Influence of Visual Attention on Male Body Dissatisfaction After ...

Psychology of Men & Masculinity 2012, Vol. 13, No. 3, 308 –323

© 2011 American Psychological Association 1524-9220/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0024942

Influence of Visual Attention on Male Body Dissatisfaction After Idealized Media Exposure Sanne W. C. Nikkelen, Doeschka J. Anschutz, Thao Ha, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels Radboud University Nijmegen The present study examined the moderating effect of men’s visual attention toward male images on the relationship between idealized media exposure and body dissatisfaction. Of particular interest was men’s visual attention to the abdomens and upper bodies of male images. Fifty male undergraduate students participated in this two-part experiment. In the first session, participants’ visual attention to nine male body parts was examined using eye-tracking. In the second session, participants watched a nonemotional documentary interrupted by either neutral commercials or commercials containing highly idealized muscular men. Subsequently, body dissatisfaction was measured. The findings revealed that when viewing idealized media content, men with high visual attention to the abdomen felt better about their body compared to men with low visual attention to the abdomen. In contrast, when viewing neutral media content, men with high visual attention to the abdomen felt worse about their body compared to men with low visual attention to the abdomen. Findings of our study indicate that idealized media images do not affect all men negatively. We suggest that men who allocate a great amount of visual attention to the abdomen may be preoccupied with changing their appearance and therefore they are positively affected by idealized images. Keywords: muscular ideal, men’s body dissatisfaction, eye-tracking, media influences

A large amount of research is dedicated to the idealization of the human body as presented in media images and its influence on body image. Although previous studies have primarily focused on women, men have become of increasing interest in this line of research because contemporary media places a growing emphasis on the “muscular ideal” for male bodies. For example, male models in women’s magazines have gained in muscularity during the past decades (Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2000). Furthermore,

This article was published Online First August 8, 2011. Sanne W. C. Nikkelen, Doeschka J. Anschutz, Thao Ha, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen. Sanne Nikkelen is now at Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands We thank Jeroen Derks for creating the stimulus set and Hubert Voogd for his contribution to the eye-tracking experiment. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sanne Nikkelen, Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]

male magazines on how to become fit and healthy, such as Men’s Health, are increasingly popular (Labre, 2002). Even action toy figures targeting young boys have gained in muscularity during the past decades (Baghurst, Hollander, Nardella, & Haff, 2006; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999). Cultural standards of the ideal body type for men seem to have developed into an unrealistic image that does not represent the average adult man and that is hardly attainable without excessive exercising (Pope et al., 1999; Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999). Concurrently, studies have found that men generally feel somewhat dissatisfied with their body and prefer a body that is considerably leaner and more muscular than their own (Frederick et al., 2007; Tiggemann, Martins, & Kirkbride, 2007). Furthermore, when asked what they think women would prefer, young men choose a body type that is significantly more muscular than the body type women actually prefer (Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2004; Pope et al., 2000). Researchers have theorized that this “muscularity ideal” stems from the cultural view that muscularity reflects mas-

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VISUAL ATTENTION AND MALE BODY DISSATISFACTION

culinity, a view that is especially prevalent in Western societies (e.g., Yang, Gray, & Pope, 2005). Masculinity is associated with dominance and power, and having a muscular physique is seen as a reflection of these characteristics (Mishkind, Rodin, Silberstein, & StriegelMoore, 1986). Indeed, studies have found that male body dissatisfaction is negatively associated with self-reported feelings of masculinity (Borchert & Heinberg, 1996; McCreary, Saucier, & Courtenay, 2005). Moreover, frequent steroid users, who thus try to increase their muscularity, have been found to endorse more conventional ideas of masculinity (Kanayama, Barry, Hudson, & Pope, 2006). Thus, it seems that men evaluate their masculinity using their body size and shape as a reference. High body dissatisfaction can have several harmful consequences for men. These include eating pathology, depression, and the use of excessive weight-loss strategies (Heywood & McCabe, 2006; Olivardia et al., 2004). Several researchers have even described extreme cases of male body dissatisfaction, most notably among bodybuilders, associated with feelings and behaviors resembling those of anorexic women (e.g., Pope, Katz, & Hudson, 1993). This has therefore been termed “muscle dysmorphia,” “reverse anorexia,” or “bigorexia” (Mosley, 2009; Murray, Rieger, Touyz, & de la Garza Garcia, 2010). In these extreme cases, men have become obsessed with the idea that they are not muscular enough. Consequently, they engage in extreme muscle-gain behaviors such as excessive exercising and using performance-enhancing substances (Cafri, Thompson, Ricciardelli, McCabe, Smolak, & Yesalis, 2005). Because of the occurrence of these harmful behaviors, body dissatisfaction in men is an essential subject of research. Therefore, the present study aims at determining factors that influence male body dissatisfaction. A growing body of research has focused on examining whether body dissatisfaction in men can be attributed to the increasing idealization of muscularity in contemporary media. Research on women has found strong and consistent relationships between idealized media images and women’s body dissatisfaction, weight concerns, eating pathology, and depressive mood (for reviews, see Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008; Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002). Such negative effects of idealized media images are

