Mirror mirror on the way, who's the
most beautiful of them all? You are!
Pic. Souce: Newsweek
The self-esteem of overweight women plummeted when they viewed photographs of models according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
In contast, the esteem of underweight women's increased, regardless of the size of the model they saw in a photograph.
The research confirms earlier findings that the self-esteem of women with a normal body mass index (a BMI of 18.5-25) can shift upwards or downwards depending on the model they see.
Normal BMI females have higher levels of self-esteem when exposed to moderately thin models (because they feel similar to these models), and extremely heavy models (because they feel dissimilar to these models).
Women with a normal BMI reported a drop in self-esteem when they saw photographs of either moderately heavy models (because they feel similar to them), or extremely thin models (because they feel dissimilar to them).
"On the other hand, overweight women's self-esteem always decreases, regardless of the model they look at," claim the authors.
Here's the most fascinating fact: Overweight and underweight women showed comparable levels of self-esteem when they weren't looking at photographs of models.
This research also provides important new insights into how media exposure affects the self-esteem of overweight and underweight women. Advertisements also affected participants' eating behavior and intentions to diet and exercise. For example, overweight participants ate fewer cookies and had higher intentions to diet and exercise when exposed to heavy models than when exposed to thin models.
"We recommend that overweight consumers attempt to avoid looking at ads with any models, thin or heavy (perhaps by avoiding women's magazines)," the authors conclude. Ladies, if you're not happy with your body shape then it's time to throw away and stop buying the fashion and celebrity magazines. The pictures they contain lower your self-esteem and don't help you to feel better about yourself. Remember: the change in self-esteem happens at a very subtle, gradual, and sometimes totally unconscious level, so you may not be consciously aware of it.
Why would anyone read or pay money for magazines which will make them to feel unhappy with how they look? Ultimately women feel happier when they're satisfied with how they look. The Love Food, Love Your Body workshop on October 24th in Atlanta will show you how to experience this satisfaction, and a lot more, so come along!
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