Effects of Social Pressure to be Thin on Young Women: An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of “Fat Talk”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Variables
Operational definitions of variables
Study design
Hypothesis
Results
Conclusions
Critique
Reference

Introduction

Numerous researches have been conducted on the causes of women’s dissatisfaction with their body types. One of these studies is an experiment conducted on the effect of social pressure. In this study, 120 young and middle aged women were used. They were exposed to a controlled environment which created the ideal conditions for social pressure, and then their responses were recorded.

The experiment found out that being exposed to social pressure increased ones desire to be thin. Despite the fact that social pressure increased dissatisfaction with ones body, there was no relationship between social pressure and negative affect.

Variables

Since this is an experimental study, it used a number of variables which were intended to manipulate the right condition for the experiment (Stice et al. 2002). In this experiment there is more than one type of variable used. The justification for use of more than one type of variable is the fact that it is a complicated experiment which measures subjective outcomes such as the perception, and peer influence. In this study, an independent variable was used on all participants.

The purpose of an independent variable was to expose the participants to the prescribed conditions for the experiment, which was to test the influence of social talk on the attitude towards body type. In this regard the researcher played a neutral videos tape clip to the participants which exposed them to the topic on body types. Furthermore, the confederates, who accompanied all the participants wore the same type of dress to avoid the possibility of different dressing mode would generate varied results.

These independent variables were also accompanied by other variables such as peer talk (pressure condition) and neutral talk (controlled condition). Other than the independent variables, Stice et al. (2002) also used a number of dependent variables. The types of variables were preferred as they determined the outcomes of the experiment.

In this regard the experimenters used both pre and post existing moods and attitudes from the participants towards their bodies. Since this study was purposed to measure their perception after being exposed to social talk, then the experimenters were keen on the negative affect on the participants’. As such they evaluated the level of satisfaction.

Operational definitions of variables

To gain the full understanding and application of the variables used in this experimental study, it is important to gain the operational definitions which facilitated their applications. In general terms, the word variable refers to a factor that can change or vary in different circumstances.

For this experiment there are factors which have been varied so as to generate the desired outcomes for the experiment. Stice et al. (2002) use the term independent variables to refer to factors that have been manipulated to expose the participants to the right conditions for the experiment.

Within the independent variables used in this experiment is peer talk which creates the experiment’s pressure condition. Peer talk refers to a social condition where peers converse about their body types, while pressure condition, in this case, refers to situation where the participants are highly influenced to think about their bodies in a certain way. Controlled condition is used to refer to an environment where the conversation did not centre directly on any topic related to the study’s main objective.

In this experiment the peer talk was initiated by a confederate. A confederate is used to refer a cooperating participant whose purpose is to engineer the right conditions for the experiment. Additionally, independent variables have also been used to refer to desired outcomes of the experiment. In this experiment, dependent variables are the expected outcomes of manipulating the independent variables such as dress code, the use of the confederate, initiating the social talk by the confederate and the short video clip.

These desired outcomes include negative effect, which in this experiment, refers to the participants’ negative feelings about their body. One of the measures of negative affect was the level of participant’s satisfaction with the nature of their bodies. By satisfaction, Stice et al. (2002) refer to either fulfillment or contentment.

Study design

In studying the impact of social pressure on young women’s body sizes especially their mentality to be thin as the ideal body size, an experimental research design has been used. Participants are subjected to either the experiment or to a control experiment. This is meant to evaluate the effect of the causal factor, social pressure, an independent factor in this case, on the dependent factor, ideal body size, in an empirical way over a period of time.

The study has also targeted the age bracket of between 17-30 years female university students who are not only self-conscious of their looks but also what is socially acceptable as the ideal body size. The research also took into consideration other extraneous factors like race by selecting the 120 participants proportionately to represent the target population hence holding these factors constant.

In conducting the experiment, all the participants are individually subjected to two tests. First they encounter a young woman with a seemingly ideal body expressing her dissatisfaction and desire to cut weight. This is meant to gauge the participant’s level of dissatisfaction on various body features, negative feelings of guilty, anxiety and even hostility, belief on what an ideal body is and the extent of communal approval and support to them.

In evaluating their belief on what an ideal body is, items from the Ideal Body Stereotype Scale are used. The participants are also asked to fill the post-test questionnaire. All the scales used in this study have been successfully used over time which ensures the consistence and validity of the items relied upon to extract the target information.

