls and boys. research suggests that boys and girls do not respond to
One explanation for gender differences in body the media presentations with the same intensity
dissatisfaction is that there is greater sociocultural (Presnell et al., 2004). Adolescent girls frequently
emphasis placed on physical attractiveness for girls and report an increase in body dissatisfaction following
women in Western society (McKinley, 1999), and exposure to idealised female images (Durkin & Paxton,
Switzerland is no exception in this respect. Media 2002; Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002; Hargreaves &
images create a beauty standard for girls in which a Tiggemann, 2004), whilst boys show no increase in
perfect, thin, body is central. However, the thin ideal body dissatisfaction after exposure to idealised images
propagated in media is generally unattainable (Wise- of young men (Arbour & Ginis, 2006; Hargreaves &
man, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992). It has been Tiggemann, 2004; Humphreys & Paxton, 2004).
suggested that the discrepancy between actual and ideal In addition to media exposure, more subjective
body can result in body dissatisfaction (Durkin & indicators of the influence of media such as inter-
Paxton, 2002; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff- nalization of the body ideal and perceived pressure from
Dunn, 1999). Not surprisingly, under these circum- media have been shown to be directly related to body
stances, larger body size has consistently been observed dissatisfaction (Thompson et al., 1999). Internalization
to predict greater body dissatisfaction in girls (e.g., of media ideals can be understood as the adoption of
Barker & Galambos, 2003; Jones, 2004; Paxton, socially defined ideals as presented by media as a
Eisenberg, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2006; Presnell, Bear- personal standard (Jones, 2004). The internalization of
man, & Stice, 2004). externally presented images and the acceptance and
In recent years, boys too have been presented with a adoption of these societal body ideals can affect
proliferation of images of the ideal male body by media attitudes and behaviour (Thompson et al., 1999).
(e.g., Rohlinger, 2002). Rather than a very thin ideal, Self-concept research has indicated that although body
boys are presented with a lean, muscular ideal body and image is relatively stable, it can be influenced by the
this ideal has become more muscular over time (Leit, internalization of images presented by media (Deu-
Pope, & Gray, 2001; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & singer, 1998; Grogan, 1999). Furthermore, body image
Borowiecki, 1999). It has been suggested that exposure is a central part of the self-concept, especially during
to the muscular ideal has contributed to greater body adolescence (Flammer & Alsaker, 2002; Levine and
dissatisfaction in boys (Arbour & Ginis, 2006; Grogan, Smolak, 2002). Thus, it can be assumed that the
1999; Labre, 2002), and Stanford and McCabe (2005) successful integration of the changing body into the
have shown in their study of boys’ body image that self-concept is an important task for personality
muscularity is very central to the masculine body ideal. development during adolescence. Reasons why girls
Thus, whilst girls have reported they wish to lose weight and boys respond differently to exposure to media
and be thinner, boys have indicated that they either wish images may relate to differences in the extent to which
to lose or gain weight and develop muscularity (Cohane girls and boys internalize media ideals and the extent to
& Pope, 2001; Kostanski et al., 2004; Narring et al., which they feel pressure to conform to these ideals.
2004). Notably, physical changes during puberty are Research that has examined the relationship between
likely to bring boys closer to, whilst taking girls further internalization of the media body ideal and body
away from their body ideal (Labre, 2002). In boys, dissatisfaction has been extensive in girls (Cafri,
higher body mass index (BMI) is not as consistent a Yamamiya, Brannick, & Thompson, 2005). Cafri and
predictor of body dissatisfaction, some studies support- colleagues (2005) have shown in a meta-analysis of
ing this relationship (Jones, Vigfusdottir, & Lee, 2004; cross-sectional studies that internalization has medium-
Paxton et al., 2006; Ricciardelli, McCabe, Lillis, & to-large associations with body dissatisfaction. Several
Thomas, 2006), while others have not (Barker & longitudinal studies have also provided empirical
Galambos, 2003; Jones, 2004; Presnell et al., 2004). evidence that internalization of the thin ideal predicts
Although body mass is related to body dissatisfaction, increases in body dissatisfaction among girls (Jones,
for both genders sociocultural influences seem to have a 2004; Stice & Bearman, 2001; Stice & Whitenton, 2002).
