10.1177/1077727X03255900
FAMILY
Jung,
Lennon
AND/CONSUMER
BODY IMAGE
SCIENCES
AND MEDIA
RESEARCH
IMAGES
JOURNAL
ARTICLE
Body Image, Appearance Self-Schema,
and Media Images
Jaehee Jung
University of Delaware
Sharron J. Lennon
Ohio State University
This study examines the effects of women’s appearance self-schemas and exposure to attractive
media images on body image, self-esteem, and mood. Women’s response to media images was
expected to vary according to an individual difference variable, appearance self-schema, or cognitive representations of organized information about the self in relation to appearance. College
women volunteers (N = 168) were divided into two groups (schematic and aschematic) on the
basis of appearance self-schema; half of each group was exposed to photos of attractive images,
whereas the other half was not exposed to any images before completing measures of body image,
self-esteem, and mood. Women who are schematic on appearance exhibited lower body image,
lower self-esteem, and more negative mood than did those who are aschematic on appearance.
Neither exposure to media images in conjunction with appearance self-schema nor exposure
alone affected response on body image, self-esteem, and mood.
Keywords:
appearance self-schema; body image; mood; self-esteem; media images
Body image is a mental image of one’s body (Garner & Garfinkel,
1981) and simply refers to how individuals perceive their own bodies.
Because society places a greater emphasis on the appearance of
women than that of men in establishing their identities, women are
often evaluated by their physical attractiveness (Locher, Unger,
Sociedade, & Wahl, 1993; Timko, Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, &
Rodin, 1987) rather than by their abilities or achievements (Drogosz &
Levy, 1996). This emphasis is evidenced by heightened interest in diet
industries and the increased use of advanced medical technologies to
improve physical appearance. Thus, researchers have documented
women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies (Cash & Henry, 1995;
Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1985) and an increasing
Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1, September 2003 27-51
DOI: 10.1177/1077727X03255900
© 2003 American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
27
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
tendency among women to diet (Mellin, Irwin, & Scully, 1992; Polivy,
Garner, & Garfinkel, 1986; Rosen, 1990).
In contemporary U.S. society, media images reflect cultural standards and emphasize unrealistically thin body shapes and attractive
physical characteristics. Because most women are not granted the
ideal body size and shape from nature, approximating the cultural
ideal of female beauty is difficult (Brownell, 1991). If women consider
appearance important in self-perceptions and perceptions about self
made by others, their body images may be affected by failure to measure up to the cultural ideal. Fallon (1990) has articulated a social-cultural explanation of body image that suggests that social and cultural
factors (e.g., media images) have a powerful influence on the development and maintenance of body image. However, there have been
mixed results for the effects of media images on body image and selfesteem, some possibly due to methodological differences. In Richins’s
(1991) study, female college students exhibited lower satisfaction
with their own physical attractiveness when they were exposed to
advertisements containing idealized images. Thornton and Moore
(1993) found similar results for the effects of media images on physical attractiveness and social anxiety but not on self-esteem. On the
other hand, Cusumano and Thompson (1997) found no relationship
between simple exposure and indices of body image, eating dysfunction, and self-esteem.
Although sociocultural messages about women’s bodies typically
glamorize an unrealistically slender body, only some women are
adversely affected by those messages. Some women are satisfied with
their bodies even when they deviate from the ideal (Rosen, 1996),
some women are more susceptible to media images than are others
(e.g., depressed women or bulimic women) (Mori & Morey, 1991;
Peterson, 1987), and some women are dissatisfied with their bodies
even when they do approximate the ideal (Hesse-Biber, 1996). Thus,
any explanation of body image must accommodate the heterogeneity
of body image experiences.
A few studies identified “self-schema” (Markus, 1977) or cognitive
representations of organized information about the self as an individual difference variable that may moderate the relationships between
sociocultural pressure and eating disorders (Vitousek & Hollon, 1990)
and between self-concept and eating disorders (Stein, 1996). Selfschemas are available in a variety of domains such as independence
(Markus, 1977), masculinity (Markus, Smith, & Moreland, 1985), and
body weight (Markus, Hamill, & Sentis, 1987). For example,
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
29
masculine schematics were those individuals who rated themselves
as extreme on most trait adjectives concerning masculinity (e.g.,
aggressive, dominant, and acts as a leader) and who indicated that
those characteristics were important to their self-evaluation (Markus
et al., 1985). Similarly, when individuals are highly invested in their
appearance (i.e., appearance is important, self-relevant, and central to
the individuals) and are actively concerned with it, they are said to be
appearance schematic or schematic on appearance. On the other
hand, when appearance is not important, self-relevant, and central to
the individuals, they are said to be appearance aschematic or
aschematic on appearance. Cash and Labarge (1996) found that college women who are schematic on appearance are more self-conscious in public and more socially anxious, express more symptoms
of depression and eating disorders, and have poorer social selfesteem than those who are aschematic on appearance. Presumably,
women’s responses on measures of body image (e.g., body satisfaction or dissatisfaction, appearance satisfaction or dissatisfaction,
appearance evaluation, and appearance orientation) can be predicted
by whether they are schematic or aschematic with respect to appearance. Also, the extent to which media images affect women’s body
image, self-esteem, and mood may depend on whether they are schematic or aschematic on appearance. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the effect of appearance self-schema and exposure to attractive media images on body image, self-esteem, and
mood.
