Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2004, pp.

7-22
AGLIATA
THE IMPACT
ANDOFTANTLEFF-DUNN
MEDIA EXPOSURE

THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE ON MALES’

BODY IMAGE
DANIEL AGLIATA AND STACEY TANTLEFF-DUNN
University of Central Florida

Mass media are believed to be a pervasive force in shaping physical appearance

ideals and have been shown to negatively impact females’ body image. Little re-
search has attended to the effects of media exposure on males’ body image. The
current experiment exposed 158 males to television advertisements containing ei-
ther ideal male images or neutral images that were inserted between segments of a
television program. Participants were blocked on dispositional body image and at-
titudes toward appearance variables to assess for moderating effects. Results indi-
cated that participants exposed to ideal image advertisements became significantly
more depressed and had higher levels of muscle dissatisfaction than those exposed
to neutral ads. Inconsistent with past research, no dispositional effects were noted
that would suggest the influence of schematicity on mood and body image
changes.

Body image disturbance, often viewed as a continuum of satisfaction

and dissatisfaction with one’s physical appearance (Thompson,
Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999), has been linked to low
self-esteem, depression, and social anxiety (Cash, 1990; Frederick &
Morrison, 1996; Thompson, 1992). Body dissatisfaction has been recog-
nized as a precursor to dieting and often precipitates disordered eating
(Twamley & Davis, 1999). The vast majority of body image research has
focused on females who generally report more disturbance (Rodin,
Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1985; Thompson, 1996; Thompson et al.,
1999), but attention to males’ body image has slowly been increasing
(Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia, 2000). In an early study on male body im-
age, 95% of college-age men expressed dissatisfaction with some part of
their bodies and 70% experienced a discrepancy between their current

Address correspondence to Stacey Tantleff-Dunn, Ph.D., University of Central

Florida, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 161390, Orlando, FL 32816-1390; E-mail:
sdunn@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu.

7
8 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

and ideal body shapes (Mishkind, Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore,

1986). In the most recent national survey, Cash (1997) found that body
dissatisfaction had increased for both genders from earlier reports
(Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrnstedt 1973; Cash, Winstead, & Janda, 1986),
nearly threefold (15% to 43%) in males. Cash (2002) has questioned the
validity of concluding from magazine surveys that body dissatisfaction
is on the rise, but it is possible that males are becoming increasingly
aware of body image ideals. Increased efforts to more accurately assess
and effectively address males’ body image concerns are warranted.
From Playgirl and Chippendales, debuting in the 1970s, to muscle
movies such as Rambo in the ‘80s, to the male cosmetic surgeries of the
‘90s, the emphasis on appearance that has long plagued women has been
increasingly directed at men. Playgirl centerfolds have become increas-
ingly dense and muscular (Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2000), and the emphasis
on muscularity is communicated to even the youngest males with toy ac-
tion figures becoming significantly more muscular and now exceeding
world-class body builders (Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki,
1999). Recently succumbing to what has been called an “Adonis com-
plex of attractiveness” (Pope et al., 2000, p. xiii), men have increased
their efforts to build muscle and stay lean. The ideal male body of the
new millennium is increasingly unattainable (Pope et al., 1999), result-
ing in real-ideal discrepancies that lead to lower self-esteem and depres-
sion in men (Pope et al., 2000). As observed in so many studies of fe-
males, having a desired body size and degree of physical attractiveness
other than one’s own can lead to body image dissatisfaction, the use of
weight-control strategies, and a heightened potential for eating
pathology (Thompson & Tantleff, 1992; Jacobi & Cash, 1994).
While the feminine ideal has tapered, the average American woman’s
weight has increased (Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982), lead-
ing to larger discrepancies between what is culturally desirable and
what is physiologically evident. A parallel struggle has occurred for
men for the physical attributes of attractiveness and muscularity. A
comparison of the most popular magazines revealed that, although
many more diet-related advertisements and articles were found in fe-
male-targeted magazines, there were significantly more exercise and
weight-lifting advertisements in male magazines (Andersen &
DiDomenico, 1992). Thus, the print media encourages women to control
their weight through dieting while urging males to mold their bodies
through exercise. Just as women are vulnerable to the culture of thinness
that permeates Western society (Heinberg, 1996), males are subjected to
a culture of muscularity.
Sociocultural theory of body image proposes that societal standards of
beauty are inordinately stressed (Fallon, 1990) and contribute to the de-
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 9