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C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360 355

Further, in girls the effect of media exposure on body ideals, perceived pressure and BMI would be significant
image has been shown to be dependent on the extent of predictors of body dissatisfaction in adolescents, but to
internalization of body ideals (Durkin & Paxton, 2002). a lesser extent in boys than in girls.
Research into internalization of media body ideals in
boys has been much more limited. Cafri and colleagues Method
(2005) concluded there were too few studies to conduct
a meta-analysis of the association between internaliza- Participants
tion and body dissatisfaction in boys. However, a small
number of studies suggest that there is an association Participants were 1610 adolescent girls (n = 791)
between internalization of the media body ideal and and boys (n = 819) aged 14 to 16 years (mean
body dissatisfaction for boys, although the correlations age = 14.9 years, SD = .73). Respondents were drawn
appear lower in boys than girls (Jones, 2004; Jones from 58 different public co-educational schools in the
et al., 2004; Smolak et al., 2001). One longitudinal German-speaking part of Switzerland from a wide range
study has investigated the prospective role of inter- of socioeconomic status areas.
nalization of the muscular body ideal for boys (Jones,
2004) and internalization was found to be a significant Measures
predictor of body dissatisfaction after 1 year.
Another factor that may influence body dissatisfac-
Body dissatisfaction and body mass index
tion in adolescent girls and boys is perceived pressure
Body dissatisfaction was assessed with two mea-
from the media to reach this ideal (Cafri et al., 2005).
sures. The Negative Body Evaluation subscale of the
Girls, in particular, have reported that they experience
Body Image Questionnaire (Clement & Löwe, 1996)
strong pressure to be thin from the media (Tiggemann,
assessed dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance and
Gardiner, & Slater, 2000; Wertheim, Paxton, Schutz, &
body, but also feelings of discomfort with one’s own
Muir, 1997) and perceived pressure has, in some
body. It contains 10 items such as ‘‘Sometimes I wish I
studies, been an important predictor of body dissatis-
looked completely different’’, ‘‘There is something
faction for girls (Stice & Whitenton, 2002). To date, the
wrong with my appearance’’ or ‘‘I don’t like myself on
relationship between perceived pressure from the media
photos’’. Items are rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
and body dissatisfaction has only been investigated to a
(strongly agree). This scale has been shown to yield
limited extent, especially in boys.
valid and reliable scores (Clement & Löwe, 1996). In
Only few studies have examined the extent to which
addition, body dissatisfaction was also assessed with
girls compared to boys internalize the media body ideal
10-items from the Frankfurter Body Concept Scales
and perceive pressure from media. Wilksch, Tigge-
(FBCS) (Deusinger, 1998), with items such as ‘‘I am
mann, and Wade (2006) did observe in an intervention
satisfied with my appearance’’, ‘‘I look quite good’’ or
study that girls had higher internalization of the media
‘‘I would like to change some parts of my body’’. These
body ideal and perceived more pressure from media
items also measure dissatisfaction with the own body
than boys.
and appearance and were also rated from 1 (strongly
Although research has provided evidence for
disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The FBCS has been
associations amongst body dissatisfaction, internaliza-
shown to be a reliable and valid questionnaire (Carigiet,
tion of media body ideals and perceived pressure from
2002; Deusinger, 1998). Exploratory factor analysis on
the media, few studies have examined whether boys and
the combined 20 items from the two body dissatisfac-
girls differ in the extent to which they internalize media
tion measures showed that they loaded on one factor.1
ideals and feel pressure from media to conform to these
Therefore they were used as one body dissatisfaction
ideals. In the present study, we aimed to extend current
scale. Body dissatisfaction measure was identical for
research findings using a large adolescent sample by
boys and girls. Items were appropriate for both genders
examining gender differences in body dissatisfaction
due to the assessment of a general dissatisfaction
and exploring whether internalization and pressure are
independent of a specific body ideal. In this study the
related to body dissatisfaction in boys and girls. First,
internal consistency of the resulting body dissatisfaction
we hypothesized that girls would have higher body
scale was .94 in girls and .89 in boys.
dissatisfaction than boys. Second, we hypothesized that
girls would internalize media body ideals to a larger
extent and feel greater pressure from media than boys. 1
Detailed information on the factor analysis will be provided by the
Third, we hypothesized that internalization of body authors upon request.