THE RELATED LITERATURE
Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Mood
Many researchers have found that body image (Jackson, Sullivan,
& Rostker, 1988; Lennon, Rudd, Sloan, & Kim, 1999) or body satisfaction (Lerner, Orlos, & Knapp, 1976; Simmons & Rosenberg, 1975) is
positively related to self-esteem. For example, Jackson et al. (1988)
found that high self-esteem in women explained favorable evaluations of appearance and more appearance-directed behaviors, both of
which are measures of body image. Lower self-esteem, on the other
hand, was associated with abnormal eating behavior (Button, Loan,
Davies, & Sonuga-Barke, 1997). Although most of the previously
mentioned studies focused on European Americans, the same results
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
have been found with African American women (Akan & Grilo, 1994;
Thomas, 1989), Asian women (Lee & Lee, 1996), and Asian American
women (Akan & Grilo, 1994).
Because a positive relationship exists between body image and
self-esteem, it is reasonable to expect that a poor body image would be
associated with other indicators of poor psychological health along
with low self-esteem. For example, as low self-esteem has been found
to be related to depressive symptomatology in women (Russo, Green,
& Knight, 1993), it might be expected that women with low scores on
body image variables would exhibit more symptoms of depression
than would women with higher scores on body image variables.
Koenig and Wasserman (1995) recently found that depression was
associated with a poor body image in their sample of male and female
college students. In a sample of 174 college women, Silverstein,
Caceres, Perdue, and Cimarolli (1995) found that depressive
symptomatology was associated with anxiety and poor body image.
These and other studies (Fabian & Thompson, 1989; Thompson &
Psaltis, 1988) seem to suggest relationships among poor body image,
depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and other measures of negative
mood.
Much of the research on body image has studied either clinical
populations (e.g., Garner & Kearney-Cooke, 1996) or college students
(e.g., Keeton, Cash, & Brown, 1990). Although the importance of
appearance among women decreases somewhat with age (Pliner,
Chaiken, & Flett, 1990), concern with appearance and body image
remains important to women across the life span (Gupta & Schork,
1993; Pliner et al., 1990). Indeed, Pliner et al. (1990) found that the
importance of appearance to women of college age (M = 3.9) and
women aged 60 and older (M = 3.8) are quite similar. Likewise, in a
large national survey, Cash and Henry (1995) found no significant difference between college-age women and other women up to the age
of 70 on one measure of body image (body areas satisfaction).
Media Influences on Body Image
Media images seem to play a critical role in shaping the cultural
ideal of beauty and attractiveness through advertising, retailing, and
the entertainment industry. Although there are no perfect criteria that
people can use to judge their own or another’s attractiveness, a uniform standard of beauty was made possible by the rise of mass media
(Mazur, 1986). Previous studies suggested that the constructed
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
31
images of attractive models in the omnipresent media may influence
the general criteria for evaluating attractiveness to a considerable
degree and elevate our standards for attractiveness (Martin &
Kennedy, 1993; Richins, 1991). Beauty industries such as cosmetics,
diet foods, plastic surgery, and the fashion business have expanded
their economic investments and emphasized the need for appearance-enhancing products and behaviors. Perhaps this is because there
is increasing dissatisfaction with their bodies among women due to
increasing demand for a thin body size. For example, female college
students exhibited increased negative feelings and body dissatisfaction after exposure to ultra-thin models (Stice & Shaw, 1994).
The fashion and beauty industries appeal to female consumers to
use their products by presenting attractive images (e.g., young, slim,
and attractive models with flawless skin) through advertisements.
According to Shaw and Waller (1995), comparisons made with media
images through indirect contact such as looking at magazine photos
are likely to encourage women to use those images as reference points
in evaluating their own bodies. For example, the extent to which girls
reported magazines as an important source of information for their
appearances was correlated with the degree of investment in thinness, weight management behavior, and disturbed eating (Levine,
Smolak, & Hayden, 1994). Therefore, it would be important to examine the extent to which exposure to media images can trigger negative
responses on women’s body image, self-esteem, and mood, especially
for those who are schematic on appearance.
Schema Theory
Self-schemas resulting from the process of acquiring knowledge
about the self (e.g., categorization and evaluation of behavior by oneself and others) influence information processing about the self in a
variety of domains, with more consistent judgments in one’s schematic domains. Self-schemas allow one to attend selectively to information of greater relative importance while ignoring other information. For example, in a study by Markus et al. (1987), body weight
schematics and body weight aschematics were identified depending
on whether the term overweight was self-descriptive and was an
important dimension to individuals’ self-concept among overweight
people. Overweight people who were schematic on body weight
were more likely to perceive themselves as overweight than were
overweight people who were aschematic on body weight; the latter
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
were more likely to perceive themselves as of normal body weight.