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often explained using the social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) and more specifically, the negative contrast theory (e.g., Thornton & Maurice, 1999). According to the social comparison theory, people have an internal drive to continuously compare themselves to other persons, to evaluate their own abilities and characteristics. The negative contrast theory extends this view to explain the specific effects of media images. It suggests that the exposure to ideal media images leads to negative feelings toward one’s own body because individuals tend to compare themselves to these images and perceive a discrepancy (i.e., a contrast) between their own body shape and the ideal bodies depicted in the media. Nowadays, male media images are far more muscular than the average male body (Spitzer et al., 1999), and being aware of this large discrepancy could thus lead to increased body dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, in contrast to research on women, there is far less empirical research on the effects of idealized media images on male body dissatisfaction. Nonetheless, the few studies involving men do suggest a negative effect of media images on male body dissatisfaction. These studies showed that men who were exposed to muscular male images collected from magazines (Hobza & Rochlen, 2009; Hobza, Walker, Yakushko, & Peugh, 2007; Leit, Gray, & Pope, 2002) and TV commercials (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009) displayed higher body dissatisfaction immediately after the exposure compared to men who were exposed to neutral media images. Thus it seems that, besides women, men are also negatively affected by the images depicted in the media. However, some men show higher distress when exposed to these images compared to other men, but only few studies have investigated these differences (Arbour & Martin Ginis, 2006; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009; Hausenblas, Janelle, Gardner, & Hagan, 2003). Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating factors of individual susceptibility to the effects of idealized media images. Knowledge about these factors is beneficial for researchers as well as health care professionals as it may help in understanding body dissatisfaction in men and in developing treatments aimed at reducing risky eating or exercise behaviors.

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NIKKELEN, ANSCHUTZ, HA, AND ENGELS

One possible factor of individual susceptibility is men’s visual attention when viewing male images. Visual attention has been frequently studied in the context of addictive behaviors and anxiety disorders (e.g., Field & Cox, 2008; Pishyar, Harris, & Menzies, 2004; Spector, Pecknold, & Libman, 2003). These studies repeatedly show that addictive and anxious individuals display an attentional bias toward stimuli associated with their object of addiction or fear, reflecting the individual’s preoccupied attitudes. Although less studied, an attentional bias also seems to exist in body dissatisfied and eating disordered individuals. For example, in a study by Jansen, Nederkoorn, and Mulkens (2005), eating disorder patients directed most visual attention to the body part of their own body that they found least attractive when viewing an image of their own body. However, when viewing an image of another person’s body, they directed most visual attention to the body part of the other person they found most attractive. In a different study, males and females with a high “drive for thinness” displayed an attentional bias toward body parts that are indicative for weight changes, such as the waist and hips, compared to subjects low on drive for thinness (Hewig, Cooper, Trippe, Hecht, Straube, & Miltner, 2008). Moreover, Smith and Rieger (2002) found that an attentional bias toward weight and shape related stimuli resulted in increased body dissatisfaction when viewing idealized media images (Smith & Rieger, 2006). In summary, these studies indicate that such an attentional bias can serve to maintain or enhance body dissatisfaction and associated eating and exercise behaviors (Hargeaves & Tiggemann, 2002), and is thus a likely factor of individual vulnerability to media images. However, visual attention and related preoccupations are difficult to measure using selfreports (Lamme, 2003). Moreover, especially in men such measures may be prone to socially desirable responding; men may be ashamed to report that they compare their own body with that of other men, because this may be regarded as feminine (and thus nonmasculine) behavior. Therefore, this study will use eye-tracking to investigate men’s visual attention to male images. In eye-tracking, eye movements are measured during stimuli viewing using computerized techniques (for applications see Duchowski, 2002). The great advantage of eye-

tracking methods is that they allow the implicit measurement of visual attention, and as such can be used to measure preoccupations. For example, eye-tracking studies using sexual stimuli (Lykins, Meana, & Kambe, 2006; Rupp & Wallen, 2007), gender-linked stimuli (Alexander & Charles, 2009), and smoking stimuli (Mogg, Bradley, Field, & de Houwer, 2003) indicate that high amounts of visual attention reflect preoccupied thoughts. Of particular interest will be men’s visual attention toward the upper body and the abdomen of male images. Men with high body dissatisfaction are mainly dissatisfied with these specific body areas (Hoyt & Kogan, 2002). Moreover, the media seem to particularly depict muscled abdomens, broad chests, and broad shoulders. We hypothesize that men who are exposed to idealized media images report higher body dissatisfaction compared to men exposed to nonidealized media images (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Barlett & Harris, 2008; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009; Hatoum & Belle, 2004; Hobza & Rochlen, 2009; Hobza, Walker, Yakushko, & Peugh, 2007; Leit, Gray, & Pope, 2002). Moreover, we predict that the negative influence of idealized media exposure will be moderated by men’s visual attention to the upper body and the abdomen, such that high visual attention to these body parts will strengthen the effect of the exposure to idealized male images. Method Participants The original sample consisted of 57 participants recruited among a Dutch student population. Seven participants, six in the neutral condition and one in the experimental condition, were excluded because of unreliability of eyetracking measures resulting from measurement problems during the experiment (e.g., the eyetracker software did not track the participant’s pupil correctly). The final sample therefore consisted of 50 undergraduate male students, of which 28 were in the experimental condition and 22 in the control condition. Participants’ age ranged from 19.3 to 33.4 years (M ⫽ 23.1, SD ⫽ 2.7). The average weight of participants was 172.9 lbs/78.6 kg (SD ⫽ 25.1/11.4), and the average height was 72.4 in/183.9 cm (SD ⫽ 2.7/