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356 C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360

Body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated using self- concurrent validity of the scale has been confirmed in
reported weight and height. previous studies (Thompson et al., 2004). In the current
study, Cronbach’s alpha for the pressure subscale was
Internalization of media body ideals and perceived .89 for the girls and .85 for the boys.
pressure from media
Internalization of media body ideals was assessed Procedure
with a German translation of the Sociocultural Attitudes
Towards Appearance Questionnaire Internalization sub- Schools were contacted, informed about the study and
scale (Heinberg, Thompson, & Stormer, 1995; Smolak asked for permission to conduct the study. Respondents
et al., 2001). The internalization subscale has a girls’ were asked to participate in a study concerning how they
version which includes 6 items such as ‘‘Women who feel about their body. Parental consent was obtained
appear in TV shows and movies have the type of before respondents completed the questionnaire. Parti-
appearance that I see as my goal’’ and a boys’ version cipants were informed that participation was voluntary.
which contains 6 items such as ‘‘I believe that clothes However, all students who were asked to be involved
look better on muscular men’’. Items in the boys’ and the agreed to participate. All participating adolescents
girls’ version were nearly identical. The only difference completed anonymous questionnaires in the classroom
was that the term ‘‘thin’’ used in the girls’ version was during a class period. A researcher was present together
replaced by ‘‘muscular’’ for the boys’ version. A pilot with the class teacher to explain the procedure and the
study was conducted with 90 psychology students in questionnaire and to answer any questions.
which participants completed the questionnaires and
were asked to comment on the items. Following review of Design and statistical analyses
comments made in the pilot study which indicated
repetition in the items ‘‘I would like to look like the To compare body dissatisfaction, internalization of
models in the magazines’’ and ‘‘I wish I looked like a the media body ideal, pressure to conform to the media
swimsuit model’’, they were reduced to one item ‘‘I wish ideal and body mass index in girls and boys,
I looked like a model’’. Therefore, the internalization independent-sample t-tests were performed. To explore
subscale consisted of 6 instead of 7 items in the original relationships among body dissatisfaction, internaliza-
scale. Items are rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 tion, pressure and BMI, correlations amongst variables
(strongly agree). The internalization subscale has shown were examined initially in girls and boys separately.
good internal consistency and acceptable congruent Predictors of body dissatisfaction were then examined
validity by predicting the use of weight control using standard multiple regression analysis in which all
techniques in girls and muscle building techniques in the independent variables were entered in one block in
boys (Smolak et al., 2001). In this study, Cronbach’s girls and boys separately. Body dissatisfaction was the
alpha was .88 for girls and .84 for boys. dependent variable and internalization, pressure and
Perceived pressure to achieve media body ideals was BMI were entered into the regression simultaneously as
assessed with a German translation and slightly independent variables.
modified version of the pressure subscale of the
Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Question- Results
naire-3 (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, &
Heinberg, 2004). The scale contains items such as ‘‘I Comparison of body dissatisfaction, internalization,
have felt pressure from TV or magazines to look pressure and BMI in boys and girls
pretty’’. Based on the results of our pilot study the
number of items was reduced from 7 to 5. The item ‘‘I Mean values for body dissatisfaction, internalization,
have felt pressure from TV and magazines to be thin’’ pressure and BMI for boys and girls are presented in
was removed because of its inappropriateness for boys. Table 1. As hypothesized, girls showed significantly
Therefore the boys’ version differed in only one item higher body dissatisfaction than boys with a medium
from the girls’ version. Boys were not asked if they feel effect size of d = .72 (Cohen, 1988). Girls had
pressure from the media to diet. Due to the muscular significantly higher internalization of body ideals and
body ideal for boys, dieting was not expected to be a perceived pressure to achieve these ideals than boys, both
reaction to media pressure in boys the same way as in differences being of a small effect size (internalization
girls. Instead they were asked if they feel pressure from d = .37; pressure d = .34). However, there was no
the media to have a hairless body. The reliability and significant difference between boys and girls on BMI.
