Midterm 2

Question 1

Give a brief summary of when gender stereotypes become relevant in childhood development.

Answer 1

By age 2: Children can identify gender and gender stereotypes are salient

By age 5-7: Children are very adherent to gender stereotypes. Large part of their identity is their gender

By age 9: They understand gender on a deeper level and that gender is more than what is on the outside.

Question 2

What are some of the stereotyped portrayals that are commonly shown in media?

Answer 2

Woman
- damsels who need saving
- women are nurturing and passive

Men
- Men should be strong and show no emotion
- men work

Often gender is portrayed as binary, male and female only

Question 3

What are some of the trends of gender portrayal in books?

Answer 3

Picture/children’s books
- Historically heavily stereotyped gender roles. Today they still contain stereotypes and less representation of girls

Books for older kids/teens
- Also often stereotyped
- Theme of benevolent sexism: women who are in traditional roles are idealized, seen as delicate and romantic, needing to be saved/protected.

Question 4

What are some of the trends of gender portrayal in TV and movies?

Answer 4

There are Many more male protagonists than female. Males are typically depicted as more aggressive, heroic.

Women tend to be in care giving roles, at home more, polite and fearful etc.

Question 5

What is the main research question, methods and findings from the study on Syntactic and Semantic Gender Biases in children’s TV?

Answer 5

Question: Does agency and communion co-correlate with male vs females more or less often in TV AND are males vs females paired with doing actions more or less.

Methods: Looked at children TV shows across 6 decades, fed them into AI and transcribed them all.

• Semantic content: (the meaning of language) analyzed how often gendered words showed up (he/she) and how often they co-occur with things like agency (power) and communion (family). How often are male vs female words paired with different themes?
• Syntactic content: looked at the grammatical content, and how often males vs females were the agent of doing an action.

Findings:
- In general male words are used much more

Semantic findings:

• Words related to power are largely male correlated, however they are more recently becoming correlated to women and men.
• Words related to agency are roughly the same for men and women

Words correlated to friends were the same across men and women but are now correlated more with men.
- words correlated to family used to be more correlated to women but is not becoming more equal.

Syntactic findings

Men and women are both increasing as the agent in a sentence but men are just mentioned more, two identical lines but the male line is just higher.

Question 6

How is gender represented in video games?

Answer 6

Female representation has increased dramatically, but male characters still outnumber female characters

Female characters more likely to be presented as bystanders, needing to be
rescued, and/or nurturing

Question 7

How do online images amplify gender bias?

Answer 7

When looking at sites like google images, gender bias is very prevalent in male and female categories. Women are also under represented in google images compared to the US census data on occupations.

AI uses online images to make its answers, further amplifying bias in its image creation

Question 8

Provide a brief summary of how gender diversity is represented in media?

Answer 8

Gender diverse people have very small representation in media and are historically represented as deviant, oversexualized, victimized and unstable.

However, representation is slowly increasing and representation is becoming more positive.

Question 9

What is cultivation theory?

Answer 9

This theory is by George Gerbner and was created due to concerns about how violent media (ex: news, movies, shows) would impact people over time.

The cultivation theory depicts that media gradually cultivates certain views in people over time, beliefs slowly creep into our heads and the more we see something the more we believe it to be true.

For example, Crime percentage study: People who watch the news more often view crime as a more serious problem than it might really be.

Cultivation theory has two characteristics that impact how media affects beliefs. Resonance and Mainstreaming.

Question 10

How is the cultivation theory applicable to the effects of media and gender?

Answer 10

over time, exposure to media content shifts our understanding of reality, could happen in different amounts of representation

Question 11

What is social cognitive theory? What are a few things that influence its impact?

Answer 11

Observational learning, our behavior is shaped by modelling and mimicking behavior. If you see a behavior, you’re likely to copy it, whether viewed by a screen or in person.

There are some characteristics that make us more or less likely to mimic behavior.
- Motivations
- Emotions
- self-efficacy
- identification
- And always impacted based on if behavior is rewarded or punished. Lack of punishment can look like reward too.

Question 12

How is the social cognitive theory applicable to the effects of media and gender?