velopment and maintenance of body image disturbance (Thompson et

al., 1999). Recent research has addressed the role of social comparison as
a prime factor in the development and maintenance of body image dis-
turbance (Smolak, Levine, & Gralen, 1993; Striegel-Moore, McAvay, &
Rodin, 1986; Thompson, Heinberg, & Tantleff, 1991). Females report ap-
pearance-related peer group comparisons to be the most influential on
body image, whereas males place a greater emphasis on comparisons
with celebrities (Heinberg & Thompson, 1992). Given that males also
tend to find visual material more evocative than females do (Barthel,
1992), the media may play a larger role in males’ body image concerns
than previously thought.
One shortcoming of sociocultural theory is that it fails to explain why
some people are more impacted by the media than others. To address
this, researchers have borrowed from Markus’s (1977) self-schema the-
ory and have applied the concept of appearance schemas—organizing
and guiding cognitive structures that process self-relevant information
(Altabe & Thompson, 1996; Cash & Labarge, 1996; Labarge, Cash, &
Brown, 1998; Markus, Hamill, & Sentis, 1987). Individuals’ schematics
for a dimension such as body image investment may be primed by expo-
sure to ideals of attractiveness and, in turn, process and react more nega-
tively to appearance stimuli than those who are aschematic on that di-
mension (Altabe & Thompson, 1996; Cash, 1994; Cash & Labarge, 1996;
Lavin & Cash, 2001). Further, researchers propose that individuals inter-
nalize the body shape found most acceptable by others and evaluate
themselves against this perceived ideal (Higgins, 1987; Stice, 1994).
Although sources that emphasize the importance of physical beauty
are omnipresent(Thompson et al., 1999), the most influential force in
forming, strengthening, and activating stereotypes has been the mass
media (Andersen & DiDomenico, 1992; Lavine, Sweeney, & Wagner,
1999). Today’s media do not distinguish between glorified fiction and
reality (Freedman, 1986), thus society regards media images as realistic
representations of beauty and as appropriate comparison targets for ap-
pearance (Fallon, 1990; Jasper, 1993). Television and magazines exacer-
bate this problem by presenting airbrushed, artificial images as real. Ex-
perimental evidence suggests that females who view idealized female
images become less satisfied with their own appearance and exhibit
more eating disorder symptoms (Cash, Cash, & Butters, 1983; Stice &
Shaw, 1994; Then, 1992), and males subsequently judge the average
woman to be less attractive and rate their current relationships as less fa-
vorable (Kenrick & Gutierres, 1980). A meta-analysis of 25 studies indi-
cated that, compared to control groups, females who viewed thin mod-
els experienced more negative effects on body image, and these effects
were stronger for females’ schematics for appearance (Groesz, Levine, &
10 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