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C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360 357

Table 1
Means and standard deviations for variables in girls (n = 789) and boys (n = 817)
Scale range Girls Boys
Variable M SD M SD t df d
Body dissatisfaction 20–100 47.46 15.00 37.10 11.63 15.44*** 1483 .72
Internalization 6–30 13.37 6.00 11.30 5.10 7.47*** 1542 .37
Pressure 5–25 11.69 5.25 8.58 4.21 13.08*** 1509 .34
BMI 20.43 3.02 20.64 2.90 1.38 1529 .07
***
p < .001.

Thus, differences observed between girls and boys on the significantly higher in girls than boys (body dissatisfac-
other variables were not due to differences in BMI. tion – internalization: z = 6.5; body dissatisfaction –
pressure: z = 5.46; body dissatisfaction – BMI:
Predictors of body dissatisfaction z = 2.61; internalization – pressure: z = 5.22; BMI
– internalization: z = 3.00; BMI – pressure: z = 3.49).
Correlations between variables for girls and boys are Summary statistics from multiple regression ana-
shown in Table 2. In girls, there were high correlations lyses examining the roles of internalization, pressure
between body dissatisfaction and internalization as well and BMI in predicting body dissatisfaction, in boys and
as between body dissatisfaction and pressure. In girls separately are presented in Table 2. As expected,
addition, the correlation between internalization and there was a difference in the amount of explained
pressure was high for the girls. The correlation between variance of body dissatisfaction between girls and boys.
BMI and body dissatisfaction was of medium strength, The three independent variables explained 48% and
while the correlations between BMI and internalization 25% of the variance in body dissatisfaction in girls and
and BMI and pressure were low. boys respectively. In both, girls and boys, each of the
In boys, the correlations between body dissatisfac- three independent variables predicted a significant
tion and internalization as well as between body unique proportion of the variance in body dissatisfac-
dissatisfaction and pressure were of medium strength. tion. The semipartial correlations suggested that for
The correlation between internalization and pressure girls, internalization was the most important predictor
was high. Correlations between BMI and internaliza- of body dissatisfaction, whilst for boys perceived
tion, and pressure and body dissatisfaction, were low. pressure from media was the most important predictor,
To test if there were significant differences between although the differences between the semipartial
the correlations of boys compared to girls, r-values were correlations were not large.
converted into standard z-scores and z-values were
calculated. If the z-value was outside the range of 1.96 Discussion
to 1.96 it was concluded that there was a statistically
significant difference in the strength of the correlation at The present study aimed to gain greater under-
the .05 level (Howell, 1997). All correlations were standing of gender differences in body dissatisfaction
Table 2
Correlations between variables and summary statistics for standard multiple regression analyses predicting body dissatisfaction from sociocultural
attitudes towards appearance variables and BMI in girls and boys
Variables 1 2 3 4 B b sr2 R2
Girls
1. Body dissatisfaction – .62*** .61*** .38***
2. Internalization – .71*** .22*** .95 .38*** .07
3. Pressure – .29*** .77 .27*** .04
4. BMI – 1.06 .22*** .04 .48
Boys
1. Body dissatisfaction – .38*** .41*** .26***
2. Internalization – .55*** .07* .50 .22*** .03
3. Pressure – .12*** .75 .27*** .05
4. BMI – .83 .21*** .04 .25
*p < .05; *** p < .001.
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358 C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360

by investigating relationships amongst body dissatis- much more of the total variance in girls’ than boys’ body
faction, internalization of media body ideals, perceived dissatisfaction. Although, these variables are clearly
pressure from media to achieve that ideal, and BMI in associated with body dissatisfaction, in boys particularly,
both girls and boys. As expected, girls had higher body other predictors of body dissatisfaction need to be
dissatisfaction than boys. In addition, in support of our considered. Personality or psychological variables, such
second hypothesis, girls internalized media body ideals as depressive symptomatology or negative mood, may be
to a greater extent and felt more pressure from media to especially important in the prediction of body dissa-
conform to this ideal than boys. In accord with the third tisfaction in boys (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2003; Paxton
hypothesis, internalization, pressure, and BMI pre- et al., 2006; Presnell et al., 2004).