Answer 12

maybe we model the behavior seen in media, if there is common depiction

Question 13

Summarize a few general trends of the effects of gender representation in media. Give an example of why the content of the media matters.

Answer 13

More media consumption is linked with the endorsement of traditional gender stereotypes. However the strength of the effect may vary across genres.
EX: Higher consumption of reality TV seems to correlate with stronger masculine ideologies.

Question 14

Give an example of why the content of the media matters. What is the effect of media moderated by?

Answer 14

Also the content matters! Exposure to more stereotyped content (like GTA over pinball) links to more increased gender stereotypes.

EX: Users who played GTA vs half-life or pinball, held more masculine beliefs.

Moderated by: Identification with the character and perceived realism. Those who identified with the character in the video game more, had much stronger masculine beliefs.

Question 15

What is an example of how gendered content can affect young girls?

Answer 15

One study showed girls from 6-9 video of either a stereotyped woman or a counter stereotyped woman. The girls were then asked to draw a scientist.

Girls who saw the stereotyped content were more likely to draw a male scientist than the other group.

Question 16

Summarize the main research question, the methods used, the findings of the study, and the limitations of the Coyne et al study.

Answer 16

Question: How does engagement with Disney Princess media and merchandise influence young children’s gender-stereotypical behavior, body esteem, and prosocial behavior over time?

Methods: Researches measured: princess media consumption, gender stereotypical behavior, body esteem, prosocial behavior, and parental mediation twice, with one year apart in time. This was done to see if there is any correlation with watching princess media and these factors.

Findings:
- Gender stereotypical behavior: More consumption of princess media did correlate with more female gender stereotypical behavior, for both boys and girls.

Body esteem: There was no direct link for body esteem and princess media in girls. For boys, high princess engagement combined with high parental mediation predicted better body esteem.

Pro social behavior: No consistent effect for girls. For boys, higher princess engagement and high parental mediation predicted more prosocial behavior (helping, kindness).

Parental mediation: More active talking about the princess media from parents led to more stereotypical behavior. Even when parents are trying to say things like “Princesses can save themselves” or “isn’t she so strong”. The type of talk did not seem to matter, what mattered was that the were talking about it.

Limitations: Sample diversity was WEIRD, heavily reliant on parent report data at time 2, did not use self report or teacher report at time 2. Questions asked may not be super strong.

Question 17

What were the results from the Coyne et al follow up paper?

Answer 17

Interestingly, a more recent follow-up to this study showed that 5 years
later (at 10 years), consumption of Disney princess culture was linked to
less adherence of gender stereotypes in adolescence!

Question 18

What are the effects on women who adhere to traditional female ideologies? How about adolescent boys?

Answer 18

Girls who adhere to stronger traditional gender roles can have more depressive symptoms, lower self-efficacy and esteem.

Boys who consume more media can lead to endorsement of gender roles which can lead to poorer mental health.

Question 19

When are children typically aware of race and ethnicity?

Answer 19

Children become aware of race and ethnicity by 3-4 years of age and can sort individuals according to those categories.

By 5-10 they are aware of stereotypes associated with race, show racial bias.

Question 20

What are the general trends of representation in primetime TV. Compare this to children’s media.

Answer 20

In screen media, there is mostly white representation, and typically some minorities are underrepresented. Representation compared to population tends to overrepresent white people and underrepresent some minorities.

Children’s media tends to be a bit more diverse than adult orientated media. This varies across programs however.

Question 21

What are some of the general trends of portrayal of black people in media?

Answer 21

Historically, black people have been cast as lazy, poor, Subservient etc.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that black portrayal started to become better

Today there is more positive portrayal however some of the same stereotypes still exist. Also in news media black crime is featured about 25% more than the actual data of how often crime is committed by a black person (50%) ( cultivation theory applicable)

Question 22

What are some of the general trends of portrayal of Latine people in media?

Answer 22

Often portrayed with stereotypically negative characteristics like”
- women overly sex appealed
- rarely having high status jobs
- associated with crime, as cop or criminal

Slowly getting better today however.

Question 23

What are some of the general trends of portrayal of Asian people in media?