6.9). Of these 50 participants, 90% (N ⫽ 45) reported to be heterosexually oriented, 6% (N ⫽ 3) reported to homosexually oriented, and 4% (N ⫽ 2) reported to be bisexually oriented. When asked about their presumptions, eight participants in the experimental condition reported that either during the commercial breaks, or shortly after, they suspected that the true nature of the experiment concerns the influence of the commercials on body image. However, we chose to include these participants because results remained the same when they were excluded from the analyses. Participants received course credits or gift certificates in exchange for their participation. Procedure Participants were recruited via posters, by directly approaching students, and via the online participant enrollment system of the Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. At enrollment, participants were merely told that the study included questionnaires, a computer task and watching a short movie, without telling them anything about the content of the experiment. The study took place in two separate sessions, because both experiments could have influenced each other’s outcomes. On average, there were 2 days between the two sessions. All participants were tested individually. To conceal the actual purpose of the study, they were explained that they took part in two separate experiments and thus had to come to the lab twice. Session 1. Participants were invited into a quiet lab room and were explained that they would not receive any information on the goal of this first session. They were only told that they would have to fill out a questionnaire and complete a computer task. After filling out a demographics questionnaire (please note that the measures concerning body dissatisfaction were filled out at the ending of Session 2), participants were instructed to place their chin and forehead in the provided rests on the eyetracker apparatus. Once participants were correctly seated, the eye-tracking system was calibrated. Calibration was done by having participants look at 13 focus points on the computer screen, during which eye positions were measured for each focus point. Subsequently, the calibration was validated by checking several

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focus points on the screen. If needed, calibration was repeated until the error in gaze position on these focus points was acceptable. After calibration, participants were presented with 18 male images one by one. Before each image, a fixation cross was presented for 1 s, after which the image was presented for 5 s. After the last image, the final screen was presented and participants were told that this was the end of the first experiment. Session 2. Participants were randomly assigned to the neutral or experimental commercial condition. Participants were seated in a comfortable chair in a small, quiet lab room decorated with a coffee table, two plants, a TV sitting on a small table, and another chair. They were then explained that they were about to watch an English spoken documentary, recorded from Dutch TV. To cover the actual purpose of the study, participants were explained that they had to watch this documentary to test their understanding of the content. Because participants were recruited among a Dutch student population, they were thus told they would either see the documentary with or without Dutch subtitles or hear only the sound. In fact, all participants saw the documentary with Dutch subtitles. The 20 min documentary was interrupted by two commercial breaks containing either neutral commercials or idealized commercials. Subsequently, to measure state body dissatisfaction, participants filled out the Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale and the Body Esteem Scale. To mask the purpose of the study, participants were explained that these additional measures complimented the first experiment. Then, they were asked about their presumptions regarding the second experiment. Finally, body fat measures were obtained. Measures Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale. The Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale (BASS) of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ; Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990; Cash, 2000) assesses participants’ satisfaction with nine body features (face, hair, lower torso, middle torso, upper torso, muscle tone, weight, length, and overall appearance). Items are measured on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unsatisfied) to 6 (very satisfied). A score for body areas satisfaction is

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calculated by taking the mean score of the nine items. Scores were reverse-coded, with higher scores indicating greater body dissatisfaction. The BASS has demonstrated good reliability, displaying a Cronbach’s ␣ of .77 and a 1-month test–retest correlation of .86 (Cash, 2000). In the present study, alpha was .80. Body Esteem Scale. The Body Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi & Shields, 1984) assesses participants’ feelings toward 35 body features and functions (e.g., sex drive, waist, physical stamina, face). Items are measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strong negative feelings) to 5 (strong positive feelings). A total score for body esteem is calculated by taking the mean score of the 35 items. Scores were reversed-coded, with higher scores indicating greater body dissatisfaction. Factor analyses revealed three dimensions for males (Franzoi & Shields, 1984): Physical Attractiveness (PA; 11 items, e.g., face, nose), Upper Body Strength (UBS; 9 items, e.g., biceps, muscular strength), and Physical Condition (PC; 13 items, e.g., waist, thighs). The BES has demonstrated good reliability, displaying a test–retest correlation of .58 for the PA subscale, .75 for the UBS subscale, and .83 for the PC subscale (Franzoi, 1994). The BES has also been shown to be a valid measure (Franzoi & Herzog, 1986). In the present study, alphas were .90 for the entire scale, .90 for the PA subscale, .83 for the UBS subscale, and .80 for the PC subscale. Fat Percentage. To calculate fat percentage, participants’ height, waist circumference, and neck circumference were measured in centimeters at the end of Session 2. Using the U.S. navy method (Hodgon & Beckett, 1984), these measures were substituted into the following formula: % fat ⫽ 495/(1.0324 – 0.19077 ⴱ (Log(Waist - Neck)) ⫹ 0.15456 ⴱ (Log(Length))) ⫺ 450. Materials Stimulus Set. The stimulus set used in the eye-tracking session consisted of nine 3D male images in three categories: normal, muscular and bodybuilder (see Figure 1). These images were created by a technical artist using pictures of male models and bodybuilders as sample images. Standard male avatars from Smith Micro Poser 8 were loaded and edited in Autodesk Maya 8.5 to create images with different de-

Figure 1. 3D images used in the eye-tracking experiment.