Thus, people with well-defined appearance self-schemas are likely to
attend to appearance information (e.g., physical attractiveness and
thinness), yet those without well-defined appearance self-schemas
are likely to ignore or pay less attention to such information.
Attributes related to self-schemas are always in people’s minds as
well-developed self-structures and are ready to be activated in information processing as chronically accessible constructs. Unlike temporarily activated constructs that are not expected to last long, chronically accessible constructs are those that are cognitively available due
to persistent activation over time (Higgins, King, & Mavin, 1982).
Thus, exposure to attractive media images might temporarily activate
appearance-related information for most of the people, but the exposure can activate chronically accessible appearance-related information for those who have appearance self-schemas. For those who have
appearance self-schemas, appearance-related information can be
used in their self-evaluations and their evaluations of others. For
example, for those who are self-schematic on appearance, a variety of
stimuli can be evaluated with reference to their own appearances
(e.g., Does this hair style make me look younger? Is she more attractive than I am? Does this dress make me look slim?). Thus, appearance
may be an important part of schematics’ thoughts, emotions, and
behaviors, and appearance self-schema may be an important variable
explaining individual differences in body image, self-esteem, and
mood. Also, individuals who are temporarily exposed to attractive
media images may have negative evaluations of their bodies and
themselves, especially for those who are highly invested in their
appearances, as those images reflect cultural standards with unrealistically thin body sizes and attractive physical characteristics.
Research Hypotheses
It was expected that individuals who are schematic on appearance
are more likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies and self in general
and are more likely to devote their time and energy to taking actions
to improve their appearances than are those who are aschematic on
appearance. Similarly, individuals who are schematic on appearance
were expected to exhibit more negative mood than were those who
are aschematic on appearance. Finally, exposure to attractive media
images was expected to influence individual differences in body
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
33
image, self-esteem, and mood, especially for appearance schematic
individuals; individuals who are schematic on appearance were
expected to exhibit the most negative mood, self-esteem, and body
image after being exposed to attractive media images.
Therefore, based on the literature reviewed, the following hypotheses were proposed in this study.
Hypothesis 1: Women who are schematic on appearance will exhibit lower
self-esteem and body image scores than will those who are aschematic
on appearance.
Hypothesis 2: Women who are schematic on appearance will exhibit higher
scores on negative mood and lower scores on positive mood than will
those who are aschematic on appearance.
Hypothesis 3: Women who are exposed to attractive media images will
exhibit lower body image scores, lower self-esteem scores, and greater
negative mood scores than will those who are not exposed to media
images.
Hypothesis 4: Appearance self-schema will mediate effects of exposure to
attractive media images on body image, self-esteem, and mood; as a
result, women who are schematic on appearance and are exposed to
media images will exhibit the most negative mood, self-esteem, and
body image scores.
METHOD
Instrument Development
To test research hypotheses, the following four main variables
were considered in this study: appearance self-schema, mood, selfesteem, and body image. The four variables were measured using 12
instruments. Participant characteristics were assessed for preliminary analyses as well as descriptive purposes.
The Appearance Schemas Inventory was used to assess appearance self-schema, that is, the importance, self-relevance, and centrality of appearance in individuals’ lives (Cash & Labarge, 1996). This
measure consists of 14 items in a Likert-type rating scale format (1 =
strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate that an
individual is more schematic toward appearance than are others.
Example items are “What I look like is an important part of who I am”
and “If I could look just as I wish, my life would be much happier.”
The internal consistency of the Appearance Schemas Inventory has
been established as .82 for college women (Cash, 1992). Its 1-month
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
test-retest stability for female college students has been reported to be
.71 (Cash, 1992).
Two subscales (Joy and Distress) of the Differential Emotions Scale
(Izard, 1972) were used to examine the level of mood distress after
being exposed to attractive media images. These measures are composed of rating scale items on which people indicate how they are
feeling regarding each of the items at that time (1 = very slightly or not
at all to 5 = very strongly). For the Joy scale, ratings of the adjectives
happy, joyful, and delighted are summed and used as the measure of joy.
For the Distress scale, ratings of the adjectives discouraged, sad, and
downhearted are summed and used as the measure of distress. Measures of internal consistency for the Joy and Distress measures have
been found to be .80 and .90, respectively (Izard, 1972).
Heinberg and Thompson’s (1992, 1995) visual analogue scales
(VAS) were used to measure immediate response in mood and body
satisfaction (an affective measure of body image) following exposure
to attractive images. Participants were asked to indicate their disturbance level on a 100-mm line by placing a short vertical slash to reflect
their current mood state. The anchors of the 100-mm lines were no
anxiety or extreme anxiety, no depression or extreme depression, no anger or
extreme anger, no body dissatisfaction or extreme body dissatisfaction, and
no overall appearance dissatisfaction or extreme overall appearance dissatisfaction. Thus, each of these measures was a 101-point scale, scored
such that higher scores indicated greater disturbance. All measures of
mood (VAS-anxiety, VAS-depression, and VAS-anger) and body satisfaction (VAS-body dissatisfaction and VAS-overall appearance dissatisfaction) have demonstrated convergent validity (Heinberg &
Thompson, 1995).