dicted body dissatisfaction in girls as well as boys. Although internalization was the strongest unique
These three variables together explained less variance in predictor of body dissatisfaction for girls identified in the
body dissatisfaction in boys than in girls. Furthermore, regression analysis, perceived pressure was the strongest
internalization was the strongest predictor of body unique predictor for boys. Interestingly, Stice and
dissatisfaction for girls and pressure was the strongest Whitenton (2002) found in their longitudinal study that
predictor of body dissatisfaction for boys. perceived pressure to be thin, not internalization, was the
Gender differences in body dissatisfaction were strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction in adolescent
observed, consistent with many other studies (Barker & girls. The difference in the findings may relate to one
Galambos, 2003; Eisenberg et al., 2006; Kostanski study being longitudinal and the other being cross-
et al., 2004; Muth & Cash, 1997). Furthermore, girls sectional. Possibly, perceived pressure precedes inter-
reported internalization of body ideals to a greater nalization of the thin ideal, but once this ideal has become
extent and perceived more pressure from media than part of a girl’s own value system, the difficulty of living
boys, replicating a previous observation (Wilksch et al., up to this ideal may contribute more to body
2006). These differences were not due to differences in dissatisfaction than perceived external pressures.
BMI between girls and boys. Despite media presenta- In relation to boys, correlations between body
tions of idealised images of muscular men, boys being dissatisfaction and internalization, and body dissatis-
generally less likely to perceive these presentations as faction and pressure, were quite similar. However, the
pressure to conform and also less likely to endorse this regression analysis suggests that pressure is a somewhat
ideal, may well contribute to the significantly lower stronger unique predictor of body dissatisfaction than
body dissatisfaction in boys than girls. internalization. Future research is required to confirm
Gender differences in internalization and pressure these relationships. However, it is possible that boys of
could be due to girls being exposed to a greater extent to this age do not internalize a body ideal that is likely to
media body ideals than boys. Mass media plays a be detrimental to their own view of themselves to the
central role in conveying body ideals (Thompson et al., same extent as girls, but do still respond to external
1999; Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996), and women are messages about the importance of a certain body ideal.
confronted with appearance norms in media in more It is also possible that the balance of factors associated
frequent and explicit ways than men (Strahan, Wilson, with body dissatisfaction may change over time and that
Cressman, & Buote, 2006). For example, studies have as boys grow into young adults, perceived pressure may
shown that there are more diet and muscle development result in greater internalization of media body ideals.
advertisements in women’s than in men’s magazines A particular strength of this research is the large
(Andersen & DiDomenico, 1992). An additional reason sample size and the assessment of girls and boys using
for gender differences in internalization and pressure gender appropriate measures. However, a number of
may be that, in Western society, beauty and the current limitations also need to be recognized. The ethnicity
female body ideal is more central to a feminine than to a and socioeconomic status of participants were not
masculine gender role (Grogan, 1999; Halliwell & assessed and these factors may have been related to
Dittmar, 2003; Thompson et al., 1999). body dissatisfaction. Due to the cross-sectional design
Consistent with previous studies, the present study of the study, it is not possible to draw conclusions about
found internalization of the body ideal, perceived the direction of the relationship between the factors
pressure from media and BMI to contribute to the investigated. Future prospective research is required to
prediction of body dissatisfaction (Cafri et al., 2005; further identify the roles of internalization and pressure
Jones et al., 2004; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2003; on body dissatisfaction, especially in male samples.
Ricciardelli et al., 2006). In line with our second Furthermore, the equivalence and comparability of the
hypothesis, internalization, pressure and BMI explained results of the gender appropriate measures of the
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C. Knauss et al. / Body Image 4 (2007) 353–360 359

internalization and pressure subscales has not been Acknowledgement

confirmed. It might be that the boys’ and the girls’
version of the internalization and pressure subscales are This research was supported by a fellowship from the
not directly comparable. However, the two versions of Swiss National Science Foundation to Christine
the subscales only differ in the terminology used to Knauss.
describe the body ideal and therefore would be expected
to assess gender specific but comparable constructs. For
the internalization subscale sentences are completely References
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