grees of muscularity. Adobe Photoshop CS 3 was used for adding shadow to create extra detail and make the muscles more distinct. A small panel of researchers evaluated the images and adjustments were made in response to their feedback. Subsequently, of the four images that originally were created in each category, the panel selected the three images that looked most natural. Each image appeared twice in the stimulus set, thus the final stimulus set contained 18 images. To avoid the possibility that images of


the same category would be presented three or more times consecutively, instead of presenting the images in a complete random order, five randomized sequence lists were chosen. These five sequence lists were randomly assigned to the participants. Eye-Tracking. Images were presented on a computer monitor with a screen resolution of 1024 ⫻ 768. Subjects’ eye directions were measured using an Iview X Hi-Speed 500/1250 eye tracker of SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI, Teltow, Germany), which determines gaze positions by measuring the dark pupil and corneal reflection using an infrared camera. The eyetracker apparatus was positioned at a distance of 50 cm from the computer screen. Data samples were recorded at a rate of 500 Hz, meaning that gaze position was measured every 2 ms. While participants viewed the images binocularly; only data samples from the right eye were recorded, which is the most commonly used method in eye-tracking literature. To analyze the eye-movement data, the images were divided into nine looking zones, or “Areas of Interest” (AOIs): head, upper body, arms, abdomen, boxers, upper legs, lower legs, hands, and feet (see Figure 2). These areas of interest were mutually exclusive. Gaze direction was classified as a fixation point if it remained in one of the areas of interest for at least 100 ms. The first 200 ms of each trial were excluded from the analyses, as participants had to fixate on a cross on the middle of the screen before each image, and therefore the first 200 ms of eye-tracking would not represent voluntary eye movements (Dixson, Grimshaw, Linklater, & Dixson, 2009). Four measures were calculated for each AOI (Dixson et al., 2009): the mean dwell time (the mean viewing time per fixation), total dwell time (total viewing time taking all fixations together), total number of fixations, and total number of first fixations (total number of times the first fixation is on a particular AOI right after an image is presented). The mean dwell time and total dwell time are two separate measures because the relationship between these two depends on the total number of fixations, which differ for each participant. For example, when a participant has a short mean dwell time, but a large total number of fixations on the abdomen, total dwell time on the abdomen will be large. However, when a participant has a short dwell time and a small total number of

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Figure 2. Distribution of areas of interest.

fixations on the abdomen, total dwell time on the abdomen will be small. Therefore, these two measures need to be analyzed separately. Documentary and Commercials. Participants were shown the first 20 minutes of the English spoken documentary “Weirdest planets” that aired on National Geographic. This documentary was chosen because it did not refer in any way to beauty or the human body, and its content was therefore considered to be neutral with respect to the beauty ideal. The documentary was edited such that two commer-

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cial-breaks were included in the 20-min video clip. Two versions of the video were created. In the neutral version, the commercial breaks included commercials containing no people, only images and texts (the neutral commercials). In the experimental version, the commercial breaks were filled with both neutral commercials and idealized commercials. The idealized commercials all contained young, bare-chested men with a well-defined torso, showing distinct muscles in their upper bodies and abdomens. Figure 3 displays a screenshot of one of the commercials used and illustrates the type of men that appeared in all the idealized commercials. The neutral commercials used in the experimental version were also used in the neutral condition. Other commercials in the neutral condition were matched on product category with the idealized commercials in the experimental condition. For example, a commercial in the experimental condition for male perfume was matched with a commercial containing another body product in the neutral condition (see Appendix for an overview of the commercials). Data Analysis In the first analysis, we compared the nine AOIs using the four eye-tracking measures to investigate whether specific areas of interest received more visual attention compared to others. However, because the specified AOIs var-

Figure 3.

ied in size, it is possible that measures of the mean dwell time, total dwell time, and number of fixations could have differed between the AOIs simply because of chance. Therefore, we had to correct these measures for the size of the AOIs. To do so, looking probabilities for the mean dwell time, total dwell time, and total number of fixations were calculated for each AOI (Rupp & Wallen, 2007). For total dwell time and total number of fixations, looking probability was calculated by dividing the percentage of total dwell time and total number of fixations spent on an AOI by the percentage of size that the AOI occupies out of the total size of all AOIs combined. For the looking probability of the mean dwell time, the mean dwell time per AOI was divided by the total of the mean times of the nine AOIs together, which was then divided by the percentage of size that the AOI occupies out of the total size of all AOIs combined. Looking probabilities greater than one indicated greater total dwell time and number of fixations than would be expected by chance. Subsequently, for the AOIs that received most visual attention, we used hierarchical regression analyses to investigate four interaction effects on body image after exposure to the commercials: (1) an interaction effect of condition and the mean dwell time; (2) an interaction effect of condition and total dwell time; (3) an

Screenshot of the “Jillz” commercial.


interaction effect of condition and number of fixations; and (4) an interaction effect of condition and number of first fixations. These analyses were first conducted on all images together, by taking the means of these measures. We then analyzed whether there were any differences between the three image types. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen’s ƒ2 as this is an appropriate measure of effect size when using a hierarchical regression analysis (Cohen, 1988). An ƒ2 of 0.02 is considered a small effect, 0.15 a medium effect, and .35 a large effect. Results Difference in Visual Attention Between Areas of Interest

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The same tendencies were found when looking at the three types of images separately. Because of these results, and for the sake of convenience, we decided to focus subsequent analyses only on the head, upper body, and abdomen. Descriptive Statistics No significant differences were found between the two conditions on age (t(49) ⫽ 1.84, p ⬎ .05), fat percentage, t(49) ⫽ 1.94, p ⬎ .05 and the eye-tracking measures (see Table 1), indicating that randomization was successful. Fat percentage correlated highly with posttest body dissatisfaction (r(47) ⫽ .43, p ⬍ .01) and this measure was therefore used as a control variable in subsequent regression analyses. Effect of Condition on Body Dissatisfaction