Murnen, 2002). Rodin and colleagues (1985) have suggested that mass
media may define where on the continuum of body image dissatisfac-
tion/eating disorder pathology one falls. However, the proverbial
“chicken or the egg?” question regarding media and body image re-
mains since some research supports the notion that the media give peo-
ple what they already want(Raphael & Lacey, 1992; Silverstein, Perdue,
Peterson, & Kelly, 1986). Most likely, the relationship between mass
media and body image is complex, reciprocal, and defined by many
moderating variables (for review see Tiggeman, 2002; Thompson et al.,
1999).
Despite the apparent impact media have on females’ body image, little
research has attended to the effects of media exposure on males’ body
image. Further, the influence of television viewing on body image has
only recently been addressed (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995;
Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Stice & Shaw, 1994). To date, there are only
three published studies that specifically investigated the impact of tele-
vision advertisements on body image satisfaction, and only one of these
included males. Contrary to their hypotheses, Myers and Biocca (1992)
found that watching appearance-related programming and advertising
decreased body size overestimations and depression levels in females.
In contrast, Heinberg and Thompson (1995) found that women became
more depressed, angry, and had higher degrees of body image distur-
bance following exposure to appearance and thinness-related television
advertisements. Women with high levels of disturbance became more
dissatisfied with their weight and overall appearance following expo-
sure, suggesting that some individuals may be especially vulnerable to
negative effects of appearance-related media. Lavine et al. (1999) found
that, compared to men exposed to neutral advertisements, men exposed
to advertisements that portrayed women as sex objects rated their own
bodies as thinner. Viewing sexist ads also led to larger discrepancies be-
tween actual and ideal body size (with men preferring a larger body and
chest) and overestimations of the ideal male size selected by their male
peers. Thus, television advertisements may impact males’ body image
via messages that lead to inaccurate, stereotyped perceptions of the ideal
and negative self-appraisals. Many of the sexist advertisements also
depicted males as sex objects. Such portrayals of the muscular ideal male
may shape the body images of men, much like thin models impact
women (Fallon, 1990).
In sum, although little empirical evidence exists regarding media’s di-
rect impact on males’ body image, research does suggest that the rate of
body image dissatisfaction among males may be increasing (Garner,
1997; Serdula et al., 1993) and that appearance-related media messages
are influential (Murphy, 1993; Pope et al., 2000). Further research is
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 11

needed to understand the extent to which media messages influence

male body image and eating behavior. The present investigation was de-
signed to assess the impact of television advertisements on male body
image satisfaction and identify individual differences that may moder-
ate the relationship between sociocultural pressures and body image
disturbance in males. It was hypothesized that intense exposure to tele-
vision advertisements containing male images that reflect the cultural
ideal would lead to greater body image dissatisfaction and negative
mood changes than exposure to nonappearance-related commercials.
Further, it was expected that the impact of viewing attractive images
would be moderated by negative appearance-related cognitions and
sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, such that participants with
high levels of negative appearance-related cognitions and acceptance of
societal standards of attractiveness would experience more distress fol-
lowing exposure to appearance-related advertisements. It was expected
that participants exposed to nonappearance-related television adver-
tisements, regardless of their dispositional levels of disturbance or
adherence to socially sanctioned standards of attraction, would
experience no significant changes in mood or body image satisfaction.

METHOD
PARTICIPANTS
Although similar studies with females have reported effect sizes of .50
(Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Lavine et al., 1999; Myers & Biocca, 1992),
a more conservative estimate for this unstudied male population was
used. With an estimated effect size of .40 and a suggested power of .80,
Cohen (1988) recommends a sample size of 100. Since the current study
compared the upper and lower thirds of the population based on levels
of body image and internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward ap-
pearance, a larger sample of 158 male undergraduates at a large open en-
rollment university in the southeast was obtained. Of the participants,
98% were between 17 and 27 years, with a mean age of 21.3 (SD = 4.01);
66% of the sample were Caucasian, 14.0% were Hispanic, 10.2% were
African American, and 5.1% were Asian. Participants’ weights (M =
172.5 pounds, SD = 29.1) and heights (M = 70.9 inches, SD = 2.7) were
used to calculate Quetelet’s Index (Wt/Ht2), M = 24.1, SD = 3.5. All par-
ticipants received extra credit for volunteering their participation.
Each participant was randomly assigned to either the appearance
advertisement(experimental) group or a nonappearance
advertisement(control) group. No significant differences were found be-
tween the two video groups with regard to demographic information,
12 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

TABLE 1. Group Comparisons on Demographics and Video

Comprehension/Attention Check

Appearance Non–appearance
Group (n = 81) Group (n = 77)
Variable M SD M SD t–value p–value
Age 20.88 2.29 21.85 5.25 1.53 .13
Weight (lb) 70.80 2.90 70.93 2.38 0.30 .76
Height (in) 169.28 29.40 176.08 28.64 1.47 .15
BMI 23.69 3.48 24.56 3.53 1.55 .12
TV viewing (hrs/day) 2.32 0.93 2.41 0.96 0.64 .52
Comprehension check % 9.34 0.50 9.42 0.56 0.81 .42

body mass index, or television viewing variables. Descriptive information

regarding the homogeneity of the two groups is presented in Table 1.

