Body Use and Reference Group Impact: With Whom Do We Compare Our Bodies?

Fifty U.S. Olympic speedskating team members, 50 professional models, and 80 college students completed the Body Esteem Scale (BES: Franzoi & Shields, 1984) and indicated for each of the 35 BES items whether when evaluating themselves they most frequently use as a comparison standard same-sex people in general, same-sex professional models, or elite same-sex athletes. Consistent with social comparison theory that people seek similar others as comparison targets, college students were more likely than Olympic athletes or professional models to compare themselves to people in the general population, athletes were more likely than students or models to compare themselves to elite athletes, and models tended to be more likely than students or athletes to compare themselves to elite models. As hypothesized, college women more frequently than college men compared themselves to professional models when evaluating body aspects associated with weight concern and sexual attractiveness, and the more female skaters’ compared themselves to models, the more their negative body attitudes associated with weight concern increased and the more interested they were in changing weight-related body aspects

Adolescent Self-Disclosure and Loneliness: Private Self-Consciousness and Parental Influences

Using structural equation techniques, we tested a theoretical model designed to describe the causal relations existing among loneliness, self-disclosure to peers and parents, and specific antecedent variables. Participants were 350 high-school students who answered questions concerning themselves and their interpersonal relationships. Results generally indicated a good fit between the theoretical model and the observed relations. In addition to replicating the findings of previous studies concerning the relation between self-disclosure and loneliness, results also indicated an indirect relation between private self-consciousness and loneliness via peer self-disclosure; that is, high private self-conscious adolescents\u27 greater willingness to self-disclose to peers resulted in their feeling less lonely. Results are discussed in terms of current theory in related fields

Adolescent Loneliness, Self-Disclosure, and Private Self-Consciousness: A Longitudinal Investigation

Examined the causal relations that exist among loneliness, self-disclosure, and private self-consciousness, building on an earlier study by S. L. Franzoi and M. H. Davis (see record 1985-19892-001). Using structural equation techniques and a longitudinal design, a theoretical model that links these variables was tested with 332 high school students. Results indicate a good fit between the theoretical model and the observed relations. Evidence concerning 2 alternative interpretations of the original Franzoi and Davis study is provided. First, the original hypothesis that private self-consciousness leads to greater self-disclosure to peers is supported, but no support for the alternative view that such disclosure in turn increases private self-consciousness is provided. Second, the original hypothesis that greater self-disclosure reduces loneliness and the alternative view that greater loneliness reduces self-disclosure receive some support from the data. The difficulty in obtaining significant longitudinal paths (from Year 1 to Year 2) suggests that the time lags in the variables\u27 effects on one another are relatively short

Experiencing Sexism and Young Women\u27s Body Esteem

This two-study investigation examined the relationship between sexist attitudes and experiences with young women’s body esteem. Specifically, we examined whether young women\u27s body esteem was related to their own and their parents\u27 endorsements of benevolent and hostile sexist beliefs and also whether women’s body esteem was related to their actual everyday experiences with benevolent and hostile sexism. In Study 1, fathers\u27 endorsement of benevolently sexist beliefs was positively correlated with daughters\u27 weight-related and physical condition body esteem. No similar evidence was found for mothers or for either parent\u27s endorsements of hostile sexist beliefs. In Study 2, young women’s body esteem was positively related to their benevolently sexist experiences and negatively related to their hostile sexist experiences. These findings are consistent with ambivalent sexism theory. The results are discussed for their clinical and theoretical implications

Personality Characteristics of The Cross-country Hitchhiker

This paper describes the first empirical analysis of the personalities of cross­ country hitchhikers. One hundred and four young adults were tested in 32 states using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as the measuring instrument. The results display the predominance of the intuitive and feeling functions among subjects, and also the utilization of the perceptual function in dealing with the environment. These findings suggest a personality which is impulsive and autonomous, having a high degree of tolerance for complexity and change, and strong interest in interpersonal relations. These young hitch­ hikers also differ on a number of personality dimensions from three comparison groups previously obtained by the Center for Applications of Psychological Type, but are most similar to students in psychological and counseling training services. Implications of the results in explaining this nomadic behavior are discussed

The Effects of Private Self-Consciousness and Perspective Taking on Satisfaction in Close Relationships.