We first analyzed any significant differences in visual attention between the different AOIs, to see whether some AOIs could be excluded from further analyses. Taking all pictures together, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA yielded a significant main effect of AOI on the looking probability for mean dwell time (F(8, 392) ⫽ 37.96 p ⬍ .001), total dwell time (F(8, 392) ⫽ 54.82, p ⬍ .001), and number of fixations (F(8, 392) ⫽ 86.27 p ⬍ .001), which indicates that the AOIs significantly differed across these measures. The mean dwell time, total dwell time, and number of fixations were greater than would be expected by chance only for the head, upper body, and abdomen. For the briefs, only the mean dwell time and number of fixations were greater than would be expected by chance. For the hands and feet, only the mean dwell time was greater than would be expected by chance. For the other AOIs, the mean dwell time, total dwell time, and number of fixations were lower than would be expected by chance. Further, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA yielded a significant main effect of AOI on first fixation, F(8, 392) ⫽ 61.43, p ⬍ .001, which implies that the AOIs significantly differed on the number of first fixations as well. The head, upper body, and abdomen together accounted for 83% of all first fixations (head: 23%, upper body: 35%, abdomen: 25%), whereas all other AOIs accounted for far less of all first fixations (briefs: 6%, upper legs: 2%, lower legs: 1%, feet: 0%, arms: 8%, hands: 0%).

Independent-samples t tests were conducted to compare posttest body dissatisfaction between the neutral and experimental condition (see Table 1 for means and standard deviations). No significant differences were found between the two conditions on BES-PA (t(49) ⫽ ⫺.374, p ⬎ .05) BES-UBS, t(49) ⫽ ⫺.483, p ⬎ .05 BES-PC, t(49) ⫽ ⫺.641, p ⬎ .05, or BASS, t(49) ⫽ .199, p ⬎ .05 scores. These results indicate that the two conditions did not differ on any of the body dissatisfaction measures. Interaction Between Condition and Visual Attention Head. When investigating visual attention to the head, no main or interaction effects were found of condition and either one of the four measures of visual attention on any of the body dissatisfaction measures. This suggests that in both conditions, visual attention to the head was not related to body dissatisfaction. The same pattern was found when analyzing the three image types separately. Upper Body. For visual attention to the upper body, the same results were found as for visual attention to the head. Thus, no main or interaction effects were found of condition and either one of the four measures of visual attention on any of the body dissatisfaction measures. This suggests that in both conditions, visual attention to the upper body was not related to body dissatisfaction. The same pattern

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Table 1 Means (SDs) and t-Values of Visual Attention, Body Dissatisfaction, and Fat Percentage

Total dwell time (ms) H UB A Mean dwell time (ms) H UB A Number of fixations H UB A Number of first fixations H UB A BES PA UBS PC BASS Body fat (%)

Total sample

Neutral condition

Experimental condition

(N ⫽ 50)

(N ⫽ 22)

(N ⫽ 28)

t

14137.6 (10958.7) 16316.1 (8084.3) 13638.8 (7279.6)

4408.6 (9870.4) 16302.4 (7950.5) 12693.7 (6428.5)

13924.6 (11919.2) 16326.9 (8333.3) 14381.3 (7920.3)

⫺.899 .153 ⫺.903

549.6 (321.7) 403.2 (125.1) 408.6 (110.9)

503.4 (288.3) 385.2 (150.1) 384.9 (95.9)

486.0 (346.6) 417.4 (102.0) 427.2 (119.8)

⫺.011 ⫺1.348 ⫺.811

24.0 (13.9) 39.4 (12.6) 32.8 (12.8)

25.4 (13.1) 41.3 (11.1) 32.0 (10.4)

22.9 (14.6) 37.9 (13.7) 33.3 (14.6)

.643 .939 ⫺.362

4.0 (3.6) 6.1 (2.4) 4.1 (2.8)

4.0 (3.3) 6.4 (2.4) 3.9 (2.7)

3.9 (3.9) 5.8 (2.5) 4.3 (3.0)

.148 .788 ⫺.517

2.3 (0.5) 2.3 (0.5) 2.4 (0.6) 2.2 (0.5) 15.4 (5.5)

2.3 (0.3) 2.3 (0.5) 2.4 (0.6) 2.2 (0.4) 17.1 (5.7)

2.3 (0.5) 2.3 (0.6) 2.3 (0.7) 2.3 (0.5) 14.1 (5.0)

.374 .483 .641 ⫺.199 1.936

Note. H ⫽ Head. UB ⫽ Upper Body. A ⫽ Abdomen. BES ⫽ Body Esteem Scale. PA ⫽ Physical Attractiveness. UBS ⫽ Upper Body Strength. PC ⫽ Physical Condition. BASS ⫽ Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale.

was found when analyzing the three image types separately. Abdomen. For the abdomen, an interaction effect was found between condition and all measures of visual attention on body dissatisfaction. First, there was a significant interaction effect between condition and mean dwell time on BASS scores, t(45) ⫽ ⫺3.60, p ⬍ .01, ƒ2 ⫽ .29 and on BES-PC scores, t(45) ⫽ ⫺2.67, p ⬍ .05, ƒ2 ⫽ .16, but not on BES-PA or BES-UBS scores (see Table 2). Second, a significant interaction effect in the same direction was found between condition and total dwell time on BASS scores (␤ ⫽ ⫺.115, t(45) ⫽ ⫺3.63, p ⬍ .01, ⌬R2 ⫽ .17, ƒ2 ⫽ .30) and on BES-PC scores (␤ ⫽ ⫺.934, t(45) ⫽ ⫺3.01, p ⬍ .01, ⌬R2 ⫽ .12, ƒ2 ⫽ .21), but again not on BES-PA or BES-UBS scores. This model, including fat percentage, condition, total dwell time, and condition ⫻ total dwell time, explained 44% of the variance in BASS scores F(4, 44) ⫽ 8.462, p ⬍ .001, and 42% of the variance in BES-PC scores, F(4, 44) ⫽ 7.969, p ⬍ .001. Third, we also found a significant interaction effect between condition and number of fixations on

