TEL-T 192 1st Edition Lecture 7Outline of Last Lecture I. The Women of FijiII. An Important DistinctionIII. The Thin Ideal in American Mass MediaIV. InternalizationV. Body ImageVI. Eating DisordersVII. Theoretical ExplanationsOutline of Current Lecture VIII. The Curvaceously Thin FemaleIX. Harrison (2003) StudyX. Social Cognitive Theory (Fouts Study)XI. Social Comparison TheoryCurrent Lecture- The Curvaceously Thin Femaleo 36-24-36 body type/dimensions Has nothing to do with height Unrealistic expectation- Body doesn’t exist normally- Harrison (2003) Studyo Rationale Wanted to know if she could link media exposure to this idealized body type Methods- Surveyo Everyone answered the exact same questionso Comparisons between participants media diets were made- BodyBooko Flip through and pick what your body looks like nowo then look through and show idealized bodyo men only showed the idealized bodyThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- asked participants if they approved of body alteration methods- also asked how much media participants were viewing and what the content was Results- Women wanted to have the idealized bodyo Small breasts wanted bigger and vice versao There was an overall desire for a smaller waist and hipso The more idealized body content you viewed, the more you agreed with body alteration methods Men only agreed with breast augmentation not reductiono This study is a very good example of cultivation theory- Social Cognitive Theory (Fouts Study)o If we didn’t learn from models then we would only be left with our own trial and error experiences Doesn’t allow us to learn a loto We pay the most attention to an attractive model An attractive model is one who you want to be in some wayo Fouts and Vaughn (2002) Rationale- Looking at the male body in particular- Did a similar study with women and wanted to know if it also happened with men- Seems to be a double standard of how fat male characters are treated compared to fat female characters Method- Content analysis- Viewed various sitcom tv showso Get audience reaction(aka the rewards/punishments of social cognitive theory)o Looked at only lead male characters in 27 sitcoms Results- Major finding was no relationship between who said negative comments about weight- Overweight characters were frequently making themselves the brunt of the jokeso Also heard the laughs after the jokes Implications- It’s okay to make fun of yourself to fit in o To everyone else, you are supposed to laugho Rewards thinness because we ridicule fatness- Mostly men write these sitcomso Male writers are largely writing from their own experience- This study focuses on the rewards and punishments- Social Comparison Theoryo Humans have an innate tendency to compare themselves with others in an effort to self-evaluateo Comparisons aren’t always equalo Can be “upward” or “downward” “upward”- You perceive the other person to be better than you- You feel bad about yourself- We usually make these comparisons more “downward”- You perceive the other person is worse off than you- You feel better about yourselfo Factors that enhance/mitigate comparison process Women of color- Not very many have anorexia or bulimia Need people like yourself in the media Race Ageo Digital manipulation and Social Comparison Do we compare ourselves to digitally manipulated models? Bissel 2006- One group of women were told that the images they were looking at were airbrushedo The other group received no such instructions- They then answered questions about body satisfaction, disordered eating, etc.- Results: no difference between the groupso All women felt worse about