Answer 23

Extremely low portrayal makes it difficult to measure how they are represented.
- Linked with being intelligent, strong family values, strong work ethic, computer/math intelligent
- Often portrayed as martial arts villains.

Question 24

What is the impact of invisibility in media? Give an example using indigenous portrayal.

Answer 24

Indigenous representation is almost non-existent, when they are depicted is is often in nature focused or uncivilized.

The impact of not having any depiction of your culture can lead to being forgotten about. One study did a survey asking people about real indigenous individuals and 40% of people said there are no real native americans left. Well if all portrayal is historical its understandable to think there are none left if that’s the only contact you’ve had.

Question 25

How do cultivation theory and social cognitive theory apply to races in medias effects on users?

Answer 25

Cultivation: Over time, exposure to types of media shapes our understanding of reality! SCT: observing media could lead to modelling behavior and values.

Question 26

What is the impact of seeing other racial groups and their depictions In white consumers?

Answer 26

More consumption of racialized groups in media relates to shifting attitudes in white people however the valence of the portrayal is really important! - Negative portrayal leads to more negative judgement of individuals in that group - positive portrayal leads to more favorable attitudes, sympathetic responses to discrimination

Question 27

Is age an important factor for media effects? Is attitude and stereotype more or less malleable at different ages?

Answer 27

Studies have found that it is really hard to shift stereotypes in early childhood. Young children seem to be less flexible

Question 28

What is a general trend that has been found for the impact of stereotypical media in marginalized groups.

Answer 28

Studies have shown that seeing stereotypes of our own group can lead to lower self esteem. Even with characters that do positive things like Pocahontas, if the character still fits the stereotype, even if positive traits associated, seems to link to lower self esteem

Question 29

What is ethnic racial identity? Why does centrality matter?

Answer 29

A person’s thoughts or feelings about their race/ethnicity. Depending on how central this is to someone's identity, they are more or less effected by stereotypes. More centrality means negative stereotypes decrease social self esteem more than someone with less centrality.

Question 30

What is the main research question, methods, findings and limitations of the Shafer & Rivadenyra study?

Answer 30

Question: How does exposure to stereotyped media content impact Latino/a/e young adults’ self-esteem? Is this different depending on ethnic-racial identity? Methods: They had 2 groups of Latinx people watch either stereotyped media (Latina maid) or a Latinx in a regular non stereotyped role. The measured: Ethnic racial identity centrality and self esteem. Findings: Exposure to stereotypes alone did not significantly lower self-esteem. Ethnic–racial identity centrality changed the results of the stereotypes effects. - High ERI centrality meant that the stereotype lowered their self esteem, people with low ERI centrality gained a boost in self esteem after watching the stereotyped content. For young adults with strong ERI, exposure to stereotyped content led to lower social self-esteem Limitations: Online study, only short term, no follow up study, self report data can be bias.

Question 31

What is stereotype threat / social identity threat?

Answer 31

Stereotype threat is a psychological phenomenon where individuals fear confirming a negative stereotype about their social group, leading them to underperform on tasks that may be affected by that stereotype. Stereotypes may be more likely to cause threat and more stress, when we have stronger identification with that group.

Question 32

What are the general findings from content analysis on sexual themes in media?

Answer 32

Overall, Sexual content is pretty common. TV: 70-80% of mainstream TV shows contain sexual content although much more likely to be talk of sex much less behavior. Movies: 80% of movies, 65% of children's movies but that includes a kiss. There is some evidence that sexual content in movies is decreasing in recent years. Music: In music, 40% of lyrics directed to teens content sexual content and 60-80% of music videos contain sexual imagery.

Question 33

What is the "Heterosexual script"?

Answer 33

Heterosexual script: Media often shows sexual content in a stereotypically gendered sexual behavior. Men are often the pursuer and prized for seeking sex. It is depicted as a defining aspect of masculinity. Women are pursued for sex, and depicted as good girls where sex is risky.

Question 34

How is risk and responsibility regarding sex represented in media?