The revised Janis-Field Self-Esteem Scale (Eagly, 1967; Janis &
Field, 1959) was used to measure participants’ social self-esteem following exposure to attractive images. The instrument contains 20
items, 10 of which are keyed in a positive direction and 10 of which are
keyed in a negative direction to balance for response-bias (Robinson &
Shaver, 1973). Participants rated (1 = very often to 5 = never) their comfort level in various social situations in which higher scores are indicative of high social self-esteem. Sample items are “How often do you
feel that you have handled yourself well at a social gathering?” and
“How often do you worry about whether other people like to be with
you?” This scale has reported split-half reliabilities of .72 and .88
(Robinson & Shaver, 1973) and a test-retest reliability of .92
(Campbell, Chew, & Scratchley, 1991).
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
35
Rosenberg’s (1965) Self-Esteem Scale is a reliable (.85) and valid
instrument that measures several areas of global self-worth (Silber &
Tippett, 1965). It is composed of 10 items presented in a Likert-type
format (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Half of the items are
keyed in a positive direction, and the other half are keyed in a negative direction, which should be reverse scored so that higher scores
indicate higher levels of global self-esteem. Example items are “I feel
that I have a number of good qualities” and “I am able to do things as
well as most other people.”
Two subscales (Appearance Evaluation and Appearance Orientation) of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, a
well-validated body-image measure (Keeton et al., 1990), were used
to measure participants’ body images in relation to appearance.
Appearance Evaluation assesses the extent to which individuals like
and are satisfied with their physical appearances. This subscale is
composed of seven statements concerning appearances. Example
items are “Most people would consider me good-looking” and “I like
my looks just the way they are.” Appearance Evaluation has a
reported internal consistency of .88 and a 1-month stability of .91
(Cash & Szymanski, 1995). The 12 statements in Appearance Orientation assess cognitive importance of and behavioral improvement or
maintenance of one’s appearance. Thus, Appearance Orientation
measures the time, mental energy, and behavioral activity devoted to
one’s appearance. This subscale has an internal consistency of .85 and
a stability of .90 (Cash & Szymanski, 1995). Sample items are “I am
always trying to improve my physical appearance” and “I check my
appearance in a mirror whenever I can.”
Stimulus Materials
Photo slides were used to trigger participants’ cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities to attractive media images. Slides featured
images of relatively unknown female models scanned from fashion
magazines and catalogs (e.g., Glamour, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar).
White models were chosen for this study as they are dominantly featured in the media. As the result of a pilot test of female clothing and
textiles graduate students, 16 photos were selected for use as stimuli.
Photos used received average ratings between 6 and 7 on a 1 to 7 scale
on the dimension of physical attractiveness. The 16 photos consisted
of head-and-torso images and full-length images. All the models in
the photos were judged to be thin by the pilot sample.
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
Procedure
Participants were recruited through (a) advertisements posted on
bulletin boards of different university buildings or (b) oral solicitation
in several classes. Participants were given incentives of cash prize
drawings for their participation. Participants responded twice, once
during an initial questionnaire session and then during a follow-up
experimental session, with an interval of 2 weeks between sessions to
prevent any carry-over effects from the initial session. Tasks were
completed in small groups of 5 to 10. In the initial session, participants
were given an informed consent form and asked to complete a questionnaire packet containing the Appearance Schemas Inventory and
items assessing demographic information (age, major, height, weight,
and ethnicity). Participants’ level of appearance self-schemas was
based on a median split of scores; they were blocked into two groups
(high appearance self-schema scores versus low appearance selfschema scores). For convenience, participants with high appearance
self-schema scores are referred to as schematics on appearance,
whereas participants with low appearance self-schema scores are
referred to as aschematics on appearance. Half of each group was randomly assigned to exposure to the media images experimental condition, and the other half of each group was randomly assigned to the
no exposure control condition for the follow-up session.
After 2 weeks, participants were asked to return for a follow-up
session, which did not require a parallel task. Separate sessions of
small groups were held for those who were assigned to the exposure
condition and for those who were assigned to the control condition.
Those who were assigned to the exposure condition were presented
with 16 media images in slide photos and given a filler task by which
they assessed the formality and fashionability of models’ clothes. Participants were exposed to each slide for about 8 seconds. After exposure to the attractive images of stimulus photos, participants completed dependent measures of mood (joy, distress, depression,
anxiety, and anger), self-esteem (social and global), and body image
(body dissatisfaction, overall appearance dissatisfaction, appearance evaluation, and appearance orientation). Participants completed questionnaire packets within 25 to 30 minutes. Participants
who were assigned to the control condition completed dependent
measures without being exposed to media images.
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
37
RESULTS
Participant Characteristics
This study used a college student sample for convenience; it was
also reasonable given the nature of the association between age and
measures of body image. A convenience sample of 175 college women
enrolled in various majors at two large Midwestern universities volunteered for this study. Missing values resulted in usable data from a
final sample of 168 women. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 28,
with a mean of 21. The sample included 134 European Americans, 13
African Americans, 15 Asian Americans, 3 Hispanic Americans, and 3
other ethnicities. The majority of the participants (n = 104) were clothing-related majors such as textiles and clothing and apparel merchandising; other participants (n = 64) came from a variety of other majors
such as business, nutrition, and the arts.
