Ji J, Xiang X, Chen R, Chen Z, Yan J. Pathways from media attention and peer communication to body dissatisfaction: the moderating role of protective filtering.
BMC Psychol 2023;
11:447. [PMID:
38124201 PMCID:
PMC10731836 DOI:
10.1186/s40359-023-01491-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Negative body image is a common psychological phenomenon among young Chinese women, and merits further investigation. Peers and the media are important factors that associated with body image. This study explored how media and peers promote body dissatisfaction among young Chinese women, including the mediating role of body surveillance and the moderating role of protective filtering.
METHODS
3499 women from the general China community aged 18-40 years (M = 23.44 years, SD = 1.18 years) were investigated with sociocultural attitudes towards appearance scale-3, objectified body consciousness scale and protective filtering scale. The data were analyzed by using a moderated mediation model with SPSS and the Process 4.0 macro.
RESULTS
Correlational analysis results indicated that body surveillance acted as a chained indirect effect between the internalization of media information and body dissatisfaction, as well as between peer comparison and body dissatisfaction. Moreover, protective filtering was demonstrated to moderate the path of media attention affecting the internalization of media information and the path of peer communication affecting peer comparisons.
CONCLUSION
Our results contribute to the understanding of the sociocultural mechanisms underlying young women's negative body image. Furthermore, investigating the moderating effect of protective filtering is conducive to guiding future female positive body image interventions.
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