Real women on real beauty

This experiment tested the effectiveness of manipulated images of a Dove model, of varying shapes and sizes, to assess how or if exposure to an average or plus-size model would decrease women’s short-term internalisation of body image ideals. The objective of this study was to assess adult women’s beliefs about beauty and attractiveness in themselves and in others using several variables as possible predictors: exposure to thin-ideal or plus-size models, social comparison and societal views of thinness. Using an image of a model from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and three manipulated images of the same model, this study tested participants’ evaluations of each model’s attractiveness and thinness, and further tested participants’ level of self-discrepancy and societal views of thinness to assess if the campaign was at all effective in influencing the way women perceive beauty and attractiveness in themselves and in others. While exposure to the Dove model versus an ultra-thin model was not related to decreased levels of self-discrepancy across experimental groups, numerous other statistically significant relationships emerged based on exposure to the Dove or plus-size model. These and other findings are discussed.