Answer 34

The risks of sex are not commonly talked about or shown, ex: contraception, birth control, IUDs. Those conversations are more rare. Talk about STIs are low too. EX: Content analysis of top 20 teen programs, around 5% mentioned risk or responsibility. When risk and consequences are talked about, the conversations revolve around social and emotional consequences over physical ones A LOT more. Some evidence of more negative consequences for female characters vs male characters, more consequences for straight vs LGBTQ+ characters

Question 35

What is sexual socialization? What is it influenced by?

Answer 35

the process by which our sexual knowledge, values, attitudes, and behaviors develop. Influenced by: parents, peers, culture, and MEDIA. Today, there is large concern for how media impacts sexual socialization.

Question 36

What is the 3rd person effect and how does it apply to sexual media?

Answer 36

Teens on average think that the impacts for sexual media affect others more than themselves.

Question 37

What are some of the big concerns around sexualization in media?

Answer 37

People are concerned that: - Teens will equate value to sexualization and have unrealistic standards for sexual qualities. - Sexual objectification: taking agency away from a person and making them an object. - Imposing sexualization upon people who do not want it.

Question 38

How does the cultivation theory apply to sexual media? Give an example.

Answer 38

Cultivation theory suggests that as we get repeated exposure to: themes, stories, content, we begin to think of them as reality. This can also happen with sex and sexuality. This is moderated by the amount of consumption, the more we consume the more likely we are to think of overrepresentations as reality. EX: In TV shows directed at teens, teens have a lot of sex, that might encourage viewers to think that teens have a lot of sex when in reality the % is not that high.

Question 39

How does the social cognitive theory apply to sexual media? Give an example. What are a few things that moderate its effects?

Answer 39

Social learning! If we watch sexual behavior, or people displaying types of sexual values, we may be likely to copy behavior and values. Also if we watch the reward or punishment for sexual expression then we are more or less likely to model behavior. Moderated by our identification with who we watch and if portrayal has positive traits / rewards.

Question 40

What is sexual scripts theory?

Answer 40

Sexual scripts theory proposes that we develop "scripts" and expectations (often stereotyped patters) about social or sexual interactions that we use to guide our own behavior.

Question 41

List and describe the 3 levels of sexual scripts theory. How do they interact with each other ?

Answer 41

Cultural script: cultural expectations, norms, values about sex and and sexual values. Comes from family, media etc. Interpersonal script: navigating sexuality within relationships Intrapsychic script: internal feelings, fantasies, what we really want All of these scripts interact with each other. They are distinct things however and sometimes conflicts arise from differences between scripts. Feelings of shame or guilt can arise from misalignment of scripts.

Question 42

What is the media practice model? Give an example

Answer 42

This model assumes consumers are active, we have reasons why we use media and sexual content. Different reasons for use shapes the effects of sexual content. The model is depicted as a cycle: Our identity shapes what media we select, how we interact with that media then determines how we apply it too our lives which then affects our identity again, resulting in one big loop. EX: For adolescents current sense of self highly motivates the type of media they choose and how it impacts them, media will impact identity differently due to their needs.

Question 43

What are some of the main correlations of consuming greater amounts of sexual media?

Answer 43

Research shows that greater sexual media consumption is linked to: - Belief that more friends are engaging in sexual behavior - More permissiveness towards sex; positive attitudes towards sex outside of committed relationships - Expectations of fewer negative consequences associated with sex, belief that fewer people are using contraception - Beliefs of women as sex objects

Question 44

What are some correlations research has found to sexual media consumption and positive outcomes?

Answer 44

Sexual media seems to be a large source of sexual education. Young adults say that sexual media is their #1 source for sex education. EX: the "97% effective" Friends episode, saw that 10% of teen viewers talked about and learned about condom effectiveness from that episode. Viewers of that episode were more likely than non-viewers to accurately identify condom effectiveness.

Question 45

What is sexual media consumptions relation to sexual behavior?

Answer 45

Greater likelihood of: Engaging in sexual behavior, more sexual partners, sexual behavior at an earlier age.

Question 46

Summarize the main research question, methods, findings and limitations of the Brown et al paper.

