Effects Of Exposure To Culture-specific Thin-ideal On Young Chinese Women

Body image is self-perception of one’s own body or the way that one’s body appears to the self.Decades of research have confirmed that,among Western samples,body image disturbances are robust predictors of mental health problems as well as maladaptive eating behaviors and eating disorders such as Bulimia and Anorexia-Nervosa.Recent reports,however,have shown an increase in body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in nonWestern countries,especially in highly populated Asian areas such as Mainland China where body types are typically leaner.The Tripartite Influence Model(TIM)by Thompson et al.,trying to understand the development of body image disturbances,posits that pressure from mass media,peers and family to fulfill particular attractiveness standards(e.g.,ultra-thinness for women)contributes to increased appearance comparisons and the preferences for societal physical attractiveness ideals,which in turn fosters body dissatisfaction when individuals do not conform to such ideals.This model has long been verified in Western samples.Of the three sources of pressure,mass media is thought to be most powerful in transmitting and promoting societal ideals of attractiveness.However,there was still gap in inspecting these effects on body image in samples from developing countries such as China.Furthermore,since the TIM was first introduced,social media and the internet have become increasingly important sources of influence on beauty standards among young people compared to traditional mass media(e.g.,television,magazines and movies).Comparatively little research has been conducted on social media portrayals of physical attractiveness,particularly in rapidly developing Asian countries such as China which also emphasizes thinness as an important characteristic of feminine beauty.To address these gaps,the present research consisted of 4 studies in order to assess young women’s reactions to a recent China-based expression of the thin-ideal,the “A4 challenge”,which involved comparing women’s waist to the short edge of an A4 sheet(21 cm)and became an internet phenomenon among young Chinese adults since 2015.Study 1 was conducted to assess awareness of,participation in,and reactions to the A4 challenge among young Chinese college women and men,and compare gender differences in features listed above.The results suggested that the A4 challenge was quite popular and well-appreciated among young Chinese adults.Besides,women showed more participation than their male counterparts.Study 2 evaluated differences in body image attitudes and experiences of young women who successfully passed the A4 challenge(i.e.,ultra-thin women who possessed A4 waist)compared to average size young women.45 women with A4 waist and 99 average size women completed a series of measures concerning eating and body image disturbances.It was indicated that ultrathin women possessing A4 waist reported significantly less disordered eating,body shame,fatness concern and weight pressure from Chinese/Asian media than average women did,which suggested the former group had more positive body image.Study 3 was designed to explore the effect of laboratory exposure to culture-specific thin ideals depicting by peers participating in A4 challenge on Chinese young women’s state body satisfaction.After completing a questionnaire packet of self-reported measures of state body satisfaction,trait body satisfaction,self-esteem,body objectification and affect,205 undergraduate women were randomly assigned to one of the three groups to view 10 images of(1)ultra-thin women commenting on their passing A4 challenge vs.(2)the same ultra-thin women commenting on academic test vs.(3)average size women commenting on academic test.After viewing the images,participants were asked to finish the measure of state body satisfaction again.No significant main effects of group or time,or interaction between them on participant’s state body satisfaction were found,while results of partial correlations within groups indicated that the exposure to images of group 1 was harmful to those who were initially dissatisfied with their body.The non-significant results may have rooted in the decreased demand characteristics led by insertion of filler images into the image slides and distractor task between pre-test and image slides exposure which were adopted to cover research purpose,might have also weakened the effect of exposure.Study 4 used Structural Equation Model to assess the association between Chinese/Asian media pressure to be thin,appearance media social comparisons,appearance media ideal preferences,and body image/eating disturbances of young Chinese women,trying to verify the influence of media on body image under the framework of TIM in a culture-specific context(Chinese/Asian media).Results partly supported the original model as ideal preference partly mediated between media pressure and body image disturbances.