BASS scores, t(45) ⫽ ⫺2.60, p ⬍ .05, ƒ2 ⫽ .15 and on BES-PC scores, t(45) ⫽ ⫺2.46, p ⬍ .05, ƒ2 ⫽ .14, but not on BES-PA or BES-UBS scores (see Table 2). The same effects were found when comparing the three image types. Finally, for first fixations, an effect was only found for the bodybuilder images: there was a significant interaction between condition and number of first fixations on the abdomen on BASS scores (␤ ⫽ ⫺.602, t(45) ⫽ ⫺2.15, p ⬍ .05, ⌬R2 ⫽ .07, ƒ2 ⫽ .12), but not on one of the BES scores and not for head or upper body. This model, including fat percentage, condition, first fixation, and condition ⫻ first fixation, explained 33% of the variance in BASS scores, F(4, 44) ⫽ 5.524, p ⬍ .01. These four interaction effects are reflected in the regression slopes of the two conditions as visualized in Figure 4. These results suggest that in the neutral condition, visual attention to the abdomen generally was positively related to body dissatisfaction. In the experimental condition, visual attention generally was negatively related to body dissatisfaction.


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Table 2 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses Predicting Body Dissatisfaction From Mean Dwell Time and Number of Fixations on the Abdomen BASS ␤

BES-PC ⌬R

Step 1 Fat percentage .475ⴱⴱ Step 2 Fat percentage .528ⴱⴱⴱ Condition .193 Step 3 Fat percentage .527ⴱⴱⴱ Condition .206 Mean dwell time .076 Step 4 Fat percentage .430ⴱⴱ Condition (C) 1.819ⴱⴱⴱ Mean dwell time .536ⴱ (MDT) Condition ⫻ ⫺1.891ⴱⴱ MDT Total R2

␤

2

.226ⴱⴱ

.537ⴱⴱ

.035

.567ⴱⴱⴱ .109

.006

.164ⴱⴱ

.566ⴱⴱⴱ .126 .103 .492ⴱⴱⴱ 1.355ⴱⴱ .364 ⫺1.441

.430

BASS

⌬R

␤

2

.289ⴱⴱⴱ Step 1 Fat percentage .475ⴱⴱ .011 Step 2 Fat percentage .528ⴱⴱⴱ Condition .193 .010 Step 3 Fat percentage .499ⴱⴱ Condition .175 Number of fixations .152 .095ⴱ Step 4 Fat percentage .488ⴱⴱⴱ Condition (C) 1.036ⴱⴱ Number of fixations .662ⴱⴱ (NF) Condition ⫻ NF ⫺1.078ⴱ .405

Total R2

BES-PC ⌬R

␤

2

.226ⴱⴱ

.537ⴱⴱⴱ

.035

⌬R2 .289ⴱⴱⴱ

.567ⴱⴱⴱ .109

.022

.544ⴱⴱⴱ .094 .117

.096ⴱ

.534ⴱⴱⴱ .898ⴱ .539ⴱ

.013

.083ⴱ

⫺1.006ⴱ .378

.396

Note. BASS ⫽ Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale. BES-PC ⫽ Body Esteem Scale-Physical Condition. p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ .001.

ⴱ

Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between exposure to idealized media content and male body dissatisfaction as well as to examine the role of visual attention to specific body parts when looking at male images. Specifically, this study aimed at examin-

Neutral condition Experimental condition

2,6

Body dissatisfaction

2,4 2,2 2 1,8 1,6 1,4 Low

High

Visual attention to the abdomen

Figure 4. Interaction effect of condition and mean dwell time on body satisfaction.

ing whether visual attention to the upper body and the abdomen would moderate the relationship between media exposure and body dissatisfaction. Contrary to our expectations, we found no main effect of condition. Hence, mean body dissatisfaction did not differ between participants who had been exposed to idealized media content and participants who had been exposed to neutral media content. This finding is inconsistent with previous literature, which repeatedly has found that men who had been exposed to idealized media content displayed higher body dissatisfaction compared to men who were exposed to more neutral media content. However, the experiments in previous studies were mainly conducted in groups (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009; Hobza & Rochlen, 2009; Hobza, Walker, Yakushko, & Peugh, 2007; Leit, Gray, & Pope, 2002), such that participants in these studies were exposed to idealized media content in the presence of other men, whereas subjects in our study participated individually. Possibly, the presence of other men could have strengthened the effect of exposure to idealized media images in previous studies. Although speculative, mean body dissatisfaction in the experimental condition might have

318


been higher if our experiment was conducted within groups of men. Despite this absence of a main effect of condition on body dissatisfaction, we found a moderating effect of visual attention in this relationship, but only for the abdomen. This moderating effect was consistent over several eye-tracking measures. Interestingly, the direction of this effect was different from what we hypothesized. We expected that men with high visual attention to the abdomen would be more preoccupied with changing their weight and/or shape, and they would thus be more vulnerable to the effects of idealized media exposure compared to men with low visual attention to the abdomen. Instead, we found that the relationship between visual attention and body dissatisfaction went in opposite directions between the two conditions. Thus, although high visual attention toward the abdomen was related to high body dissatisfaction in the neutral condition, the reverse effect was found in the experimental condition. Research among women may provide an explanation for these unexpected findings. Several studies have found that idealized media exposure does not lead to increased body dissatisfaction, but rather to self-enhancement in certain individuals (Joshi, Herman, & Polivy, 2004; Mills, Polivy, Herman, & Tiggeman, 2002; Polivy & Herman, 2007). Findings of a study by Halliwell and Dittmar (2005) suggested that such conflicting results can be explained when taking into account women’s motives for engaging in social comparison. A distinction is made between the self-evaluation motive and the self-improvement motive. The self-evaluation motive is in concordance with the negative contrast effect discussed earlier. When people engage in social comparison from this motive, one focuses on evaluating one’s features against those of others. Because the muscular ideal presented in contemporary media reflects general ideas of masculinity, evaluating one’s body against this ideal may lead to feelings of distress. In contrast, when social comparison arises from a self-improvement motive, people focus on ways to improve their body to achieve the ideal standard presented in the media. The idealized media image may thus serve as an inspiration for self-improvement to increase masculinity, which leads to a neutral or self-enhancement effect of idealized media exposure.

