STUCK IN THE MODEL TRAP - THE EFFECTS OF BEAUTIFUL MODELS IN ADS ON FEMALE PREADOLESCENTS AND ADOLESCENTS

One of advertising's ''unintended effects'' is the impact highly attra ctive models may have on female preadolescents and adolescents. Using social comparison theory as a framework, the authors propose that youn g girls compare their physical attractiveness with that of advertising models and, subsequently, their self-perceptions and self-esteem may be affected, depending on the motive for social comparison. They repor t a study with a mixed-model design in which motive was manipulated. G irls in grades four, sig and eight participated. The results suggest t hat motive is important, as support was found for all hypotheses. Howe ver, the support was not consistent across all grades or for all depen dent variables. The authors consider possible reasons for the inconsis tency and discuss the implications of the findings for advertisers and educators.