Are Slender Models More Attractive than Full Figured Models? A Psychological Study

Overview

Objectives/Goals Slender models and their effect on society has been a hot topic in the media and fashion world lately. The media claims that slender models in fashion negatively effect society especially women by causing eating disorders and low self esteem and are a threat to womens health. The purpose of this survey experiment was to see if the claim media was making really is true. It was hypothesized that if slender models have made an effect on society, then society would respond by picking the slender model over the full figured one in the survey. Methods/Materials This experiment was done by: 1. Picking two pictures of models from magazines. These pictures contradicted each other (a slender model and a full figured model). 2.Four categories were made. Women teen-40, women 40-up, men teen-40, men 40-up. 3. Three survey questions were written. Which model is more attractive? ,Which model looks healthier? ,and Which model looks happier? 4. The survey was given to 200 people (50 from each category) 5.The results are tallied and used in bar graphs. 6. The One Proportion z-Test and the CHI-Squared tests are applied to the survey results. Results The results from the bar graphs showed that in the perception of attractiveness most men (young and old) preferred the slender model while younger women were undecided and older women preferred the full figured model. In the perception of health and happiness, most people regardless of age gender preferred the full figured model to the slender one. According to the statistical analysis of the One Proportion z-Test and the CHI-Squared tests the p-values showed that there was no difference in opinion of one model over the other. These results were surprising and after further analysis it was discovered that there was no difference in opinion because the population surveyed was too small to make any generalizations. Conclusions/Discussion It was discovered that slender models have made an effect on society. As well age and gender do make a difference in the opinion of society. The claim that the media had made is true but not as severe as the media suggested. This experiment is vital information to women#s health concerning self esteem and eating disorders.

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry S0304

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