Answer 46

Question: Does exposure to sexual content in popular media (television, movies, music, and magazines) during early adolescence (ages 12–14) predict sexual behavior in middle adolescence (ages 14–16)? Does the relationship differ between Black and White adolescents? Methods: The key measurements were Sexual media consumption and sexual behavior. Both were measured 2 years apart. Findings: White adolescence with more sexual media exposer were twice as likely to engage in sexual behavior 2 years later, than white kids who did not consume much sexual media. Black students did not seem to correlate with sexual media consumption and sexual behavior 2 years later. A possible explanation for this is that black youth engage in sexual behavior earlier anyway, not much to increase to. Limitations: Difficult to establish causation, definitions of sexual media can differ from study to study, research tends to focus on negative outcomes, lack of generalizability

Question 47

What are some of the general limitations in sexual media research?

Answer 47

Limitations: Difficult to establish causation, definitions of sexual media can differ from study to study, research tends to focus on negative outcomes, lack of generalizability

Question 48

What are general trends in queer representation in media?

Answer 48

Historically little representation and highly stereotyped: either oversexualized or sexless. More recently more representation and more varied representation, more shown on positive and negative traits. There are some shows today that market around queer representation, drag race even in kids shows there's more representation

Question 49

What is the impact of seeing queer themes in the media for queer consumers? What impact does it have on identity?

Answer 49

Many qualitatively report using queer media as a source of education. It can help when there's no one to talk to about queer sexuality. Impact on identity: For queers its positive, helps them discover things about themselves. Helps feel more affirmed, generally positive. No research on sexual behavior impacts.

Question 50

What are the effects of seeing queer representation on straight consumers? What two theories potentially explain the effects?

Answer 50

May lead to more accepting views of same sex relationships, generally the more exposure people have the more they support gay equality. Queer media affected those who had no previous exposure with queer people in real life much more than those who had gay friends before.

Question 51

How might parasocial contact theory explain the effects of queer media on straight consumers?

Answer 51

Intergroup contact theory and parasocial contact hypothesis are thought to be explanations for why attitudes improve upon viewing queer representation. Parasocial contact theory comes from intergroup contact theory: when exposed to other groups, work with and converse with, we tend to reduce our stereotypes and discrimination between groups. Parasocial argues that the same result could come from parasocial relationships we form with the media.

Question 52

What are the impacts / possible effects of sexually explicit media?

Answer 52

Research is very limited in this field. More porn is linked to: more permissive sexual attitudes, gendered stereotyped sexual beliefs, greater likelihood of sexual behavior. Mixed evidence on having risky sex and sexual dysfunction. More porn does predict more evidence of sexual violence and aggression (type of porn could be related).

Question 53

Summarize the different pathways theorized to lead to problematic porn use.

Answer 53

There are 2 pathways that are theorized to lead to problematic porn use. Dysregulation: similar to other substance addictions, inability to control behavior regarding substance, different per individual Moral incongruence: Some people have a feeling porn is morally bad but still consume porn so you get stuck in incongruence of thoughts and behaviors. This leads to perceived porn addiction where you feel dissonance which leads to stress. Both pathways lead to perceived porn addiction which causes distress.

Question 54

Summarize the main research question, methods, findings and limitations of the Kotigua et al study.

Answer 54

Question: How do teens sexual self concepts vary/ relate to porn use? What is the relationship between porn and sexual self concept, body esteem, self-efficacy and sexual anxiety? How does porn use relate to expectancies (How we think real sex will go) and generalizations (how much we think porn is true in reality)? Methods: Measured sexual, self-esteem, body esteem, self-efficacy and sexual anxiety. Then measured porn usage. Findings: Use of porn lead to lower sexual body self esteem and higher sexual self efficacy. - For boys: lower sexual self-esteem, higher sexual anxiety - For girls it was the opposite - In general, higher use meant more sexual anxiety In terms of sexual expectancies and generalizations, more negative associations were found. Moderators: Gender, how teems approached porn mattered. Limitations: No follow ups on why, no clear definition of what pornography's counted as. Associations varied based on how teens approached porn, expectancies and generalizations, typically more negative.

Question 55

What is body image? At what age does body image become the most prevalent?

