TY - JOUR
T1 - Does Gratitude Induction Buffer the Adverse Effect of Thin Ideal Media Exposure on Women’s Body Image?
AU - Wolfe, Wendy L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© NAJP.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Strategies for inducing a global state of gratitude have been found to buffer females from body dissatisfaction triggered by still media images portraying the ideal body. This study extends such research by comparing a global gratitude induction strategy (GG) with a gratitude towards self induction strategy (GS), and by using video media exposure in a between groups repeated measures experimental design. Females (N = 174 recruited, N = 99 retained) participated in a “Media Preferences Study.” They completed measures of body satisfaction and body size discrepancy (current vs. ideal and current vs. opposite sex attractive), embedded with distractor measures, before the experiment. Participants either wrote about their top valued personal characteristic, and how it has been helpful (GS), listed all of the things in their life for which they were grateful (GG), or completed a distraction task (control). Then, they viewed a commercial portraying a thin, attractive female and completed a survey about the video. After, they completed the same measures of body satisfaction and body size discrepancy for a second time. It was predicted that participants in the control condition would experience deleterious effects of media exposure and that participants in the two gratitude conditions would be buffered and show little change in state measures of body image. Indeed, when the two gratitude conditions were combined, results showed a buffering effect of gratitude induction, compared to increased body discrepancy (current vs. attractive) for the control group participants. Although the GS was predicted to be a more powerful buffer, both gratitude induction strategies performed equivalently.
AB - Strategies for inducing a global state of gratitude have been found to buffer females from body dissatisfaction triggered by still media images portraying the ideal body. This study extends such research by comparing a global gratitude induction strategy (GG) with a gratitude towards self induction strategy (GS), and by using video media exposure in a between groups repeated measures experimental design. Females (N = 174 recruited, N = 99 retained) participated in a “Media Preferences Study.” They completed measures of body satisfaction and body size discrepancy (current vs. ideal and current vs. opposite sex attractive), embedded with distractor measures, before the experiment. Participants either wrote about their top valued personal characteristic, and how it has been helpful (GS), listed all of the things in their life for which they were grateful (GG), or completed a distraction task (control). Then, they viewed a commercial portraying a thin, attractive female and completed a survey about the video. After, they completed the same measures of body satisfaction and body size discrepancy for a second time. It was predicted that participants in the control condition would experience deleterious effects of media exposure and that participants in the two gratitude conditions would be buffered and show little change in state measures of body image. Indeed, when the two gratitude conditions were combined, results showed a buffering effect of gratitude induction, compared to increased body discrepancy (current vs. attractive) for the control group participants. Although the GS was predicted to be a more powerful buffer, both gratitude induction strategies performed equivalently.
KW - body image
KW - body satisfaction
KW - gratitude
KW - media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126938664&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.13140/RG.2.2.28387.68644
DO - 10.13140/RG.2.2.28387.68644
M3 - Commentary
AN - SCOPUS:85126938664
SN - 1527-7143
VL - 24
SP - 7
EP - 26
JO - North American Journal of Psychology
JF - North American Journal of Psychology
IS - 1
ER -