Email this article 
Media-Portrayed Idealized Images: Comparing ‘Male and Female’ Literature Review
Abstract
female and males. This literature review sought to examine the effects of media images on men’s and women’s
attitudes towards their body appearance. Socio-cultural theories of body images suggests that body
dissatisfaction results from unrealistic societal beauty ideals and the most valid way of transmitting this is
through mass media. In this paper, internalized appearance ideals and appearance social comparisons have
been considered central factors accounting body dissatisfaction due to the media images. While, the body
dissatisfaction is common among both men and women when they exposed by idealized body images through
mass media, social comparison effect shows differences among boys and girls. Significantly, in each single case
there is a high signal for certain psychological and physical problems afterwards. The existing literatures have
been mostly interested with female body dissatisfaction. Yet, the new phenomenon is mostly focusing on the
‘muscularity dysmorphia’ problem as well. Differences and similarities are explained in the light of different
studies that existed. I reviewed the findings of some literatures on men and women body dissatisfaction and
idealized body images.
Keywords: Idealized body images; the Social Comparison Theory; body dissatisfaction; media
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Austin, J.K., Champion, V.L., & Tzeng, O.C. (1989). Cross cultural relationship between self-concept and body
image in high school-age boys. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 3,234-240.
Blyth, D.A., Simmons, R.G., Bulcroft, R., Felt, D., Van Cleave, E.F., & Bush, D.M. (1981). The effects of physical
development in self-image and satisfaction with body image for early adolescent males. Research
in the Community and Mental Health, 2, 43-73.
Bradley, L. A., & Reilly, A. (2014). A Review of Mens Body Image Literature: What We Know, and Need to
Know. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 14(1), 29-45.
Botta, R.A. (1999). Television Images and Adolescent Girls’ Body Image Disturbance. Journal of Communication,
-42.
Cohane, H.G., Jr., Pope, G.H. (2001).Body Image in Boys: A Review of Literature. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 373-
Cohn, L.D., Adler, N.E., Irwin, C.E., Jr., Millstein S.G., Kegeles, S.M., & Stone, G. (1987). Body figure preferences
in male and female adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 3, 276-279.
Durkin, S.J. & Paxton, S.J. (2002). Predictors of vulnerability to reduced body image satisfaction and
psychological wellbeing in response to exposure to idealized female media images in adolescent
girls. Journal of Psychosomatic, 53, 995-1005.
Festinger, L. (1954). The Theory of Social Comparison Process. Human Relations, 117-140.
Folk, L., Pedersen, J., & Cullari, S. (1993). Body satisfaction and self-concept of third and sixth grade students.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 76, 547-553.
Hargreaves, D.A. & Tiggemann, M. (2004). Idealized media images and adolescent body image: “comparing”
boys and girls. Body Image, 1, 351-361.
Harrison, K., & Cantor, J. (1997). The relationship between media consumption and eating disorders. Journal of
Communication, 47(1), 40-67.
Heinberg, L.J., & Thompson, J.K. (1992). Social comparison: Gender, target importance ratings and relation to
body image disturbance. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 7, 335-344.
Hoffmann-Muller, B., & Amstad, H. (1994). Body image, weight and eating behaviour in adolescents.
Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis (Bern), 83, 1336- 1342.
Jones, D.C. (2004). Body Image among Adolescent Girls and Boys: A Longitudinal Study. Developmental
Psychology, 40(5), 823-835.
Knobloch-Westerwick, S., & Crane, J. (2012). A Losing Battle Effects of Prolonged Exposure to Thin-Ideal Images
on Dieting and Body Satisfaction.Communication Research, 39(1), 79-102.
Leit, R.A., Gray, J.J., & Jr., Pope, H.G. (2001). The Media’s Representation of the Ideal Male Body: A Cause for
Muscle Dysmorphia? Wiley Periodicals, Inc, 334-338.
Paxton, S.J., Wertheim, E.H., Gibbons, K., Szmukler, G.I., Hillier, L., & Petrovich, J.L. (1991). Body image
satisfaction, dieting beliefs, and weight loss behaviours in adolescent girls and boys. Journal of
Youth and Adolescent, 20, 361-379.
Ricciardelli, L.A., McCabe, M.P., &Banfield, S. (2000). Body image and body change methods in adolescent boys.
Role of Parents, friends, and the media. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 49, 189-197.
Richins, M. (1995). Social comparison, advertising and consumer discontent. American Behavioural Scientist,
(4), 593-607.
Shotton, J., Sharp, T., Kipman, A., Fitzgibbon, A., Finocchio, M., Blake, A., ... & Moore, R. (2013). Real-time
human pose recognition in parts from single depth images. Communications of the ACM, 56(1),
-124.
Çiftçi / E-Journal of Intermedia, 20141(1) 1-7
Slater, A., Tiggemann, M., Firth, B., & Hawkins, K. (2012). Reality check: An experimental investigation of the
addition of warning labels to fashion magazine images on women's mood and body
dissatisfaction. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31(2), 105-122.
Stice, E., Schupak-Neuberg, E., Shaw, H.E., & Stein, R. (1994). Relation of media exposure to eating disorder
symptomatology: An examination of mediating mechanism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103,
-840.
Stice, E., & Shaw, H.E. (1994). Adverse effects of the media portrayed thin-ideal on women and linkages to
bulimic symptomatology. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 13, 288-308.
Tan, A. S. (1979). Television beauty ads and role expectations of adolescent female viewers. Journalism
Quarterly, 56, 283-288.
Tiggemann, M., & McGill, B. (2004). The Role of Social Comparison in the Effect of Magazine Advertisements on
Women’s Mood and Body Dissatisfaction. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23(1), 23-44.
Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2003). Thin Ideals in Music Television: A Source of Social Comparison and Body
Dissatisfaction. Wiley Periodicals, Inc, 48-58.
Yu, U. J., Damhorst, M. L., & Russell, D. W. (2011). The impact of body image on consumers’ perceptions of
idealized advertising images and brand attitudes.Family and Consumer Sciences Research
Journal, 40(1), 58-73.
Wan, F., Ansons, T. L., Chattopadhyay, A., & Leboe, J. P. (2013). Defensive reactions to slim female images in
advertising: The moderating role of mode of exposure. Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 120(1), 37-46.
Wood, K., Becker, J., & Thompson, J. (1996). Body image dissatisfaction in preadolescent children. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 17, 85-100.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2016 International Journal of Intermedia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Indexing and Abstracting Services
Mailing Address
 | Intermedia International e-Journal E-mail : intermedia@ticaret.edu.tr |
Intermedia International e-Journal ISSN:2149-3669
Bu eser Creative Commons Alıntı-GayriTicari-Türetilemez 4.0 Uluslararası Lisansı ile lisanslanmıştır.