1999/01/01 by J. Kevin Thompson, Leslie J. Heinberg · 2 citations
Psychology · Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Eating Disorders and Behaviors #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Media, Gender, and Advertising #Eating disorders #Viewpoints #Attractiveness #Psychology #Social media #Physical attractiveness #Intervention (counseling) #Social psychology #Disturbance (geology) #Clinical psychology #Political science #Psychiatry
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00119
openalex publication_date 1999/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Survey, correlational, randomized control, and covariance structure modeling investigations indicate that the media are a significant factor in the development and maintenance of eating and shape‐related disorders. One specific individual difference variable, internalization of societal pressures regarding prevailing standards of attractiveness, appears to moderate or even mediate the media's effects on women's body satisfaction and eating dysfunction. Problematic media messages inherent in existing media portrayals of eating disorders are apparent, leading researchers to pinpoint intervention strategies that might counteract such viewpoints. Social activism and social marketing approaches are suggested as methods for fighting negative media messages. The media itself is one potential vehicle for communicating productive, accurate, and deglamorized messages about eating and shape‐related disorders.