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The
Effects of Being in a Relationship on Females’ Perceptions of the Portrayal
of Women in the Media
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Jessica
L. Mangum
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University
of North Carolina, Charlotte
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Undergraduate
Journal of Psychology, Volume 13, 2000. University of North Carolina At
Charlotte.
Department of Psychology. |
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| © The articles contained in this journal remain the property of the author(s). No part may be reproduced without express permission from the author(s), except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. | ||
| Past research has examined the effects of the portrayal of women by the media on females. Research has also investigated how expressions and experiences of jealousy increase as a relationship develops and intensifies. This study tied these two areas of research together by looking at the effects of being in a relationship on a woman’s perception of the portrayal of females by the media. It was hypothesized that (1) if a woman had spent more than six months (vs. 1 to 6 months, or no time at all) in a current relationship, then she would rate examples of the media’s portrayal of “ideal” women as more personally offensive; (2) a woman who has been in a relationship more than 6 months will rate herself as being more offended (than the women from the two other relationship groups) if her significant other viewed the media material. Thirty-two females from a large southeastern university were surveyed. Each received a survey and accompanying photocopies of six magazine ads featuring beautiful, alluring women. Participants classified their current relationship as (a) no current relationship, (b)1 to 6 mo., or (c) more than 6 mo. They then rated how personally offensive they found the advertisements, and how offended they would be if their significant other were to view the ads (1=not at all, 9=very). Analysis of data did not support the first hypothesis; it did reveal a significant difference in mean group ratings for the second hypothesis, with the More than 6 Months group being most offended. | ||
| Recent research has been focused on and devoted to ascertaining the effects on teenage girls and women of portrayal of females by the media. If one thumbs through almost any current magazine, or watches television commercials for that matter, he or she will no doubt see the fashionable representation of women in the media by advertisers. The current ideal woman seems to be “taut, small-breasted, narrow-hipped, and of a slimness bordering on emaciation” (Kourany, Sterba, & Tong, 1992, p.105). This “role-model” may aid advertisers in selling more products, but may very well have adverse effect on women everywhere. One of the unintended effects of using these slim, attractive models in marketing strategies may be that young girls and women compare themselves to the advertising models and, find themselves deficient, causing their self-perceptions and self-esteem to be negatively affected (Martin & Gentry, 1997). Posavac, Posavac, & Posavac (1998) demonstrated that exposure to media images did often result in weight concerns and other self-esteem issues in young women. Their research suggests that negative effects on self-concept result from even passive exposure to media images. It does seem that heavier women report more negative self-evaluation after being exposed to “ideal” images of women (Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 1997). One must remember however, that media images do not similarly affect all women’s body esteem. Thinner women and those with higher self-esteem and/or low body dissatisfaction are not as negatively affected by being exposed to media images. Posavac, Posavac, and Posavac (1998) note that the stable personality characteristic of body dissatisfaction heavily moderates vulnerability of the effects of media representations of the “ideal” woman. | |
| Past research in another area has focused on how jealousy develops as relationships intensify. Aune and Comstock (1997) concluded from their research with relationships and jealousy that experience and expression of jealousy increased across levels of relationship development. In other words, as couples spend more time together and become increasingly interdependent, greater feelings and expressions of jealousy may be exhibited in response to perceived threats to the relationship. Jealousy results from the perception of threat to one’s romantic relationship. This most often results from the perception of a romantic involvement between one’s partner and a real or imagined adversary. | |
| At first sight, jealousy and the media’s portrayal of women do not seem to be related. A more thorough look reveals a possible connection between the two. Since most ordinary women have normally different dimensions than the slim, flawless models portrayed in magazine advertisements and television commercials, they may feel these representations of the perfect female body to be a threat to their romantic involvement. Because jealousy increases as time spent in a relationship increases, it seemed likely that women in a long-term relationship might see the portrayal of females by the media as a threat to their relationship. The present experiment examines the effects of being in a relationship on how women perceived the portrayal of other women in the media, specifically the “ideal” women represented in advertising. It was hypothesized that the longer a female has spent in a current relationship, the more negatively she will perceive the portrayal of women by the media. Women may see these portrayals of females by the media as a threat to their relationship. Specifically it was hypothesized that if women had spent more than six months (versus 1 to 6 months, or no time at all) in a current relationship, then they would rate examples of the media’s portrayal of “ideal” women as more personally offensive. It was additionally hypothesized that these women would rate themselves as being more offended if their significant other viewed the media material. | |
