An investigation of the impact of pro-anorexia website exposure on women’s self-esteem, body esteem and body dissatisfaction

The impact of thin ideal media exposure on women’s self and body cognitions has been a widely explored research topic over the past three decades. The aim of this investigation was to add to this area of research, providing an investigation of the impact of exposure to both a fashion oriented and a pro-anorexia website, on women’s self-esteem, body esteem and body dissatisfaction, controlling for the effects of eating disorder vulnerability and thin ideal internalisation. The sample comprised 113 female participants (age: M = 21.61, SD = 6.48) who were assigned to view one of three websites: A pro-anorexia website, a thin ideal fashion website, or an outdoor enthusiast appearance neutral website. Subsequent to website viewing, participants completed a self-report questionnaire assessing selfesteem, body esteem and body dissatisfaction. As hypothesised, participants exposed to a pro-anorexia website experienced significantly lower levels of self-esteem in comparison to participants exposed to a neutral website. However, contrary to expectations self-esteem was not found to differ between either fashion and pro-anorexia, or fashion and neutral participant groups. Also contrary to prediction, body esteem and body dissatisfaction did not differ significantly between pro-anorexia, fashion and neutral website exposure groups. On the whole, findings suggest that pro-anorexia website exposure may have negative cognitive effects on young women however further investigation is required. Implications of the results, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Chapter 1: Introduction Over the past 30 years, the mass media’s portrayal of ideal female body physique has evolved. The average body weight of female celebrities depicted in the media has gradually decreased over time, and unsurprisingly this has been coupled with a rise in ‘thin ideal’ messages in the form of dietary, weight loss, fashion, cosmetic, fitness and other body-oriented information (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz & Thompson, 1980; Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992). As the mass media is today considered one of the most compelling sociocultural factors in the reflection and shaping of ideals and perceptions of the ‘perfect’ female body shape (e.g., Groesz, Levine & Murnen, 2002; Thompson & Heinberg, 1999), it is not unexpected then that over time societal views of feminine beauty have also changed from a voluptuous and rounded ideal, to a current thin, lean and angular ideal. As a pervasive communicator of such standards of appearance, the mass media has received devoted research attention in recent times, particularly due to its potential contribution to the development and maintenance of body image disturbances and eating dysfunctions in young women (Dunkley, Wertheim & Paxton, 2001; Irving, 2001). Indeed, it has been frequently reported that the epidemiology of body image disturbances and eating dysfunctions over the past three decades appears to have mirrored the changes in media representations of women’s body shape ideals (e.g., Harrison & Cantor, 1997). As the thin ideal has become increasingly pervasive in the media, the prevalence of weight preoccupations, body dissatisfaction, disturbed eating patterns and