Applying this to our results, men who allocated a large amount of visual attention to the abdomen, and who thus may have been preoccupied with changing their body to increase their masculinity (Hewig et al., 2008; Jansen, Nederkoorn, & Mulkens, 2005), may have adopted a self-improvement motive of social comparison. As a consequence, when exposed to the idealized commercials, they were neutrally or even somewhat positively affected by these images, because they focused on ways to improve their body to achieve the ideal depicted in the commercials. In contrast, men who allocated little visual attention to the abdomen, and who thus may have been less preoccupied with changing their weight and/or shape may not have adopted a self-improvement motive of social comparison. Thus, these men may have been more likely to focus on self-evaluation when confronted with idealized media images, which negatively affected their body image. For men in the control condition, we found the opposite effect; men who allocated a large amount of visual attention to the abdomen displayed higher body dissatisfaction compared to men who allocated less visual attention to the abdomen. This contrasting result may have been caused by the absence of idealized cues for social comparison. Men who displayed a visual bias toward the abdomen, and who thus may had a preoccupation with changing their body, may have felt more insecure with their body in general, thus when no ideal images for social comparison were present. Men who allocated less visual attention to the abdomen felt less distressed about their body when no ideal cues were present, because they may not have had such a preoccupation with changing their shape and/or weight. Unfortunately, as our data does not allow drawing conclusions regarding the underlying mechanisms of our findings, these explanations remain speculative. Therefore, future studies should include measures of social comparison motives, as well as measures of trait body dissatisfaction and self-reported feelings of masculinity. Contrary to our expectations, this moderating effect of visual attention was not found for the upper body, although muscularity of this body area is also greatly depicted in contemporary media (Hoyt & Kogan, 2002). This may be explained by the fact that men generally are also


concerned about their fat percentage, in addition to their muscularity (Frederick et al., 2007; Tiggemann et al., 2007). In our study, fat percentage was highly positively correlated with body dissatisfaction, indicating that high fat percentage indeed is an important factor of distress for men. Because fat accumulates mainly around the abdomen in men, this body area is an important indicator for fat percentage, whereas the upper body is not. Our finding that only visual attention to the abdomen moderated the relationship between idealized media exposure and body dissatisfaction, may therefore be because of the fact that the abdomen serves as an indicator of both muscularity and fat percentage in men. Some limitations of this study need to be mentioned. First, the sample of our study consisted exclusively of undergraduate students living in a Western European country, and thus results may not be easily generalized. One factor that needs to be considered in future research is age, as body image concerns differ between younger and older men (Peat, Peyerl, Ferraro, & Butler, 2011; Tiggemann et al., 2007). For example, adolescents are especially vulnerable to developing high body dissatisfaction and related dieting and exercise behaviors (Labre, 2002). Furthermore, future research should also consider cross-cultural differences when investigating the effect of idealized media content on male body dissatisfaction. Differences could occur because body dissatisfaction is more pronounced in some cultures, especially in Western cultures, than in others (Frederick et al., 2007; Yang, Gray, & Pope, 2005). Moreover, there are cultural differences in what exactly is considered as the ideal body type. For example, African American men prefer a somewhat bigger body compared to men of other ethnicities (Jones, Fries, & Danish, 2007; Ricciardelli, McCabe, Williams, & Thompson, 2007). The effects found in our study are likely to be stronger for men in cultures in which body dissatisfaction is more pronounced and cultures that idealize a body type that is very difficult to attain. Although results were consistent over several eye-tracking measures, they were based on a fairly small sample size. Post hoc power analysis revealed that the power in the different analyses ranged from low to sufficient. To increase the generalizability of the findings, a larger, more representative sample should be

319

included in future research. Another limitation is that we used computerized 3D images for the eye-tracker experiment. Although muscularity of the male figures could be easily manipulated this way, they differ somewhat from idealized images that can be found in the media (e.g., magazines) in which men are displayed mostly in a certain context. Further research using eyetracking techniques should include existing media images, such as magazine advertisements and TV commercials. Despite the limitations mentioned above, this study also has some important strengths. First, the few studies that have investigated possible moderators of the relationship between idealized media images and body dissatisfaction used explicit measures, such as questionnaires, to assess individual vulnerability to media influences (e.g., Arbour & Martin Ginis, 2006; Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009; Hausenblas et al., 2003). However, these methods require people to consciously reflect on their feelings and behaviors, while unconscious processes may also serve as an important factor of individual vulnerability. Eye-tracking techniques implicitly measure people’s visual attention, and they have been successfully used to detect people’s unconscious visual preferences for specific stimuli (Duchowski, 2002). Therefore, by using this technique we were able to implicitly tap men’s visual attention to specific body parts. A second strength of this study is that media exposure occurred in a seminaturalistic viewing situation. We embedded the commercials in a documentary, as commercials are naturally embedded in TV programs. The findings of our study provide new insight into the research on idealized media influences. For one thing, our study indicates that men’s visual attention during image viewing is an important factor to include in research on media influences and that eye-tracking is a suitable technique for examining this. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest that it is valuable to differentiate between body parts when examining visual attention to media images. Finally, the findings of our study indicate that media images do not affect men equally. However, although it appears that idealized media images can have a positive effect on the body image of men who are preoccupied with changing their body, this seems to reflect a short-term effect only, as preoccupied men in the neutral condi-