Preliminary Analyses
Cronbach’s coefficient alpha measured the internal consistency of
the instruments used in this study (see Table 1). Reliabilities resulted
for the Appearance Schemas Inventory, both social (Janis-Field SelfEsteem) and global (Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem) measures of selfesteem, two subscales (Appearance Evaluation and Appearance Orientation) of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire,
and two subscales (Joy and Distress) of the Differential Emotions
Scale. Reliabilities of the VAS could not be calculated due to the nature
of the measures, which required participants to mark a slash on a horizontal line rather than use a numerical value to indicate disturbance
level.
Because appearance is often important to clothing and merchandising students, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) determined if
major (apparel major or non–apparel major) was related to level of
appearance self-schemas with major as the independent variable and
appearance schema scores as the dependent variable. Major was
unrelated to level of appearance schemas in this sample, F(1, 166) =
.123, p > .05. In an attempt to rule out the possible effects of major on
the dependent variables of interest in this study, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was calculated. Results revealed that the
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TABLE 1:
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
Means, Standard Deviations, and Minima and Maxima for All
Variables Used in the Analyses
Measures
Appearance self-schema
Appearance Schemas
Inventory
Mood
Joy scale
Distress scale
VAS-anxiety
VAS-depression
VAS-anger
Self-esteem
Janis-Field SelfEsteem Scale
Rosenberg’s SelfEsteem Scale
Body image
Appearance evaluation
Appearance orientation
VAS-body dissatisfaction
VAS-overall appearance
dissatisfaction
Scale
Mean
SD Minimum Maximum Reliability
14 to 70
37.99
7.97
18
55
.81
3 to 15
8.39 3.03
3 to 15
5.74 2.58
0 to 100 44.43 28.73
0 to 100 25.59 22.65
0 to 100 16.82 20.22
3
3
0
0
0
15
15
100
85
100
.89
.80
20 to 100 68.93 10.81
36
97
.89
10 to 50
7.13
17
50
.89
7 to 35 23.33 5.17
12 to 60 44.57 8.41
0 to 100 43.01 29.20
10
20
0
35
60
98
.84
.89
0 to 100 36.69 24.20
0
92
39.39
overall multivariate effect for major on the dependent variables was
not significant, F(11, 156) = .265, p > .05. Therefore, in this sample,
major was unrelated to both the independent variable of interest and
to all of the dependent variables.
In a similar way, measures of body fat (body mass index [BMI])
were examined for their relationships to body image, mood, and
appearance self-schema. There is a common perception that body fat
is tied to body image such that smaller women have more positive
body images than do larger women. Research results are mixed on the
subject. Research with a variety of populations and age groups demonstrates that BMI or weight is sometimes negatively related to body
image in the United States (Faith, Leone, & Allison, 1997; McCabe &
Ricciardelli, 2001), particularly among women (Cash & Hicks, 1990).
However, losing weight does not necessarily improve body image
(Cash, Counts, & Huffine, 1990), and sometimes body image
improves without a change in weight (Rosen, 1996). Because of these
mixed results, it is possible that BMI could explain relationships
among the variables of interest in this research. Based on a regression
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
39
analysis with BMI as the independent variable and scores on appearance self-schema as the dependent variable, these two variables were
found to be unrelated, F(1, 166) = .001, p > .05. The effects of BMI on the
dependent variables in this study were assessed using multivariate
analysis of variance using the standardized categorization scheme of
BMI: A BMI of less than 20 as underweight (N = 49; 29%), a BMI
between 20 and 25 as normal weight (N = 105; 63%), a BMI of more
than 25 as overweight (N = 14; 8%). The overall effect of BMI on the
dependent variables was not significant, F(11, 156) = 1.22, p > .05.
Thus, results from preliminary analyses revealed that significant
effects on the variables of interest in this study can be attributed neither to students’ choice of major nor to their BMI.
Multivariate Analysis of Variance
Research hypotheses were tested by a 2 (appearance self-schema) ×
2 (exposure condition) between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance. Appearance self-schema (appearance schematic versus appearance aschematic) and exposure condition (exposure to attractive
media images versus no exposure) served as independent variables.
Based on a median split of scores, 83 respondents were classified as
schematic on appearance and 85 were classified as aschematic on
appearance. In all, 38 participants were classified as appearance schematic with exposure, 45 participants were classified as appearance
schematic with no exposure, 50 participants were classified as
appearance aschematic with exposure, and 35 participants were identified as appearance aschematic with no exposure. Thus, 88 participants received the experimental condition, and 80 received the control condition. Dependent variables were responses to the measures
of body image (VAS-body dissatisfaction, VAS-overall appearance
dissatisfaction, Appearance Orientation, and Appearance Evaluation), self-esteem scales (global self-esteem and social self-esteem),
and the measures of mood (Joy scale, Distress scale, VAS-depression,
VAS-anger, and VAS-anxiety). Variable means and standard deviations as well as their minimum and maximum scores are presented in
Table 1.
