Effects Of Media Contact On Female Appearance Anxiety:Mediation Of Idealized Beauty Internalization And Moderation Of Self-Esteem

The influence of media on women’s image has become a research hotspot in fields such as psychology,sociology,and health studies.Current research suggests that media exposure may lead to insecurity and dissatisfaction with women’s image,leading to appearance anxiety.However,most existing studies focus on the direct relationship between media exposure and appearance anxiety,with little exploration of the mediating role of internalization of the ideal beauty and the moderating role of self-esteem.This study aims to explore the impact of media exposure on women’s appearance anxiety,and examine whether internalization of the ideal beauty mediates the relationship between media exposure and appearance anxiety,as well as whether self-esteem moderates this relationship.The study mainly used questionnaire surveys to collect data from 450 women from different regions in China.The survey included measurements of media exposure,internalization of the ideal beauty,self-esteem,and appearance anxiety.Structural equation modeling(SEM)and PROCESS macro were used for data analysis.The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between media exposure and appearance anxiety,and internalization of ideal beauty played a mediating role in the relationship.Self-esteem played a moderating role in the relationship between media exposure and appearance anxiety,and also in the relationship between internalization of ideal beauty and appearance anxiety.The conclusions drawn from this study are as follows: The media exposure not only directly impact on women’s appearance anxiety but also have indirect effect on appearance anxiety through ideal beauty internalization.Women with higher levels of self-esteem have lower appearance anxiety when faced with the pressure of ideal image by a large amount of media contacting,while women with lower levels of self-esteem are more susceptible to the influence,resulting in higher levels of appearance anxiety.On the contrary,women with lower levels of self-esteem have higher appearance anxiety when facing the pressure of ideal beauty internalization,while women with higher levels of self-esteem have lower appearance anxiety.These results contribute to the understanding of the formation mechanism of women’s appearance anxiety and may provide guidance and help for the prevention and intervention of women’s appearance anxiety problems.