Hypothesis

Hypotheses are assertions on a relationship between two situations or ideas that are to be proved false through the collection and analysis of data scientifically. The null hypothesis denies the dependence of the dependent variable on the independent variable. Such an assertion is to be rejected or accepted depending on the outcome of the experiment.

This study is based on the claim that subjection to peer demand to be thin by and large leads to greater discontent in one’s body but fails to enhance a pessimistic attitude towards the self. A negation of this assertion posed the null hypotheses which the researchers endeavored to accept or reject depending on the outcome of the empirical experiment. In this case the independent variable being ‘social pressure to be thin’ and the dependent variable being ‘increased body dissatisfaction’.

Results

Preliminary results based on the pretest showed no relationship between the social pressures to be thin, the causal factor, and body dissatisfaction the dependent variable. However, the controlled experimental tests later reflected statistically significant body dissatisfaction among the subjects. But no significant body dissatisfaction was noted among the subjects in the control experiment during the post-test thus no negative affect is recorded.

This was after a number of ANOVA models were used to test for the experimental effects in the posttest experiment. Paired t-tests also gave the same results. This led to the acceptance of the null hypotheses, ‘exposure to social pressure to be thin does not lead to increased body dissatisfaction and negative effect’ and the consequent rejection of the alternative hypothesis, ‘exposure to social pressure to be thin leads to increased body dissatisfaction and negative effect’.

Conclusions

The researchers opted for a randomized experiment to investigate the impact of social pressure to be thin on young university women and its subsequent negative effect. The study establishes that individuals who believed in the ideal thin body and who felt that they lacked social support felt the impact of social pressure more than those who felt they were socially supported.

Perhaps this calls for society sensitization on the impact of social pressure and the need to support the youth in what they believe is an ideal body or in their quest to attain one rather than expressing negative perceptions and sentiments.

Women are generally affected by the social pressure to be thin. Peer pressure to be thin had an effect on body image, though it did not necessarily lead to increased disturbance among the young women about their body images. Hence reinforcing dissatisfaction about the subjects’ bodies however ideal they might be.

However, social pressure did not result in increased negative effect thus reflecting its limited role as a factor, consequently disapproving previous findings possibly because of other uncontrolled extraneous factor or factors. Another possible explanation for this observation is the failure by the negative effect gauge to detect the effects of a controlled experimental environment on the subjects.

The finding that social media has no adverse effect on the subjects’ self thin-ideal image further enhances the impact of social pressure and lack of sufficient social support. Thus, future studies should target the link between social demands and expectations on young women and the negative effects they have on their body images so as to account for the null findings in this experiment.

Critique

This study is largely a success as it manages to prove and disapprove some perceived links between the main independent variable that is, exposure to social pressure to be thin, and the dependent variable which is increased body dissatisfaction among young university female students.

It establishes that peer pressure to be thin had an effect on body image, lack of social support enhanced the impact of the social pressure on young women and that the social media on the ideal-thin discussion had a lesser impact on the subjects than initially perceived. Similarly, this study exhibits a number of shortcomings.

First, the use of thin and attractive confederates made the test extremely conservative as it propagates the negative effect especially on the subjects who might not confirm to this description. Secondly, the selection of only female undergraduate students is not only biased but limits the applicability of the findings of this study to the target populations.

Thirdly, self evaluation at the expense of other data extracting methods like behavior observation limits the validity of the data obtained. Similarly, lack of enough power to detect high-order effects like absence of interactive effects and even comparatively large sample sizes might not reflect these affects in future studies. Finally, future studies should focus on individual based factors that have an implication on the way social pressure has a factor influences individual perceptions on the ideal body.

This experimental study has certain limitations not mentioned in the article. For instance, the study population constituted 120 female undergraduate students. It, therefore, excluded male students who equally have their own perceptions and opinions about the study topic. Furthermore, this is a close-sectional study, which limits the opinions of the subjects to a particular point in time thus long term effects of social pressure were not studied.

Reference

Stice, E., Maxfiedls, J., & Wells, T. (2002). Effects of social pressure to be thin on young women: An experimental investigation of the effects of “fat talk”. Dept of Psychology, University of Texas.

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