MANOVA revealed that neither the overall interaction between
appearance self-schema and exposure nor the overall effect for exposure was significant. Contrary to predictions, appearance self-schema
did not mediate effects of exposure to attractive media images on
body image, self-esteem, and mood. In addition, no significant
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
differences were found between women who are exposed to and
those not exposed to attractive media images in terms of their body
image, self-esteem, and mood scores. Thus, neither Hypothesis 3 nor
Hypothesis 4 was supported.
However, the MANOVA detected significant effects for appearance self-schema on the dependent variables, F(11, 156) = 9.68, p <
.0001. To assess the cause of the significant overall effect, univariate
analyses were performed for appearance self-schema on the dependent variables.
Univariate Analyses of Variance
Separate univariate analyses of variance for each of the dependent
variables revealed that the effect for each of the dependent variables
as a function of appearance self-schema significantly contributed to
the multivariate main effect for appearance self-schema (ps < .01; see
Table 2). Results revealed that women who subscribed to schematic
beliefs about the importance, meaning, and effects of appearance in
their lives received lower scores on social self-esteem, global selfesteem, and appearance evaluation than did those who did not hold
such beliefs (see Table 2 for means and standard deviations). Similarly, the former group exhibited higher scores on body dissatisfaction, overall appearance dissatisfaction, and appearance orientation than did the latter group. As expected, women who are schematic
on appearance had lower self-esteem and body image than did those
who are aschematic on appearance. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was
supported.
It was also predicted that women who are schematic on appearance would exhibit greater negative mood and lower positive mood
than would those who are aschematic on appearance. According to
the analyses of variance, participants who held schematic beliefs
regarding the importance, meaning, and effects of appearance in their
lives expressed significantly greater mood distress, depression, anxiety, anger, and lower scores in positive mood (joy) than did those who
did not hold such beliefs (see Table 2 for means and standard deviations). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was also supported.
Multiple Regression Analyses
Multiple regression analyses were used to examine relationships
among appearance self-schema, body image, self-esteem, and mood.
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
TABLE 2:
41
Means and Standard Deviations for Each of the Dependent Variables
as a Function of Appearance Self-Schema
Dependent Variable
Joy
Distress
Anxiety
Depression
Anger
Body dissatisfaction
Overall appearance
dissatisfaction
Social self-esteem
Global self-esteem
Appearance evaluation
Appearance orientation
Low
Appearance
Schema
(N = 85)
High
Appearance
Schema
(N = 83)
F(1, 166)
8.99
5.01
38.34
16.76
12.76
29.16
(2.97)
(2.15)
(29.14)
(19.47)
(16.92)
(24.37)
7.77
6.49
50.66
34.63
20.96
57.19
(2.97)
(2.78)
(27.09)
(22.21)
(22.46)
(26.95)
7.66**
13.92***
7.90**
29.29***
6.98**
50.76***
25.93
72.98
42.80
25.11
41.18
(20.53)
(9.23)
(5.43)
(4.68)
(8.84)
47.71 (22.76)
64.78 (10.80)
35.90 (7.02)
21.51 (5.04)
48.04 (6.31)
41.16***
28.18***
52.37***
25.59***
31.05***
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
For instance, is attention to appearance information directly related to
mood and body image outcomes, or does self-esteem mediate the
relationship between appearance self-schema and mood and
between appearance self-schema and body image? To assess possible
relationships between appearance self-schema and measures of body
image and mood mediated by self-esteem, nine multiple regression
analyses were conducted, one for each dependent measure of body
image (i.e., appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, body dissatisfaction, and overall appearance dissatisfaction) and for each
dependent measure of mood (joy, distress, anxiety, depression, and
anger). Independent variables were appearance self-schema and both
social and global self-esteem.
