Advertising and social comparison: Consequences for female preadolescents and adolescents

Abstract The authors investigate the impact of advertising beauty images on female preadolescents and adolescents. An experiment using 4th, 8th, and 12th graders demonstrated that exposure to advertising with highly attractive models raises comparison standards for physical attractiveness, but does not affect self‐perceptions of physical attractiveness. The findings also suggest that the tendency of female pre‐adolescents and adolescents to compare themselves to models in ads increases with age, and this tendency is greater for those with lower self‐perceptions of physical attractiveness and/or self‐esteem. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.