A study examined the effects of exposure to thin ideal vs realistic images on female participants. 47 females viewed 6 thin ideal images in one session and 6 realistic images in another session. Measures assessed self-esteem, affect, and body esteem before and after. Results showed that after thin ideal images, participants had lower self-esteem and positive affect and higher negative affect compared to after realistic images. Participants also reported being more likely to purchase items modeled by realistic figures. The findings suggest that exposure to thin ideals activates negative self-views and affect.

1. • The study used a within-participants design. Ethical approval was granted by the University of the Arts London.
• A pilot study involving 16 independent assessors was initially conducted to reduce research bias in the selection of images and
ensure external validity. These participants rated 32 images in terms of valence and attractiveness on a scale from 1 to 10.
• The final study included 47 female participants with an average age of 30.1 years (SD = 11.48).
• Participants were recruited through opportunity sampling and completed two online sessions approximately two days apart. In the
first session they were exposed to 6 images rated by the independent assessors as representing the thin ideal, whereas in the
second session they were exposed to images rated as healthy/realistic.
• Exposure to each image lasted for 10 seconds in both conditions.
• Participants completed various measures before and after viewing the images:
 Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) assessed overall trait self-esteem
 State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES; Heatherton & Polivy, 1991) measured state performance, social, and appearance self-
esteem before and after viewing the images
 Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) assessed state affect before and after
viewing the images
 Body-Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi & Shields, 1984) assessed characteristics related to body esteem
• Participants also answered 7 questions focusing on how realistic and unrealistic images affect their purchase decisions and their
opinion on the impact of imagery on well-being.
• A repeated-measures MANOVA found a difference between the conditions in terms
of the post-exposure measures, Wilks’ Λ = .59, F(6, 38) = 4.48, p = .002.
• Exposure to thin ideal images was associated with significantly lower state self-
esteem and positive affect and higher state negative affect than exposure to realistic
images. The table below shows participants’ scores after exposure to thin ideal
(negative) and realistic (positive) images.
• Participants indicated that they were more likely to purchase items advertised by
realistic models than items advertised by thin models, t(46)= -5.30, p < .001.
• Overall participants felt that exposure to thin models had left them feeling
moderately insecure/worried/concerned about their body at some point in their life.
• In comparison to exposure to realistic media images, exposure to negative images had a more negative immediate
effect on individuals’ positive and negative affect and performance, appearance, and social state self-esteem.
• Results support the hypothesis that exposure to negative media images may trigger the activation of negative working
selves associated with negative self-images and negative affective responses.
• Repeated exposure to negative media images may lead to repeated activation of negative working selves, which in turn
may make these working selves more accessible.
• The increased accessibility of negative working selves may potentially lead to long-term problems such as reduced trait
self-esteem, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating.
• The effects on individuals’ sense of self may be deeper given the proliferation of idealised media imagery in the West.
• Implications of findings:
 A greater use of diverse models in the fashion and media industries may lead to a broader perception of beauty.
 The reduction of thin models may reduce negative social comparisons, thin ideal internalisation, and the
activation of the negative working selves. In the long run, this may improve overall well-being.
 Future research needs to explore in depth the impact of exposure to the thin ideal by focusing on its
incorporation into individuals’ self-images and the affective and behavioural responses it is likely to trigger.
• This study does not suggest that if realistic and diversified models were widely used then individuals would no longer
ever feel negatively about themselves.
However, it does posit that beauty perceptions may widen and beauty may be appreciated on a spectrum.
CAN YOU MEASURE UP?
Fashion and Media Imagery and the Working Self: An Investigation into the
Impact of Exposure to Thin Ideal and Realistic Images on Females’ State
Affect and Self-Perceptions
Lara Hogan and Soljana Çili
University of the Arts London, Email: lara.alice.hogan@gmail.com
• Typically, within Western culture we see around 5,000 advertisements daily (Yankelovich, 2007, as cited in Story, 2007).
• Fashion and the media are arguably the strongest purveyors of sociocultural ideals of attractiveness (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002).
• The fashion and media industries rely heavily on idealised imagery generated through digital manipulation, thus promoting unobtainable
“perfection” (Paraskeva, Diedrichs, & Lewis-Smith, 2015). They also instruct women on how they can attain thinness and beauty.
• Exposure to the thin body ideal is associated with body dissatisfaction, increased investment in appearance, a drive for thinness, and disordered
eating behaviours in young girls and women (e.g., Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008; Groesz et al., 2002; Levine & Murnen, 2009; López-Guimerà,
Levine, Sánchez-Carracedo, & Fauquet, 2010).
• While there is a proliferation of studies on the effects of exposure to media imagery, explanations of these effects have been relatively general
(e.g., focusing on women’s self-objectification, social comparison) and have not explored in depth the relationship between this exposure and
individuals’ sense of self.
• The self-memory system (SMS) model (e.g., Conway, 2005; Conway, Singer, & Tagini, 2004) argues that, alongside the long-term self, individuals
possess a working self which is active at any point in time and consists of goals and self-images.
• The working self is activated in response to environmental stimuli and triggers specific cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses (see Çili &
Stopa, 2015).
• Repeated activation of specific working selves may increase the ease with which they are automatically activated and win the retrieval
competition against other working selves (see Brewin, 2006).
• The present study aimed to investigate the impact of fashion and media images on females’ working self.
HYPOTHESIS: Exposure to images is associated with the activation of specific working selves consisting of different self-images and
triggering different affective responses.
INTRODUCTION
Brewin, C. R. (2006). Understanding cognitive behaviour therapy: A
retrieval competition account. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(6),
765-784.
Çili, S., & Stopa, L. (2015). The retrieval of self-defining memories is
associated with the activation of specific working selves. Memory, 23(2),
233-253.
Conway, M. A. (2005). Memory and the self. Journal of Memory and
Language, 53, 594-628.
Conway, M. A., Singer, J. A., & Tagini, A. (2004). The self and
autobiographical memory: Correspondence and coherence. Social
Cognition, 22, 491-529.
Franzoi, S., & Herzog, M. (1986). The body esteem scale: A convergent and
discriminant validity study. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50(1), 24-
31.
Grabe, S., Ward, L. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2008). The role of the media in body
image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and
correlational studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), 460-476.
Groesz, L. M., Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2002). The effect of
experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A
meta-analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 1-16.
Heatherton, T. F. & Polivy, J. (1991). Development and validation of a
scale for measuring state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60, 895-910.
López-Guimerà, G., Levine, M. P., Sánchez-Carracedo, D., & Fauquet, J.
(2010). Influence of mass media on body image and eating disordered
attitudes and behaviors in females: A review of effects and processes.
Media Psychology, 13(4), 387-416.
Paraskeva, N., Diedrichs, P. C., & Lewis-Smith, H. (2015). Consumer opinion
on social policy approaches to promoting positive body image:
Airbrushed media images and disclaimer labels. Journal of Health
Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:
10.1177/1359105315597052
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
Story, L. (2007, January 15). Anywhere the eye can see, it’s likely to see an
ad. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.h
tml
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation
of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.
Image: Eva Lai, BA (Hons) Fashion Contour 2012
(Photographer: Cameron-James Wilson)
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
METHOD RESULTS
DISCUSSION
Image: Malgorzata Nowak, MA Fashion Photography 2013
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Image: Amberly Valentine, MA Fashion Photography 2013
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
REFERENCES