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METHOD
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| Participants | |
| Thirty-two participants were surveyed for the research project (12 participants from the More than 6 Months Relationship group, and 10 from both the No current Relationship group and the 1 to 6 Months Relationship group). All participants were female students from a large southeastern university. All students were enrolled in an introductory level psychology class and participated in the research project to fulfill a course requirement. Participants were randomly assigned the surveys and were surveyed in a classroom on the university campus. | |
| Materials | |
| Each participant received a copy of a survey and accompanying photocopies of six advertisements taken from various magazines. The advertisements all depicted beautiful, slim women in scanty clothing, looking very desirable and seductive. All pertinent advertising information was removed from the images to prevent differences in ratings due to biases toward (or against) any of the manufacturers or products presented. The photocopies were all black and white to ensure that participants were not influenced by the color(s) of one advertisement more so than by the others. The survey instructed participants to complete the survey to the best of their ability and reassured them that all answers were confidential and anonymous. The survey consisted of four questions. Question one asked participants to describe how long they had been in their current relationship (no current relationship, one to six months, or more than six months). Question two asked them to classify their current relationship in terms of seriousness (no current relationship, non-committed/date other people, or committed/date only that person). The first question was a measure of the independent variable- the amount of time spent in a relationship. The second question, pertaining to the seriousness of the current relationship, was included to measure seriousness as a possible extraneous variable that may affect results, so that its effect (if any) could also be ascertained. Questions three and four related to the accompanying magazine advertisements. The third question asked participants to rate, on a scale from 1 to 9, how offensive they personally found the ads to be (1= not at all, 9= very). The fourth question asked participants to rate, using the same scale employed in question three, how offended they would be if their significant other (or, if single, a hypothetical significant other) viewed the advertisements. | |
| Procedure | |
| A sign up sheet was placed on a bulletin board notifying students of current research projects. Students signed up independently, and arrived at the appropriate classroom at the assigned time. Participants each received a survey and the photocopies of six different advertisements. After completing the survey, the hypothesis, independent variable, and dependent variable were disclosed to the participants. Participants were thanked for their participation, and were free to leave. | |
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RESULTS
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| The mean rating for questions three and four of the survey were calculated for each Time Spent in Relationship group. For question three (How offended are you personally by these advertisements?), although the More than 6 Months group had the highest mean rating, an analysis of variance revealed that the differences between group means were not statistically significant/reliable, F(2,29)=1.89, p=0.17. For actual values and results of post hoc tests, please refer to Table 1. | |
| For question four (How offended would you be if your significant other, or if single, a hypothetical significant other, were to view this material?), the More than 6 Months group again had the highest average mean rating. The No Current Relationship group had the second highest average rating, followed by the 1 to 6 Months group. An analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among group ratings, F(2,29)=5.78, p<.05. Multiple comparison tests, using the Tukey HSD test (p<.05), were performed, and indicated that the difference between the More than 6 Months groups and the No Current Relationship and 1 to 6 Months groups was statistically significant. The More than 6 Months group had a higher mean rating than did the remaining two groups. From these results, it can be determined that amount of offense taken by females to the media’s portrayal of women did increase as time spent in the relationship increased, but that there was no significant difference between the no time in a relationship and the 1 to 6 months in a relationship groups. The seriousness of the participants’ relationships was measured as a possible extraneous variable, but all females that reported being in a relationship classified their relationship as committed. No females surveyed classified their relationship as non-committed. | |