131 heterosexual student couples, aged 17–32 yrs, 30 of whom were married or engaged answered questions concerning themselves and their relationships. It was predicted that individual differences in private self-consciousness would be positively related to relationship satisfaction because of the greater self-disclosure resulting from that heightened self-attention. It was further predicted that individual differences in perspective taking would foster relationship satisfaction, independent of any influence of self-disclosure. Both expectations were confirmed. Scores on the private self-consciousness scale were predictive of reported self-disclosure, and self-disclosure was predictive of satisfaction in the relationship. Once the influence of self-disclosure was removed, no effect of self-consciousness on satisfaction remained. In contrast, after disclosure was controlled, perspective-taking scores were significantly related to satisfaction and were in fact unrelated to disclosure at all. Findings indicate that 2 personality characteristics having to do with habitual attention to behavioral tendencies, emotions, and motivations significantly enhance the quality of close heterosexual relationships in different ways

Revising the Body Esteem Scale with a U.S. College Student Sample: Evaluation, Validation, and Uses for the BES-R

The Body Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi and Shields 1984) has been a primary research tool for over 30 years, yet its factor structure has not been fully assessed since its creation, so a two-study design examined whether the BES needed revision. In Study 1, a series of principal components analyses (PCAs) was conducted using the BES responses of 798 undergraduate students, with results indicating that changes were necessary to improve the scale’s accuracy. In Study 2, 1237 undergraduate students evaluated each BES item, along with a select set of new body items, while also rating each item’s importance to their own body esteem. Body items meeting minimum importance criteria were then utilized in a series of PCAs to develop a revised scale that has strong internal consistency and good convergent and discriminant validity. As with the original BES, the revised BES (BES-R) conceives of body esteem as both gender-specific and multidimensional. Given that the accurate assessment of body esteem is essential in better understanding the link between this construct and mental health, the BES-R can now be used in research to illuminate this link, as well as in prevention and treatment programs for body-image issues. Further implications are discussed

Two Social Worlds: Social Correlates and Stability of Adolescent Status Groups

Examined adolescents\u27 peer group status in high school using self-report, peer nominations, and archival data collected during 2 consecutive school yrs. 408 students participated in the 1st yr, and 404 students participated in the 2nd yr. 60% of the 2nd yr Ss had also participated in the 1st yr. Higher status students (popular and controversial) had more close friends, engaged more frequently in peer activities, and self-disclosed more than lower status students (rejected and neglected). They were also more involved in extracurricular school activities and received more social honors from their schoolmates. Although the higher status students were more alike than different, controversial adolescents did report more self-disclosure and dating behavior than popular students. Lower status students were also highly similar, although rejected students reported lower grades

Exploring Body Comparison Tendencies: Women Are Self-Critical Whereas Men Are Self-Hopeful

Our study examined similarities and differences in women’s and men’s comparison tendencies and perfection beliefs when evaluating their face, body shape, and physical abilities, as well as how these tendencies and beliefs relate to their body esteem. College students (90 women and 88 men) completed the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984) and answered questions concerning their social comparison and temporal comparison tendencies related to face, body shape, and physical abilities evaluations as well as personal perfection body beliefs. As predicted, women were more likely than men to compare their face and bodies to other same-sex persons whom they perceived as having either similar or better physical qualities than themselves in those body domains, with their most likely comparison tendency being upward social comparison. More men than women held body-perfection beliefs for all three body domains, and men were most likely to rely on future temporal comparison when evaluating their body shape. Comparison tendencies and perfection beliefs also were differentially related to women\u27s and men\u27s body esteem; whereas women rely on self-critical social comparison strategies associated with negative body esteem, men’s comparison strategies and perfection beliefs are more self-hopeful. Implications for practitioners treating body-image issues are discussed