The skinny on celebrities: Parasocial relationships moderate the effects of thin media figures on women's body image

Social Psychological and Personality Science

Volumn 3, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 659-666

  Young, Ariana F ^a   Gabriel, Shira ^a   Sechrist, Gretchen B ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO   (United States)

^b MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

assimilation; body image; parasocial relationships; social comparison

Indexed keywords

EID: 84866452131     PISSN: 19485506     EISSN: 19485514     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1948550611434785     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. Aiken L. S.,West S. G.Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1991:.
2. Aron A.,Aron E.,Smollan D.Inclusion of other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1992;63:596-612.
3. Aron A.,Aron E. N.,Tudor M.,Nelson G.Close relationships as including other in the self.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1991;60:241-253.
4. Baron R. M.,Kenny D. A.The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1986;51:1173-1182.
5. Birkeland R.,Thompson J.,Herbozo S.Media exposure, mood, and body image dissatisfaction: An experimental test of person versus product priming.Body Image. 2005;2:53-61.
6. Bissell K. L.,Zhou P.Must-see TV or ESPN: Entertainment and sports media exposure and body-image distortion in college women.Journal of Communication. 2004;54:5-21.
7. Brown J. D.,Novick N. J.,Lord K. A.,Richards J. M.When Gulliver travels: Social context, psychological closeness, and self-appraisals.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1992;62:717-727.
8. Brown T. A.,Cash T. F.,Mikulka P. J.Attitudinal body-image assessment: Factor analysis of the body self-relations questionnaire.Journal of Personality Assessment. 1990;35:134-144.
9. Burger J. M.,Messian N.,Patel S.,del Prado A.,Anderson A.What a coincidence! The effects of incidental similarity on compliance.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2004;30:35-43.
10. Cohen J.Para-social breakup from favorite television characters: The role of attachment styles and relationship intensity.Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2004;21:187-202.
11. Derrick J. L.,Gabriel S.,Hugenberg K.Social surrogacy: How favored television programs provide the experience of belonging.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2009;45:352-362.
12. Derrick J. L.,Gabriel S.,Tippin B.Parasocial relationships and self-discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self-esteem individuals.Personal Relationships. 2008;15:261-280.
13. Dijksterhuis A.,Spears R.,Postmes T.,Stapel D.,Koomen W.,Knippenberg A. V.,Scheepers D.Seeing one thing and doing another: Contrast effects in automatic behavior.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1998;75:862-871.
14. Frederick D. A.,Forbes G. B.,Grigorian K.,Jarcho J. M.The UCLA Body Project I: Gender and ethnic differences in self-objectification and body satisfaction among 2,206 undergraduates.Sex Roles. 2007;57:317-327.
15. Gabriel S.,Carvallo M.,Jaremka L. M.,Tippin B. D.A friend is a present you give to your 'self': Avoidance of intimacy moderates the effects of friends on self-liking.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2008;44:330-343.
16. Gardner W. L.,Knowles M. L.Love makes you real: Favorite television characters are perceived as "real" in a social facilitation paradigm.Social Cognition. 2008;26:156-168.
17. Grabe S.,Ward L. M.,Hyde J. S.The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies.Psychological Bulletin. 2008;134:460-476.
18. Greenwood D. N.Idealized TV friends and young women's body concerns.Body Image. 2009;6:97-104.
19. Halliwell E.,Dittmar H.Does size matter? The impact of models' body size on women's body-focused anxiety and advertising effectiveness.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2004;23:104-122.
20. Harrison K.Does interpersonal attraction to thin media personalities promote eating disorders?.Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 1997;41:478-500.
21. Horton D.,Wohl R. R.Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations of intimacy at a distance.Psychiatry. 1956;19:215-229.
22. Maltby J.,Giles D.,Barber L.,McCutcheon L. E.Intense-personal celebrity worship and body image: Evidence of a link among female adolescents.British Journal of Health Psychology. 2005;10:17-32.
23. Morry M. M.Relationship satisfaction as a predictor of similarity ratings: A test of the attraction-similarity hypothesis.Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2005;22:561-584.
24. Morry M. M.,Kito M.,Ortiz L.The attraction-similarity model and dating couples: Projection, perceived similarity, and psychological benefits.Personal Relationships. 2011;18:125-143.
25. Mussweiler T.Comparison processes in social judgment: Mechanisms and consequences.Psychological Review. 2003;110:472-489.
26. Pelham B. W.,Wachsmuth J. O.The waxing and waning of the social self: Assimilation and contrast in social comparison.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1995;69:825-838.
27. Perse E. M.,Rubin R. B.Attribution in social and parasocial relationship.Communication Research. 1989;16:59-77.
28. Phelps L.,Johnston L. S.,Jimenez D. P.,Wilczenski F. L.Figure preferences, body dissatisfaction, and body distortion in adolescence.Journal of Adolescent Research. 1993;8:297-310.
29. Rubin R. B.,McHugh M. P.Development of parasocial interaction relationships.Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 1987;31:279-292.
30. Shorter L.,Brown S. L.,Quinton S. J.,Hinton L.Relationships between body-shape discrepancies with favored celebrities and disordered eating in young women.Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2008;38:1364-1377.
31. Stice E.,Killen J. D.,Hayward C.,Taylor C. B.Age of onset for binging and purging during late adolescence: A 4-year survival analysis.Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1998;107:671-675.
32. Stice E.,Schupak-Neuberg E.,Shaw H.,Stein R.Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomatology: An examination of mediating mechanisms.Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1994;103:836-840.
33. Strahan E. J.,Spencer S. J.,Zanna M. P.Don't take another bite: How sociocultural norms for appearance affect women's eating behavior.Body Image. 2007;4:331-342.
34. Swami V.,Taylor R.,Carvalho C.Acceptance of cosmetic surgery and celebrity worship: Evidence of associations among female undergraduates.Personality and Individual Differences. 2009;47:869-872.
35. Watson D.,Clark L. A.,Tellegen A.Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scale.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1988;54:1063-1070.