Which way do I look? Early adolescent appearance satisfaction: Competing pressures in family and peer relationships

The purpose of the study is threefold: (1) to explore the association between the perceived competing pressures from family and friends regarding one's appearance and appearance satisfaction; (2) to explore the relationship between family pressure and conflict over appearance and appearance satisfaction and similarly, the relationship between peer pressure and conflict over appearance and appearance satisfaction for early adolescents, and (3) to investigate the different ways that appearance satisfaction has been measured for adolescents. A cross-sectional design is used to analyze the relationships between conflict about appearance and appearance satisfaction and potential moderators in these processes.; In this study, n = 626, both parent conflict and peer conflict related to an early adolescent's appearance are associated with appearance satisfaction. The value of competing pressures as an important variable in explaining appearance satisfaction was established in the clothing and overall look dimensions of appearance satisfaction. Competing pressures was not associated with the physical body dimension of appearance satisfaction.; Parent conflict about appearance and family pressure about appearance were supported as important explanatory variables predicting all three dimensions of appearance satisfaction. Conflict with dad about appearance was not supported in the overall look model of appearance satisfaction. Additionally, family pressure about look was not supported in explaining satisfaction with the physical body.; Peer conflict about appearance and peer pressure about appearance were supported as predictor variables for the clothing satisfaction model. Peer conflict about appearance and peer pressure about appearance were not supported in explaining the physical body satisfaction or overall look satisfaction models.; Findings suggest that examining both the family context and the peer context in conjunction with a variable linking the two social contexts provides valuable information about the feedback that an early adolescent processes regarding his/her appearance. Family's attitudes about one's look and friends' attitudes about one's look extend the understanding of appearance satisfaction beyond conflict and pressure alone. The family's attitude about look and friends' attitudes about look explained appearance satisfaction in models where conflict or pressure did not. Open family communication was consistently associated with appearance satisfaction. The significance of social acceptance and conformity variables further signify the importance of the social context and augment the appearance satisfaction models. Conformity to norms for dress as well as the motivation to conform were negatively associated with appearance satisfaction and effective in explaining appearance satisfaction across dimensions. This was particularly true for girls in relation to overall look satisfaction.