Answer 55

Body image: an individuals perception and evaluation of how our body looks, very appearance based. Salience is most prevalent in adolescence. However, as young as 6 years old there is evidence of body dissatisfaction.

Question 56

What are some reasons that body image concerns become more common in adolescence?

Answer 56

Puberty sparks new physical changes Emphasis on social status and the self (EX: imaginary audience)

Question 57

What are some of the risk that come with body image anxiety?

Answer 57

Eating disorders, disruptive relationships, steroid use, more spending, poor mental health.

Question 58

What is the most common body ideal for men and women?

Answer 58

Men: Muscularity Women: thin body ideal

Question 59

What are some common features or trends related to body image in print media (i.e. magazines)?

Answer 59

Magazine articles often convey messages about thin body ideas, the average magazine model is thinner than 98% of American woman. 15% of headlines are focused on diet and body image

Question 60

How is body image represented in screen media? How is fatness depicted?

Answer 60

There is a overrepresentation of thinness and underrepresentation of fatness. Fat characters are depicted with fewer romances, fewer friends, having less sex, having fewer leadership roles.

Question 61

How is body image represented in children's media?

Answer 61

In children's media, more positive traits are given to thinner characters and negative traits are given to fat characters. Thinness is associated with positive traits in the majority of Disney movies asl well. EX: 30% of Disney movies have at least one character make remarks about body image. Fat characters are much more often the villain too (e.g. Little Mermaid).

Question 62

How is body image represented in video games?

Answer 62

In video games, female characters are often thin with large breasts, males are unrealistically muscular. In children's games they are often V shaped but in adult games they are rectangles.

Question 63

Summarize the main research question, methods, findings and the limitations of the Hargreaves and Tiggeman paper. Also what moderating characteristics are there?

Answer 63

Question: How does exposure to idealized media images—thin ideals for women and muscular ideals for men—affects body image, mood, and appearance-related social comparison in adolescent girls and boys. Do individual differences (appearance investment and trait social comparison) moderate these effects? Methods: Showed grade 8-12 girls and boys either a neutral commercial, a thin body ideal commercial (for girls) or a muscular body commercial (for boys). They measured body dissatisfaction Findings: - Girls: Viewing thin-ideal commercials significantly increased body dissatisfaction and negative mood compared to non-appearance commercials. - Boys: Muscular-ideal commercials did not significantly increase body dissatisfaction. Moderators: High appearance investment predicted greater appearance comparison and body dissatisfaction. These effects were stronger in the idealized commercial condition. We often see that girls feel the impact of the media much more than boys do. Limitations: demand characteristics, most research on body image effects is only on women! Also going into a lab to watch a commercial is not representative of the real world.

Question 64

Summarize the example of the Fiji natural experiment.

Answer 64

Study: In Fiji, traditional woman body ideas are a larger body. They examined Fijian teenage girls before and 3 years after the arrival of western TV. Found: increase in disordered eating, dieting, 77% reported western TV influenced their own body image. They thought that thinness was linked to success.

Question 65

Give a brief summary of correlational research on body image media consumption today.

Answer 65

Generally individuals who consume more media seem to be less satisfied with body, it does seem to be influenced by content to a good degree. The type of media matters. Soap operas and music videos in particular make a bigger impact. Generally finding there is more of an impact when looking at non-commercial TV, ads have less of an effect.

Question 66

Why does TV have more impact on body image that commercial media?

Answer 66

Wishful identification, more connection to TV characters. More demand characteristic for Ads

Question 67

What are some reasons for why body image media affects people differently?

Answer 67

Age, race, gender, most research is only done for women. There are many theories that can be applied for explaining the differences in body image media effects! One big reason is societies message of thin = better or muscular = better. Society attributes ideal bodies with success. Failure to live up to this standard can lead to greater body dissatisfaction.

Question 68

Explain how social comparison theory can be used to explain the relation between body image media and body satisfaction.

Answer 68

Social comparison theory claims, how positive or negative we feel about ourselves, is often relative to who we are comparing ourselves to. In relation to media, we make upward or downward social comparisons all the time when consuming media. More often than not, upward social comparisons which leaves us feeling worse about ourselves. (Comparison in person seems to have stronger effects than media, possibly due to how real it is.)

