Individual body satisfaction and perception : the effect of the media's ideal body image on female college students.

Abstract

Throughout history societies have focused on beauty and body shape. Researchers have studied the social and cultural factors that contribute to the formation of an ideal body image. Many researchers agree that western society has created a thin ideal body image. This image is communicated in the mass media. The thin ideal body image is found in beauty and fashion magazines, television programming and on Internet sites. This research sought to determine the correlation between media consumption and body dissatisfaction, as well as the motivation to change one’s body. A survey was conducted on college age women to gather information. In general, this research found moderate correlations between these factors.