Appearance ideals are standards of beauty imposed by a culture or society, that are unrealistic and impossible to achieve. Research documents the existence of three appearance ideals, thin, muscular and hourglass ideals. The thin ideal is the pursuit of a very thin and low body weight. The muscular ideal is the pursuit of a toned and fit body. The hourglass ideal is the pursuit of a shapely body with bigger breasts and hips/buttocks than waist. These ideals are associated with disordered eating. However, no current study has examined the prevalence of all three ideals, or how the combination of ideals relates to dietary restraint, one example of a disordered eating behavior. This study was conducted on 505 undergraduate women at Arizona State University, who were completing research credit for a psychology course. The women participated in an online survey that assessed their demographics, each ideal, and dietary restraint. Results show that all combinations of ideals exist. Specifically, 41.5% of the sample endorse high levels of all three ideals, while 12.5% report thin and muscular ideals, 9.5% report thin and hourglass ideals, 9.9% report hourglass and muscular ideals, 8.4% report low levels of all three ideals, 6.4% report muscular ideal only, 6.4% report hourglass ideal only, and 5.6% report thin ideal only. Endorsing more than one ideal significantly associated with dietary restraint. Findings fulfill an important gap in the literature, suggest future directions for research, and have important clinical implications.
This study was designed to learn what students call various forms of cannabis. A survey was created with questions designed to understand students' knowledge of types of cannabis, methods of use, and potency. An introduction and methods section of the research paper is included.
The present study examined Mexican American females’ perspectives on childbearing and marriage and the role of cultural influences on their perspectives given high rates of pregnancy and early marriage among Mexican and Mexican American females in the U.S. and worldwide. Participants were ten Mexican American females between 20 and 22 years of age who participated in qualitative interviews about their perspectives on marriage and childbearing and how their Mexican cultural background, including their upbringing, family members, peers, and the media influenced their perspectives. Findings highlight that there is indeed a connection between Mexican culture and perspectives on marriage and childbearing amongst participants, and participants particularly noted the role of female family members, stereotypes, and educational pursuits in shaping their perspectives.
Background: Body acceptance programs on college campuses indicated that collegiate women often report feeling pressure to dress in a sexualized manner, and use makeup to enhance beauty. Currently, no quantitative measures exist to assess attitudes and daily behaviors that may arise in response to perceived pressure to wear makeup or dress in a provocative manner. The goal of the current studies was to develop brief self-report questionnaires aimed at assessing makeup and sexualized clothing use and attitudes in young women.
Methods: An exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 403 undergraduate women was used in Study 1 to create items to measure the pressure women feel to wear makeup and sexualized clothing. A confirmatory factor analysis (N = 153) was used in Study 2 to confirm the factor structure found in Study 1. An incremental validity analysis was also conducted in Study 2. Across both studies, participants completed online questionnaires.
Results: In Study 1, items were developed for two questionnaires to assess perceived pressure to wear makeup and discomfort when not wearing makeup, and perceived pressure to wear sexualized clothing, and body image concerns with regards to sexualized clothing. The exploratory factor analyses revealed Unconfident and Unease scales for the Makeup Questionnaire (MUQ) and Body Dissatisfaction and Pressure scales for the Sexualized Clothing Questionnaire (SCQ). In Study 2, the confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the factor structure for the MUQ and SCQ. The incremental validity analysis revealed that these measures can be used to predict self-objectification and shape and weight concern in women.
Conclusion: These studies provide preliminary support for the factor structure of two novel questionnaires aimed at assessing perceived pressure to wear makeup and sexualized clothing.
Appearance-related peer victimization has been shown to have strong social, health, and economic consequences on victims. Low body satisfaction has also been associated with higher appearance-related peer victimization prevalence. Preadolescent children are particularly vulnerable to the exposure and effects of appearance-related peer victimization. Research shows gender minorities have been particularly at risk for peer victimization. More studies are needed to adequately capture the appearance-related peer victimization experiences of gender minorities within this vulnerable age group. The current study aimed to explore the prevalence rate of appearance-related peer victimization and associated variables across gender certain and uncertain preadolescents residing in the United States. 5354 children between the ages of 8 and 13 participated in this cross-sectional study. Gender groups were categorized as certain (children reported identifying as boy or girl) and uncertain (children reported being unsure of their gender or other). The sample was racially and ethnically diverse. A two-tailed independent samples t-test was performed for each variable to examine mean differences across gender certain and uncertain groups. Key findings revealed significant mean differences in appearance-related peer victimization [t(139) = 3.21, p < .001, d =.36], body satisfaction [t(211) = 6.32, p <.001, d = .55], body esteem [ t(5352) = 10.77, p = <.001, d = .71], and self-esteem [t(231) = 9.25, p = <.001, d = .73] such that gender uncertain children reported higher mean levels of appearance-related peer victimization; gender uncertain children also reported lower levels of body satisfaction, body esteem, and self-esteem. A correlational analysis indicated that as peer victimization frequency increased all children reported lower body satisfaction, body esteem, and general self-esteem. Body satisfaction and general self-esteem were more strongly positively correlated among gender uncertain children versus gender certain children. However, gender certain children reported stronger positive associations between body esteem and general self-esteem in comparison with gender uncertain children. Gender uncertain children report higher rates of appearance-related peer victimization and lower body satisfaction. Additional studies are needed to replicate and expand research on the appearance-related peer victimization experiences of preadolescent gender minority children and the related effects to body satisfaction.