MEASURES
Four subscales of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Question-
naire (MBSRQ; Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990; Cash, Winstead, & Janda,
1985; Cash et al., 1986) were used to assess appearance satisfaction, im-
portance of outward appearance, feelings of being physically fit, and
overall investment in appearance and fitness. Separate analyses were
done for each subscale. Internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha) for the
current male sample were .86 for MBSRQ-AE, .89 for MBSRQ-AO, .80
for MBSRQ-FE, and .91 for MBSRQ-FO.
The 21-item Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Question-
naire - Male Version (SATAQ-M; Heinberg, Thompson, & Stormer,
1995) was used to assess awareness and acceptance of cultural ideals of
attractiveness. Cronbach’s alpha was .85 for the Internalization scale
and .84 for the Awareness scale.
The nine-item Physical Appearance Subscale of the Bulimia Cognitive
Distortions Scale (BCDS-PA; Schulman, Kinder, Powers, & Prange,
1986) was used to measure irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions as-
sociated with physical appearance. Cronbach’s alpha for the BCDS-PA
was .89.
Visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess immediate changes
in mood and body dissatisfaction after viewing the televised program
and advertisements. Participants were asked to place a small vertical
mark across a 10cm horizontal line anchored with the labels “no” dis-
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 13

tress on the far left and “extreme” distress on the far right to represent
how they felt at that time. Individual responses were measured to the
nearest millimeter, producing a numerical representation of the mark-
ing on a 100-point scale. Participants provided several ratings of mood
and body image, including anxiety, depression, happiness, anger, confi-
dence, weight dissatisfaction, and satisfaction with overall physical ap-
pearance. A second set of visual analogue scales was used to assess lev-
els of dissatisfaction with particular body sites most important to males,
including face, hair, biceps, chest, abdomen, and calf muscles. Past re-
search has indicated significant relationships between VAS measures of
depression, anger, and anxiety and their respective subscales on the Pro-
file of Mood States (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995). Similarly, VAS mea-
sures for body dissatisfaction have been significantly correlated with the
Body Dissatisfaction Subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory (Gar-
ner, Olmstead, & Polivy, 1983). Because they are highly sensitive to
small state changes, VAS are useful in counteracting the effects of de-
mand characteristics for participants who are more reluctant to report
extreme levels of mood and body disturbance (Thompson, 1996). After
the initial scoring, a second rater was used to measure a random sample
(20%) of the total VAS questionnaires to ensure scoring accuracy.
Interrater agreement was 91%.

VIDEOTAPE STIMULI
Two 30-minute video segments were created, the first containing ap-
pearance-loaded advertisements and the second containing nonappear-
ance-related advertisements. The commercials were videotaped from
standard and cable television channels during peak viewing hours. A
series of four advertisements was shown during four separate commer-
cial segments of the television program Family Feud (with original host
Richard Dawson), chosen because of its neutral body image content and
absence of references to sociocultural ideals. An initial sample of com-
mercials featuring male actors was compiled from 40 hours of taped tele-
vision and rated by a pilot sample of 30 male students according to the
degree to which they reflected the male ideal of attractiveness (1 = unat-
tractive to 7 = very attractive) as well as their overall appeal (1 = disliked
very much to 7 = liked very much). The participants also rated the attrac-
tiveness and appeal of the television program to ensure its neutrality,
controlling for threats to construct validity of putative causes and effects
(Cook & Campbell, 1979), and thereby attributing the experimental ef-
fects to viewing male ideal commercials. The results of this pilot led to
the selection of 16 commercials that each contained actors judged to be
the most indicative of the male ideal (based on sample mean scores).
14 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

Seventy-one percent of the actors in each of these commercials were

lean, muscular, young (in their 20s) males (50% Caucasian, 41% African
American, 7% Hispanic) wearing athletic attire (sometimes without
shirts) in deodorant, cologne, and athletic performance-enhancement
commercials. The advertisements for the experimental tape were
matched with 16 control commercials that had similar mean scores on
appeal, yet rated as not reflecting the male ideal or promoting appear-
ance-related products. Seventy-nine percent of the actors in each of the
control commercials were mid- to older-adult men (30+ years; 91% Cau-
casian, 7% African American, 2% Hispanic), fully clothed in business or
casual attire in business or home settings, advertising financial, tele-
phone, or automobile companies. The selected advertisements were
inserted in place of the original commercial segments to produce two
distinct(experimental and control) 30-minute videotapes.