Appearance self-schema accounted for variance in all measures of
body image except appearance evaluation (see Table 3 for regression
statistics). Although there was a significant correlation between social
and global self-esteem, r(168) = .73, p < .01, more body image variables
were accounted for by global self-esteem (i.e., appearance evaluation,
body dissatisfaction, and overall appearance dissatisfaction) than by
social self-esteem (i.e., appearance evaluation and overall appearance
dissatisfaction) (see partial R2s to estimate the percentage of variance
accounted for by each of the three independent variables). Both
42
TABLE 3:
Multiple Regressions for Appearance Self-Schema and Social and Global Self-Esteem on Measures of Body Image and
Mood
Dependent Variable
Body image
AE
df
F
R
R2
Independent Variable
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
ASS
SSE
GSE
3,164
28.49***
.59
.34
AO
3,164
22.54***
.54
.29
BD
3,164
20.87***
.53
.28
OAD
3,164
25.89***
.57
.32
3,164
10.25***
.40
.16
Distress
3,164
13.95***
.45
.20
Anxiety
3,164
3.56*
.25
.06
Depression
3,164
17.47***
.49
.24
Anger
3,164
4.59**
.28
.08
Mood
Joy
Beta
t
Partial R
Partial R2
–.04
.16
.18
.61
–.02
.12
1.10
–.15
–1.04
.57
–.44
–.94
–.05
.34
.25
.58
–.02
.10
.30
–.06
–.25
.19
–.20
–.28
–.71
3.65***
2.63**
7.34***
–.20
1.02
3.77***
–.58
–2.51*
2.42*
–2.08*
–2.83*
–.06
.27
.20
.50
–.02
.08
.28
–.05
–.19
.19
–.16
–.22
.0036
.0729
.04
.25
.0004
.0064
.0784
.0025
.0361
.0361
.0256
.0484
–.01
.06
.08
.03
–.06
–.07
.74
–.31
.22
.82
–.62
.05
.65
–.15
.13
–.03
.22
.19
.10
–.23
–.19
.21
–.12
.06
.29
–.29
.02
.26
–.08
.05
–.29
2.10*
1.74
1.23
–2.23*
–1.75
2.26*
–1.03
.48
3.52**
–2.92**
.14
2.85**
–.74
.40
–.02
.16
.14
.10
–.17
–.14
.17
–.08
.04
.27
–.22
.01
.22
–.06
.03
.0004
.0256
.0196
.01
.0289
.0196
.0289
.0064
.0016
.0729
.0484
.0001
.0484
.0036
.0009
B
NOTE: AE = appearance evaluation; AO = appearance orientation; BD = body dissatisfaction; OAD = overall appearance dissatisfaction; ASS =
appearance self-schema; SSE = social self-esteem, GSE = global self-esteem.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
43
appearance self-schema and social self-esteem accounted for variance
in three out of five measures of mood (i.e., anxiety, depression, and
anger by appearance self-schema and joy, distress, and depression by
social self-esteem). Global self-esteem did not explain any variance in
the mood variables.
Pearson correlations revealed that appearance self-schema was
significantly related to both social, r(168) = –.50, p < .01, and global
self-esteem, r(168) = –.53, p < .01, in the negative direction. Higher
scores on appearance self-schema were associated with lower scores
on social as well as global self-esteem. Although correlated, the three
measures did not always predict body image and mood (see Table 3).
Therefore, appearance self-schema is a significant individual variable
but is not entirely responsible for explaining participants’ responses
on measures of body image and mood. Participants’ self-esteem is
also a mediating factor on measures of body image and mood.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of women’s
appearance self-schemas and exposure to media images on their body
images, self-esteem, and mood. First, it was hypothesized that
women who are schematic on appearance would exhibit lower selfesteem and body image scores than would those who are aschematic
on appearance. The self-esteem scores of women schematic on
appearance were lower than were the self-esteem scores of women
aschematic on appearance for both social and global self-esteem.
Analyses also revealed significant main effects for appearance selfschema on measures of body image. In each case, women schematic
on appearance exhibited lower appearance evaluation scores, higher
appearance orientation scores, higher body dissatisfaction scores,
and higher overall appearance dissatisfaction scores than did those
aschematic on appearance. Body image is a multidimensional construct for which four different measures were used (appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, body dissatisfaction, and overall
appearance dissatisfaction). In general, body image is thought to be
“negative” when individuals indicate dissatisfaction with their
appearances and bodies and when they evaluate their appearances
unfavorably. Results indicate that the more participants considered
appearance important, central, and self-relevant in their cognitions
(appearance self-schema), the lower they evaluated their own
44
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
physical appearances (appearance evaluation). Similarly, the more
participants considered appearance important, central, and self-relevant in their cognitions, the less satisfied they were with their bodies
(body dissatisfaction) and overall appearances (overall appearance
dissatisfaction), with much time spent on improving their appearances (appearance orientation). According to Cash (1995), appearance orientation (i.e., the devotion of time, mental energy, and behavioral activity to appearance) amplifies affective body image. Thus, if
people are dissatisfied with their overall appearances and bodies or if
they evaluate their appearances unfavorably, then higher scores in
appearance orientation indicate a more negative body image. This is
precisely how the appearance schematic women scored. Thus,
women who were schematic on appearance had more negative body
images than did women who were aschematic on appearance.
It was also hypothesized that women who are schematic on
appearance would exhibit higher scores on negative mood and lower
scores on positive mood than would those who are aschematic on
appearance. The analyses revealed significant effects for appearance
self-schema on all five measures of mood (joy, distress, depression,
anxiety, and anger). In each case, those who were appearance schematic exhibited higher scores on negative mood (distress, depression,
anxiety, and anger) and lower scores on positive mood (joy) than did
those who were appearance aschematic. Perhaps, young women who
define themselves (in part) in terms of appearance (i.e., self-schematic
on appearance) feel greater pressure to emulate the cultural ideal of
beauty and are more emotionally distressed than those who define
themselves otherwise. As a result, more negative mood responses
were assessed from those who consider appearance an important
domain of self-relevance and central to the self. As mentioned earlier,
poor psychological health such as depression is associated with a
poor body image, and thus, women who are schematic on appearance
may be more likely to develop and maintain negative body images
than are those who are aschematic on appearance.
