The Effects of Ideal Beauty in Media Images on Women's Self-Esteem and Self-Perceptions

Location

CSU 201

Start Date

16-4-2013 2:20 PM

End Date

16-4-2013 3:20 PM

Student's Major

Gender and Women's Studies

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Shannon Miller

Mentor's Department

Gender and Women's Studies

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

Women are constantly put under pressure to work towards the feminine ideal portrayed in daily media outlets. This has been proved to lead to negative effects in a woman’s mood, self-esteem, and perception of herself. Consistent exposure to unrealistic images only further damages the concept of real beauty in one’s mind. For this research study, 30 female college students at Minnesota State University, Mankato participated in an experimental based study. They were first administered the Body Esteem Scale, next they were exposed to images of women with idealized beauty and others viewed images of average women. Finally, participants retook the Body Esteem Scale. Our research findings indicate there was a significant change in women’s esteem after exposure to idealized beauty images; they reported decreased appreciation in the categories of “appearance of stomach,” “figure or physique,” and “thighs”. These research discoveries can help to further explain how detrimental society’s perception of beauty can be on women and lead to changes in media sources and the images displayed and projected towards the public.

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Apr 16th, 2:20 PM Apr 16th, 3:20 PM

The Effects of Ideal Beauty in Media Images on Women's Self-Esteem and Self-Perceptions

CSU 201

Women are constantly put under pressure to work towards the feminine ideal portrayed in daily media outlets. This has been proved to lead to negative effects in a woman’s mood, self-esteem, and perception of herself. Consistent exposure to unrealistic images only further damages the concept of real beauty in one’s mind. For this research study, 30 female college students at Minnesota State University, Mankato participated in an experimental based study. They were first administered the Body Esteem Scale, next they were exposed to images of women with idealized beauty and others viewed images of average women. Finally, participants retook the Body Esteem Scale. Our research findings indicate there was a significant change in women’s esteem after exposure to idealized beauty images; they reported decreased appreciation in the categories of “appearance of stomach,” “figure or physique,” and “thighs”. These research discoveries can help to further explain how detrimental society’s perception of beauty can be on women and lead to changes in media sources and the images displayed and projected towards the public.

Recommended Citation

Stander, Jennifer and Haley Nagel. "The Effects of Ideal Beauty in Media Images on Women's Self-Esteem and Self-Perceptions." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 16, 2013.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2013/oral-session-12/2