320


tion felt less good about their body compared to nonpreoccupied men. In the long run, preoccupied men may perceive their ideal standard as unachievable and may therefore feel distressed, especially when repeatedly exposed to ideal images, by reminding them of these ideals. These men may thus be especially vulnerable for developing risky eating and exercise behaviors. However, these men may hold more stringent views of masculinity, and as such may be less inclined to report insecurities about their body, as feelings of insecurity and vulnerability do not reflect masculinity (Mishkind et al., 1986). Therefore, measures of visual attention may be used to implicitly test preoccupations toward the body. When replicated, our findings provide additional insights into the complex relationship between idealized media exposure and male body dissatisfaction. References Agliata, D., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (2004). The impact of media exposure on males’ body image. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 7–22. doi: 10.1521/jscp.23.1.7.26988 Alexander, G. M., & Charles, N. (2009). Sex differences in adults’ relative visual interest in female and male faces, toys, and play styles. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 434 – 441. doi:10.1007/ s10508-008-9429-7 Arbour, K. P., & Martin Ginis, K. A. (2006). Effects of exposure to muscular and hypermuscular media images on young men’s muscularity dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 3, 153–161. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2006.03.004 Baghurst, T., Hollander, D. B., Nardella, B., & Haff, G. G. (2006). Change in sociocultural ideal male physique: An examination of past and present action figures. Body Image, 3, 87–91. doi:10.1016/ j.bodyim.2005.11.001 Barlett, C. P., & Harris, R. J. (2008). The impact of body emphasizing video games on body image concerns in men and women. Sex Roles, 59, 586 – 601. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9457-8 Borchert, J., & Heinberg, L. (1996). Gender schema and gender role discrepancy as correlates of body image. The Journal of Psychology, 130, 547–559. doi:10.1080/00223980.1996.9915021 Brown, T. A., Cash, T. F., & Mikulka, P. J. (1990). Attitudinal body-image assessment: Factor analysis of the body-self relations questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 55, 135–144. doi:10.1207/ s15327752jpa5501&2_13 Cafri, G., Thompson, J. K., Ricciardelli, L., McCabe, M., Smolak, L., & Yesalis, C. (2005). Pursuit of

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Appendix Overview of Commercials Brand

Product

Philips

Television

Fa

Deodorant

Eukanuba Carpetright Youfone

Dog food Floorings Telephone subscription

Mediamarkt Wilkinson Dirk vd Broek Piet Klerkx

Interest-free payment Razor Groceries Furniture

Dirk vd Broek

Shaving products

Elmex

Toothpaste

We fashion Classic album

Clothing CD

Kruidvat Fanta Calgonit C1000 Coolbest

Washing products Fanta orange Dishwasher cleaner Groceries Fruit juice

Keuken kampioen Hugo Boss

Kitchens Boss Bottled-fragrance

Whiskas

Cat food

Braun

Razor

Diesel

Fuel for life- fragrance

Ariel

Detergent

Sprite D&G

Nonalcoholic drink Le bateleur-fragrance

Jillz

Alcoholic drink

Story line

Conditiona

Length

Voice-over tells that program is sponsored by this brand A deodorant can is seen doing human activities A dog is running and playing Announcement for upcoming sale 4 colored lines on screen, voice-over tells about new provider Announcement for upcoming sale A razor ‘shaves’ the screen Announcement for reduced prices Pictures of furniture are displayed, voiceover praises store Announcement for reduced prices on shaving products Animation of a tooth, voice-over recommends toothpaste Announcement for upcoming sale Picture of CD, voice-over announces release of this CD Announcement for reduced prices Animated people dance to Fanta tune Dishwasher cleans the dish Announcement for reduced prices Announcement of new product, pack of fruit juice is displayed Announcement for reduced prices A young man comes out of the shower and dresses himself A young men is awakened by his cat and feeds it A young men shaves himself after a weekend of partying A young men is standing in the rain with his arms up high A young men is putting washes is clothes in a washing machine A young men jumps into a swimming pool Three young men walk by and take off their bathrobe Four young men pluck apples, dance on a bar, and dive in water

N (1/1) E (1/1)

0:07

N (1/2)

0:25

N (1/3) N (1/4) E (1/4) N (1/5) E (1/5)

0:30 0:15 0:13

N (1/6) E (1/6) N (1/7) N (1/8) E (1/8) N (1/9) E (1/9)

0:20 0:15b 0:15 0:15

N (1/10)

0:05

N (2/1)

0:25

N (2/2) N (2/3) E (2/3)

0:10 0:16

N (2/4) N (2/5) N (2/6) E (2/4) N (2/7) E (2/7) N (2/8)

0:10 0:25 0:35 0:10 0:20

N (2/9) E (2/9) E (1/2)

0:10 0:20

E (1/3)

0:17

E (1/7)

0:25

E (2/1)

0:19

E (2/2)

0:30

E (2/5) E (2/6)

0:10 0:30

E (2/8)

1:00

N ⫽ Neutral E ⫽ Experimental (nbreak number/commercial number). character.

a

b

Commercial was edited to remove male

Received November 22, 2010 Revision received June 7, 2011 Accepted June 16, 2011 䡲