THE INFLUENCE OF FASHION MAGAZINES ON THE BODY-IMAGE SATISFACTION OF COLLEGE-WOMEN - AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

This study examined the impact of exposure to fashion magazines on wom en's body image satisfaction. Participants were 39 undergraduate women , randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: half viewed fashio n magazines prior to completing a body image satisfaction survey, and the remaining half, news magazines. Mean height and weight did not dif fer for the two groups. As hypothesized, women who viewed fashion maga zines preferred to weigh less, were less satisfied with their bodies, were more frustrated about their weight, were more preoccupied with th e desire to be thin, and were more afraid of getting fat than were the ir peers who viewed news magazines.