PROCEDURE
Participants were informed that they would be taking part in two sepa-
rate studies (on two different days), the first of which investigated be-
liefs about appearance, and the second of which examined television
viewing and attention. Participants provided basic demographic infor-
mation and completed the visual analogue scales, followed by the body
image measures (MBSRQ, SATAQ, BCDS). Upon completion of the
Time 1 survey packet, each participant was scheduled to return approxi-
mately one week later to view the videotape and complete the last set of
measures. This seven- to ten- day lag was used to minimize priming ef-
fects of Time 1 questionnaires. Upon return for the second session, par-
ticipants were randomly assigned to either the appearance or
nonappearance video condition and sent to the appropriate room in
groups of three to eight per condition. Participants were told that they
were participating in a short study about television viewing and reten-
tion to minimize hypothesis guessing, evaluation apprehension, and
similar threats to construct validity (Cook & Campbell, 1979).
Prior to beginning the videotape, the experimenter read a scripted set
of instructions asking all participants to watch the entire videotape and
to refrain from any interaction during the program to avoid distracting
(or influencing) other participants. Following the video presentation,
participants were asked to complete the visual analogue scales and a
brief manipulation check. The manipulation check contained multi-
ple-choice questions about the program and advertisements to ensure
comprehension and attention, and to assess for hypothesis guessing.
Students were debriefed and awarded extra credit for their participa-
tion. With the exception of seven participants, all participants who
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 15

missed their Time 2 session were rescheduled and completed their

participation within two days of their original appointment.

DESIGN AND ANALYSES

Independent variables included measures of body image (MBSRQ,
BCDS-PA) and sociocultural attitudes toward appearance (SATAQ).
Though these scales are positively correlated and measure similar con-
structs related to body image, none shared over 20% of common vari-
ance and were therefore analyzed independently. Scores on these
measures were ranked and divided into three groups, creating distinct
upper and lower levels of body image and internalization of
sociocultural attitudes toward appearance. Stimulus material (appear-
ance - nonappearance) and time of testing (pre - post) were also entered
as independent variables.
The dependent measures of mood used in the final analyses (anxiety,
depression, anger) were treated independently since none shared more
than 35% of common variance. The seven individual areas of muscle dis-
satisfaction, however, had a high degree of overlap, averaging over 60%
of shared common variance among the measures and were therefore col-
lapsed into a single index of muscle dissatisfaction with an alpha of .89
(see Bordens & Abbott, 2002). Items regarding weight satisfaction and
weight concerns had poor internal consistency and were therefore omit-
ted from the final analyses to avoid spurious effects. All dependent mea-
sures of mood and body areas dissatisfaction were derived from the
VAS. Hypothesis testing for the current study used a 2 (time of testing) ×
2 (advertisement type) × 2 (disposition level) factorial design. BMI ini-
tially was entered as a covariate to control for moderating effects, but
covarying BMI (which is not as good at measuring adiposity in men) did
not significantly affect the analyses. Therefore, final analyses used a
repeated measures MANOVA to test for group differences across
dependent mood dimensions.