Question 69

Explain how Tripartite theory can be used to explain the relation between body image media and body satisfaction.

Answer 69

a widely-supported psychological theory proposing that body image and eating disturbances are primarily caused by pressures from three sociocultural sources: parents, peers, and media. The effects are mediated by - comparison: How often social comparisons are made to others - internalization: How much the individual believes that societal standards should be their own personal standards. Depending on these 3 factors and 2 mediators, body dissatisfaction can be worse or better.

Question 70

Explain how objectification theory can be used to explain the relation between body image media and body satisfaction.

Answer 70

Society often portrays bodies as sexual objects in the media (more common girls, racialized individuals, queer) Self objectification: Where the individual comes to accept the perspective that value is based on physical appearance. This theory claims that the messages of objectification from the media are internalized by the consumer and applied to the self. Potentially making us feel worse about our own bodies.

Question 71

Discuss some of the main differences between traditional media and social media that are important when thinking about body image.

Answer 71

Users become creators now as well, this can lead to editing images of ourself Content tends to feel more relatable since it comes from friends now. You can engage with content and get feedback on things we post. Content is always accessible and personalized. Commercial and non-commercial content is a bit more unclear.

Question 72

What are the general research findings on the relationship between social media and its effects on body image?

Answer 72

Most research suggest there is a small link between social media use and body dissatisfaction. The effect is stronger in younger adolescence. Much more negatively impacted. Interestingly, it seems to effect men and women the same! This is different from traditionally media.

Question 73

What are some mediating factors that matter for social medias effect on body image?

Answer 73

Some social media factors that affect body image are: Image based platforms, EX: Instagram leads to more body dissatisfaction than Facebook. More selfies and higher time spent editing seems to correlate with more dissatisfaction, editing photos more could be linked to self-objectification. Viewing manipulated photos and thinking they are real leads to more dissatisfaction. Greater effects from viewing non-celebrity accounts vs celebrity accounts.

Question 74

Do photo disclaimers work to help reduce body dissatisfaction?

Answer 74

Some countries legally require disclaimers on paid social media posts to label that they have been edited. Research seems to say that disclaimers are not particularly effective. Some studies even find that they increase social comparison. Why? Perhaps disclaimers increase attention to the bodies to figure out what has been altered, leading to more dissatisfaction.

Question 75

Do media literacy programs/interventions work to reduce body dissatisfaction?

Answer 75

By being taught to think critically about social media posts, (challenging why things are posted, why we are being shown specific posts) does in fact lead to better outcomes! Students enrolled in media literacy programs show less internalization of the thin ideal, less drive for thinness, and more body satisfaction

Question 76

Does exposure to different content have different effects?

Answer 76

Social media does not only have negative effects! Parody accounts seem to help combat body dissatisfaction and remind people that what they see online can be unrealistic.

Question 77

What is body positivity and body neutrality?

Answer 77

Body positivity: a theme of loving ones body and appreciating it, consuming this content has led to different research - Body positive content has mixed research results, some say it still leads to body dissatisfaction due to increased attention on appearance, similar to disclaimers. Body neutrality: removing expectations around body evaluations around looks, focusing more on body function

Question 78

Summarize the main research question,

Answer 78

Question: How does exposure to different types of TikTok content—body neutrality, body positivity, weight-stigmatizing, and neutral travel videos—affects body image, mood, self-objectification, and appearance-related thoughts. It also explores whether these effects vary by gender identity and perceived body silhouette. Methods: Adult participants (interest in fat, gender diverse) were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions of TikTok Videos. They measured body dissatisfaction and self objectification before and after the videos. Findings: Both body positive and body neutral content found to reduce body dissatisfaction, increase body appreciation, decrease self-objectification - Body positive content seems to help more for mood, particularly for people with mid sized bodies. Body neutral content seemed better at reducing self-objectification and had better effects for gender diverse people. Limitations: BP and BN was not more effective than the control condition of watching travel videos. Also short term exposure and self report bias.