The third hypothesis suggested that women exposed to attractive
media images would exhibit lower body image scores, lower selfesteem scores, and greater negative mood scores than would those
not exposed to media images. However, findings revealed no statistically significant effects for exposure to media images on body image,
self-esteem, and mood. Presumably, participants did not compare
themselves to media images (as they evaluated mood and body
image) or if they did, it had no significant effects on them. Participants
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
45
were asked to assess the formality and fashionability of models’
clothes by the filler task given along with the stimulus photos. It is
also possible that the nature of the filler task elicited a search for information from the images rather than comparison with them. In such a
case, exposure to media images may not trigger cognitions about
appearance.
Finally, it was hypothesized that appearance self-schema would
mediate effects of exposure to attractive media images on body
image, self-esteem, and mood scores. The overall interaction effect
between appearance self-schema and exposure condition on measures of mood, body image, and self-esteem was not significant. Thus,
women who are schematic on appearance and were exposed to media
images did not exhibit the most negative body image, self-esteem,
and mood scores. Nevertheless, appearance self-schema has proven
to be a critical individual difference variable moderating the relationship between variables such as body image, self-esteem, and
mood.
Multiple regression analyses revealed that self-esteem might be an
important variable mediating the relationships between appearance
self-schema and body image as well as between appearance selfschema and mood. Self-esteem accounted for variance in most of the
measures of body image (more so by global self-esteem than by social
self-esteem) and mood (by social self-esteem only) when the effects of
appearance self-schema were controlled. However, further studies
are necessary to clarify the relationships among appearance selfschema, body image, self-esteem, and mood.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
In conclusion, appearance self-schema was a significant factor in
assessments of women’s body image, self-esteem, and mood. According to this study, women who placed high cognitive importance on
appearance exhibited lower body image, lower self-esteem, and more
negative mood than did those who placed low cognitive importance
on appearance. Although this study examined whether appearance
self-schema alone or appearance self-schema in conjunction with
exposure to media images is responsible for the negative effects on
women, it may be a moot point in that people are daily bombarded
with a multitude of idealized images in the media. Exposing individuals briefly to a relatively small number of media images and
46
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL
monitoring any changes in body image satisfaction or dissatisfaction
and mood may be an unreasonable approach in revealing the media’s
effect, which takes place over time and is influenced by individual
variables such as appearance self-schema as shown in this study.
Given that this is the case, it seems reasonable to suspect methodological limitations in designing the exposure procedure employed in this
study. Future researchers may find it necessary to use a more intense
presentation of images that has external validity. As another limitation of this study, we were not able to measure ethnic differences on
body image and self-esteem (e.g., higher levels of self-esteem and a
more positive body image being reported by African American
women than by Caucasian women; Molloy & Herzberger, 1998) upon
their exposure to attractive images. Because only Caucasian models
were used in this study, it is possible that women of color would have
been less distressed by the images featuring ideals for Caucasian
women. Studies in the future should work to refine the current experiment to compare ethnic groups for the effect of media images on their
body images and self-esteem.
Some may consider appearance to be an important dimension of
self-evaluation, whereas others may place cognitive emphasis on
other dimensions (e.g., sports or politics). Focusing on other schematic domains rather than appearance has been suggested as a coping strategy to overcome negative effects of appearance (Cash, 1995).
To put it more simply and in the words of Cash (1995), “Negative
body image has little to do with outward appearance; it’s a state of
mind” (p. 27). Because appearance self-schema was significantly
related to measures of body image, self-esteem, and mood in this
study, appearance self-schema is demonstrated to be an important
individual difference variable moderating the extent of individuals’
satisfaction with their bodies and selves in general.
Studies found that attractiveness in the media sells products
(Chaiken & Eagly, 1983; Kamins, 1990); however, attractive images
seen may also reinforce viewers’ unrealistic expectations for how they
should look, especially for young children. Fortunately, these results
suggest that not everyone is affected by cultural pressure to approximate ideal female beauty, and efforts to counteract the effects of unrealistic images may be successful. For example, the need to educate
children about media images is important because they are exposed
to media images from an early age. Children may not realize that
media images are artificially manipulated by makeup or computer
graphics. To ground expectations in reality, children should be
Jung, Lennon / BODY IMAGE AND MEDIA IMAGES
47
educated about unrealistic media images through class discussions
and other activities. They should also be encouraged to develop nonappearance-related self-defining cognitive areas, such as athletic
prowess, intellectual achievement, or musical ability. For example,
female high school students who participated in a media literacy program teaching skills for challenging the media have reported less
internalization of the thin beauty standard and lower perceived realism of media images (Irving, DuPen, & Berel, 1998). Educators, particularly family and consumer science educators, should help students
to develop and maintain positive physical and mental health, including body image. Results of this study suggest that when young
women define themselves in terms of their aesthetic value, they may
experience more negative mood and lower self-esteem and may be
dissatisfied with their appearances. Therefore, teaching children to
value themselves and others for their unique capabilities (e.g., goalie,
band member, or community volunteer) and attributes (e.g., perseverance, thoughtfulness, or friendliness) might be a useful strategy to
encourage the development of self-schemas with a nonappearance
focus.
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