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TABLE
1
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| Mean Scores of Participants’ Responses to Questions Three and Four of the Survey | |||
| Personally Offensive* | Significant Other** | x | |
| No Current | M = 4.70 | M = 4.60 | >6 mo. |
| Relationship Group | SD = 2.16 | SD = 2.27 | x |
| 1 to 6 Months | M = 3.60 | M = 4.10 | >6 mo. |
| Relationship Group | SD =1.65 | SD = 2.18 | x |
| More Than 6 Months | M = 5.33 | M = 7.00 | no,1 to 6 mo. |
| Relationship Group | SD = 2.35 | SD = 2.04 | x |
| (p) | > .05 | < .008 | x |
| *Personally Offensive: “How offensive do you personally find these advertisements?” | |||
| **Significant Other: “How offended would you be if your significant other (or if you are single, a hypothetical significant other) viewed this material?” | |||
| Note: Scores could range from 1 to 9 on offensiveness, with 1 being not at all, and 9 being very offensive. Also, superscripts denote that a significant difference was found between group scores: | |||
| x | No = No Current Relationship group | ||
| 1 to 6 mo.= 1 to 6 Months relationship Group | |||
| 6 mo.= More than 6 Months Relationship Group | |||
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DISCUSSION
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| The analysis suggests that time spent in a relationship appears to have no significant bearing on how personally offensive women find the portrayal of females by the media. The other hypothesis, however, was supported. The more time a woman had spent in a relationship, the higher the self-reported degree of being offended if her significant other viewed the magazine ads. However, the increase in rating as a function of time spent in the relationship was not invariant; the 1 to 6 months group did not have a higher score than the no current relationship group. Therefore, it can be concluded that a woman may feel more offended if her significant other were to view media ads featuring “ideal” as the relationship reaches some critical point, based on time invested. This increase, however, is not readily apparent between zero to six months spent in a relationship. Perhaps being in a relationship from 1 to 6 months isn’t a sufficient amount of time for feelings of threat and jealousy to arise from these types of sources. | |
| The findings from this study could be beneficial to females in a relationship to give them some insight as to why they may feel negatively towards the ads they see in magazines, etc. Results may also aid in helping females understand why they may get irritated or annoyed at their significant others for viewing this or similar kinds of material. Also, findings may assist females (and possibly their significant others) in understanding why these types of media images may arouse or intensify feelings of jealousy. | |
| Future research suggestions include surveying males instead of females to determine the effects of how being in a relationship affects how males perceive the portrayal of men (or women) by the media. Since the media portrayal of men does not receive much public attention, it would be interesting to see if they, too, find the media portrayal more offensive as they spend more time in a relationship. Also, it may be beneficial to use a wider time range for time spent in a relationship. One might obtain different results from comparing a couple of months to a year, or a year to several years. This might produce a wider range of scores between groups. Since most popular media ads and the ads used in this study only portrayed Caucasian women, future research could include females of a different race or ethnicity to see if that affects results. Furthermore, since all the participants’ relationships were reported as being committed, it would be advantageous to ascertain if there are any differences in ratings of females in non-committed relationships versus committed relationships. | |
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REFERENCES
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| Aune, K., & Comstock, J. (1997). Effects of relationship length on the experience, expression, and perceived | |
| appropriateness of jealousy. Journal of Social Psychology, 137, 23-31. | |
| Henderson-King, E., & Henderson-King, D. (1997). Media effects on women’s body esteem: Social and individual | |
| difference factors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 399-417. | |
| Kourany, J., Sterba, J., & Tong, R. (1992). Feminist philosophies. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. | |
| Martin, M., & Gentry, J. (1997). Stuck in the model trap: the effects of beautiful models in ads on female pre-adolescents | |
| and adolescents. Journal of Advertising, 26, 19-33. | |
| Posavac, H., Posavac, S., & Posavac, E. (1998). Exposure to media images of female attractiveness and concern with | |
| body weight among young women. Sex Roles, 38, 187-201. | |
| © | This article remains the property of the author. No part may be reproduced without express permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. |
| Additional information is available from the: Department of Psychology, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28223-0001. (704) 687- 4731. | |
| Journal Editors:
Jane Gaultney, Ph.D. & Paul Foos, Ph.D. Layout and Design: Jodi Hankins Web Layout: Sue Spaulding |
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