RESULTS
Information obtained during Time 1 indicated a high degree of exposure
to television advertisements. All participants reported having at least
one television in their homes (M = 3.1, SD = 1.5) and watched an average
of 2.4 hours per day (SD = 0.94), most frequently (97%) on commercial
networks. Results of the manipulation check revealed that all partici-
pants were able to accurately answer over 90% of the posttest questions
about video content(M = 9.3, SD = 0.53), indicating a high degree of stim-
ulus attention and comprehension. Only four participants (two experi-
16 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

mental, two control) correctly identified the general purpose of the

study (to see how commercials affect how we feel about ourselves), but
were not specific in stating the particular effects in question. Their data
were retained in the study.
Results of the repeated measures MANOVA indicated a significant
time by condition interaction, F(4, 144) = 4.05, p < .004. Significant
univariates emerged for the muscle dissatisfaction VAS, F(1, 147) = 9.49,
p < .002, and depression, F(1, 147) = 4.66, p < .006. Fisher protected t-tests
revealed that males exposed to appearance-related advertisements had
significantly higher reports of muscle dissatisfaction from Time 1 (56.19)
to Time 2 (62.91) than those exposed to neutral control advertisements
(56.61 - 58.32), t(147) = -1.92, p < .051. Similarly, males who viewed the
body image ideal advertisements became significantly more depressed
(28.37 - 31.12) following exposure, whereas males exposed to the nonap-
pearance commercials significantly decreased in levels of depression
(27.34 - 23.85) after stimulus presentation, t(147) = -2.66, p < .009 (see Ta-
ble 2). Although no significant univariate interactions were found for
VAS anger or anxiety, each had a main effect for time, F(1, 147) = 15.03, p
< .001 and F(1, 147) = 8.83, p < .003, respectively. Levels of reported anger
decreased in both the experimental (26.88 - 22.33) and control groups
(26.89 - 19.05) over time. Similarly, both groups exhibited lower levels of
anxiety following exposure to appearance (35.85 - 29.95) or
nonappearance advertisements (34.56 - 29.46).
Time × Condition × Dispositional Level of Disturbance (High/Low)
MANOVAs revealed no significant multivariate or univariate interactions
for the BCDS-PA, SATAQ, or the MBSRQ subscales. There was a main ef-
fect for dispositional level on the VAS dimensions using both the SATAQ,
F(8, 276) = 1.96, p < .05, and the BDCS-PA, F(8, 282) = 3.76, p < .001.
Across conditions and time of testing, high scorers on the Body Image
and Sociocultural Attitudes toward appearance questionnaires had sig-
nificantly higher levels of VAS depression, anger, and anxiety, and were
less satisfied with their physiques than low scorers.

DISCUSSION
The findings suggest that exposure to media images of the ideal male
body, defined as lean and muscular, can have deleterious effects on
mood and body satisfaction in men. The results indicate that exposure to
ideal images of attractiveness via television advertisements can signifi-
cantly increase one’s muscle dissatisfaction, whereas exposure to non-
appearance advertisements shows no effects on body dissatisfaction.
Viewing ideal male images also was associated with a significant in-
crease in depression, whereas exposure to neutral advertising had the
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 17

TABLE 2. Mean Levels of Muscle Dissatisfaction and Negative Mood Dimensions for
Appearance and Non–Appearance Advertisement Groups over Time

Time 1 Time 2
Non Non
Appearance Appearance Appearance Appearance
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD
a
Muscle Dissatisfaction 56.6 14.6 56.2 16.5 58.3 14.8 62.9 14.4
b b
Depression 27.3 19.1 28.4 19.9 23.9 16.7 31.1 16.7
c c
Anger 26.9 20.9 26.9 21.0 19.1 19.7 22.3 20.3
c c
Anxiety 34.6 21.2 35.9 21.5 29.5 20.9 30.0 21.3
a b c
Significant time × condition interaction, p < .05. Significant time × condition interaction, p < .01. Sig-
nificant main effects for time, p < .005.

