Body region dissatisfaction predicts attention to body regions on other women
Body region dissatisfaction predicts attention to body regions on other women
The proliferation of “idealized” (i.e., very thin and attractive) women in the media has contributed to increasing rates of body dissatisfaction among women. However, it remains relatively unknown how women attend to these images: does dissatisfaction predict greater or lesser attention to these body regions on others? Fifty healthy women (mean age = 21.8 years) viewed images of idealized and plus-size models; an eye-tracker recorded visual attention. Participants also completed measures of satisfaction for specific body regions, which were then used as predictors of visual attention to these regions on models. Consistent with an avoidance-type process, lower levels of satisfaction with the two regions of greatest reported concern (mid, lower torso) predicted less attention to these regions; greater satisfaction predicted more attention to these regions. While this visual attention bias may aid in preserving self-esteem when viewing idealized others, it may preclude the opportunity for comparisons that could improve self-esteem
body image, eye-tracking, visual attention, body satisfaction, body dissatisfaction, women
404-408
Lykins, Amy D.
8f205cff-5f82-4f79-9f3b-12f4f1456d51
Ferris, Tamara
982c5ee1-3ae1-452b-8812-e20a08130fb0
Graham, Cynthia A.
ac400331-f231-4449-a69b-ec9a477224c8
September 2014
Lykins, Amy D.
8f205cff-5f82-4f79-9f3b-12f4f1456d51
Ferris, Tamara
982c5ee1-3ae1-452b-8812-e20a08130fb0
Graham, Cynthia A.
ac400331-f231-4449-a69b-ec9a477224c8
Abstract
The proliferation of “idealized” (i.e., very thin and attractive) women in the media has contributed to increasing rates of body dissatisfaction among women. However, it remains relatively unknown how women attend to these images: does dissatisfaction predict greater or lesser attention to these body regions on others? Fifty healthy women (mean age = 21.8 years) viewed images of idealized and plus-size models; an eye-tracker recorded visual attention. Participants also completed measures of satisfaction for specific body regions, which were then used as predictors of visual attention to these regions on models. Consistent with an avoidance-type process, lower levels of satisfaction with the two regions of greatest reported concern (mid, lower torso) predicted less attention to these regions; greater satisfaction predicted more attention to these regions. While this visual attention bias may aid in preserving self-esteem when viewing idealized others, it may preclude the opportunity for comparisons that could improve self-esteem
Text
Lykins et al accepted manuscript.pdf
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 July 2014
Published date: September 2014
Keywords:
body image, eye-tracking, visual attention, body satisfaction, body dissatisfaction, women
Organisations:
Psychology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 367060
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/367060
ISSN: 1740-1445
PURE UUID: d7a9250d-b100-4203-8999-7504669f9725
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Date deposited: 22 Jul 2014 09:04
Last modified: 21 Mar 2024 02:47
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Author:
Amy D. Lykins
Author:
Tamara Ferris
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