Body satisfaction and weight-related appearance management in a two-way mirror: mother-daughter interactions as mediation of the mass media\u27s thin female ideal

The purpose of this study was to explore the reciprocal socialization process between adolescent girls and their mothers and how this process shapes daughters\u27 and mothers\u27 media use, body-related feelings and behaviors, and beliefs about the thin female ideal in the media. An interpretive approach was used to explore these issues. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 mother-daughter pairs;Grounded theory analysis revealed two overarching (major) themes within the data: (a) mothers\u27 and daughters\u27 personal and interpersonal experiences with the female body and (b) mothers\u27 and daughters\u27 experiences with the female body as it is culturally situated in the media;Five minor themes emerged as related to the major theme of personal and interpersonal experiences with the body: (a) appearance orientation, or the role of appearance in the everyday lives of the participants, (b) body cathexis, or degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the body, (c) individual diet-related behaviors, (d) interpersonal approaches to (i.e., mother-daughter interactions related to) the body and dieting, and (e) body malleability, or the extent to which participants perceived the appearance of their bodies as changeable. ;Five minor themes emerged as related to the major theme of experiences with the female body as it is situated in the media: (a) media involvement, (b) perceived realism of media presentations of the female body, (c) identification with media presentations of the female body, (d) idealization of media presentations of the female body, and (e) social comparison processes, or comparisons of one\u27s own appearance with media presentations of the female body;Findings from this study indicated that mothers and daughters did symbolically interact with respect to issues encompassed by each of these minor themes, thereby contributing to each other\u27s (a) feelings about and behaviors toward the body and (b) interpretations of body-related media. The data also supported theoretical linkages among interpretations of body-related media, personal and interpersonal body-related feelings and behaviors, and social comparison tendencies and outcomes. At the conclusion of this study, these relationships are modeled and/or discussed and implications for future research are addressed