opposite effect, with significant decreases in depression reported. Lev-

els of anger and anxiety decreased for both conditions, suggesting that
merely participating in a study may involve a degree of novelty that
could initially exaggerate these emotions, which later decrease as a func-
tion of subsiding evaluation apprehension rather than an experimental
effect. Further, it is important to note that the clinical significance of find-
ings based on VAS measures is unclear, and the extent to which VAS
scores can discriminate between at-risk and normal levels of
psychological disturbance needs further study.
Given the corresponding changes in mood and body disturbance fol-
lowing exposure to ideal images, it can be concluded that such media ef-
fects are not restricted to self-image and may “...reflect a more global
shift in negative self-evaluation” (Heinberg & Thompson, 1995, p. 335).
It is possible that the appearance videotape triggered schema-driven
processes that, based on self-to-ideal image comparisons, resulted in
negative self-evaluations manifested in body dissatisfaction and
dysphoria. However, because individuals both high and low in
dispositional measures of disturbance experienced comparable effects
of ideal image exposure, the current findings are inconsistent with stud-
ies of female samples that support the notion of varying degrees of vul-
nerability to negative contextual events (Cusumano & Thompson, 1997;
Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, & Stein,
1994). The absence of an additive effect in which individuals high on dis-
turbance are more adversely affected by ideal advertisements suggests
that males may not internalize and process sociocultural pressures of
appearance through the same schema-driven processes as females. In-
stead, the current study suggests that males, regardless of schematicity,
18 AGLIATA AND TANTLEFF-DUNN

are reactive to appearance-related cues and may interpret these mes-

sages at face value without filtering them through a pre-existing internal
set. If accurate, this finding may limit the applicability of current
cognitive models, and exploration of theoretical implications is needed.
An alternative explanation for the inconsistency between our findings
and those with female samples may relate to representation of pretest
scores. Although participants were divided into three disposition
groups based on pretest scores, it is possible that the range of scores was
not indicative of truly high or low levels of disturbance (BCDS, MBSRQ)
or social conformity (SATAQ) in males. Median scores were comparable
to those found by Heinberg and Thompson (1995), but males’ scores on
these female-normed instruments might represent different levels of
disturbance, making interpretation of dispositional effects difficult.
These instruments may not be sensitive to males’ body image concerns,
leading to restriction of range and failure to detect moderating effects of
dispositional levels. Similarly, the nonsignificant differences between
the “high” and “low” disposition groups in the control condition could
have resulted from the neutral stimulus, as hypothesized, or could have
reflected range restriction and measurement confounds. Clearly, future
research should ensure fully representative ranges of scores on
male-normed measures have sufficient sample sizes for group
comparisons.
The current study incorporated several methodological changes from
previous experiments. The most fundamental difference was the use of
an all male sample. The application of past methodology to male partici-
pants has introduced a host of gender-related issues and questions that
have previously been ignored or assumed consistent. Several proce-
dural alterations also are worthy of note. First, past studies have admin-
istered pre- and post-test measures in one sitting, creating the possibility
of pretest sensitization and priming effects of the measures. To control
for these threats in the current study, Time 1 and Time 2 data were col-
lected approximately one week apart and were presented as separate
studies. Although Heinberg and Thompson (1995) describe their
schema-activating contextual event as viewing an appearance video, it
is possible that appearance schemas were activated by pretest measures,
making it impossible to isolate the effects of the video condition from
pretest effects. A second procedural change in the current experiment
involved the presentation of appearance-related advertisements within
the context of a neutral game show program, creating a more realistic ex-
amination of television viewing. Past studies have either manipulated
both commercials and program content for attractiveness (Myers &
Biocca, 1992) or presented a continuous series of ideal advertisements
(Heinberg & Thompson, 1995; Lavine et al., 1999). Alhough these more
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA EXPOSURE 19

concentrated exposures resulted in negative effects, they may have

exaggerated the effects of typical television viewing.
Despite the limitations described, the current study demonstrated ad-
verse effects of appearance-related media exposure on males’ body im-
age. Given that the average person is exposed to nearly 25 appear-
ance-related commercials each day, over 150% more than that presented
in the current experiment, such negative effects remain a cause for con-
cern. Though we can speculate about the cumulative effect of daily ex-
posure to appearance ideals, future research should aim to identify spe-
cific long-term effects of media exposure. It is important to extend our
knowledge of males’ body image and further explore the applicability of
findings based on female samples. Understanding more about males’
cognitive schemas of body image, for example, may help explain how
some individuals are able to disregard media messages of attractiveness
and effectively confront the everyday pressures of meeting an
unattainable ideal.

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