Has the use of body image in advertising changed in the first two decades of the new century?

Women are lean and men are also lean: nutrition titles in women's and men's health magazines

BACKGROUND

Whether nutrition messages in popular health magazines differ by country or season has seldom been studied. We assessed the nutrition topics featured in the headlines of Men's Health® (MH) and Women's Health® (WH) magazines from different countries.

METHODS

We sampled MH and WH magazines from Portugal, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the USA. Nutrition-related headlines were categorized as weight loss, weight gain, micronutrients and other.

RESULTS

The most frequent topics were "Other" (44%) and "weight loss" (41%), while "micronutrients" represented 4%. Topics related to weight gain were more frequent in MH (19% vs. 2% in WH), while no difference was found for weight loss (44% vs. 37% in WH). On multivariable analysis, weight gain had a higher likelihood of being present in MH than in WH, Odds ratio and (95% confidence interval): 8.3 (2.2-90.9), p = 0.002, while no association was found for weight loss: OR 1.1 (0.6-2.0), p = 0.80. Weight loss was absent from the US WH and present in two thirds of the Portuguese WH; in MH, weight gain was evenly distributed between countries. Prevalence of the weight loss topic was lower in March (15% vs. 54% in January, p < 0.01 by logistic regression) and to a lesser degree in June (35%) and July (35%). No seasonality was found for the "weight gain" topic.

CONCLUSION

In WH and MH magazines, nutrition topics vary according to gender, country, and season. Weight gain remains a male topic, while weight loss is equally prevalent in both women's and men's magazines.

Intercultural insights on the impact of different non-idealized models on men's body image and advertising perceptions

This experiment with 363 Irish and Flemish men aged 19 to 30 years (M = 23.56, SD = 2.36) investigated exposure to different male model ads (i.e. muscular, slim, plus-size, overall diversity, and no models) on well-being (i.e. body image, low body fat and muscularity attitudes, self-objectification, and self-esteem) and advertising outcomes (i.e. ad attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intent). Moderation effects of country and masculinity (i.e. dominance, winning) were investigated. The diversity condition generated more positive effects for low body fat attitudes than the muscular, slim, and no model conditions. Yet, no differences appeared for this outcome between the diversity and plus-size condition. No effects for the other well-being and advertising variables were found. Moderation analyses revealed higher purchase intent in the slim condition for men high in dominance. No effects were found for country and winning. Findings suggest that non-idealized models have protective effects for some men.

A Systematic Review of the Use of T-Pattern and T-String Analysis (TPA) With Theme: An Analysis Using Mixed Methods and Data Mining Techniques

In recent years, research interest in human and non-human behavioral analysis has increased significantly. One key element in the resulting studies is the use of software that facilitates comparative analysis of behavioral patterns, such as using T-Pattern and T-String analysis -TPA- with THEME. Furthermore, all these studies use mixed methods research. Results from these studies have indicated a certain amount of similarity between the biological, temporal, and spatial patterns of human social interactions and the interactions between the contents of their constituent cells. TPA has become an important, widely-used technique in applied behavioral science research. The objectives of the current review were: (1) To identify the results of research over the last 4 years related to the concepts of T-Pattern, TPA, and THEME, since it is in this period in which more publications on these topics have been detected (2) To examine the key concepts and areas in the selected articles with respect to those concepts, applying data and text mining techniques. The results indicate that, over the last 4 years, 20% of the studies were laboratory focused with non-humans, 18% were in sports environments, 9% were in psychological therapy environments and 9% were in natural human contexts. There were also indications that TPA is beginning to be used in workplace environments, which is a very promising setting for future research in this area.

Intergroup Dialogues in the Landscape of Digital Societies: How Does the Dialogical Self Affect Intercultural Relations in Online Contexts?

The effects of intergroup dialogues on intercultural relations in digital societies and the growing conflict, inflammatory and hate speech phenomena characterizing these environments are receiving increasing attention in socio-psychological studies. Based on Allport’s contact theory, scholars have shown that online intercultural contact reduces ethnic prejudice and discrimination, although it is not yet clear when and how this occurs. By analyzing the role of the Dialogical Self in online intercultural dialogues, we aim to understand how individuals position themselves and others at three levels of inclusiveness—personal, social, and human—and how this process is associated with attitudes towards the interlocutor, intergroup bias and prejudice, whilst also considering the inclusion of the Other in the Self and ethnic/racial identity. An experimental procedure was administered via the Qualtrics platform, and data were collected among 118 undergraduate Italian students through an anonymous questionnaire. From ANOVA and moderation analysis, it emerged that the social level of inclusiveness was positively associated with ethnic/racial identity and intergroup bias. Furthermore, the human level of inclusiveness was associated with the inclusion of the Other in the Self and ethnic/racial identity, and unexpectedly, also with intergroup bias. We conclude that when people interact online as “human beings”, the positive effect of online dialogue fails, hindering the differentiation processes necessary to define one’s own and the interlocutor’s identities. We discuss the effects of intercultural dialogue in the landscape of digital societies and the relevance of our findings for theory, research and practice.

Enhancing Learner Motivation and Classroom Social Climate: A Mixed Methods Approach

The aim of this study was to analyze how motivation and classroom social climate was enhanced in the teaching-learning context throughout a Pedagogical Model of Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) implementation using a mixed method approach. An educational program was applied during an academic year in a student sample of primary and secondary school. A total of 44 sessions with 54 participants, between 11 and 16 years old (M = 13.41 years, SD = 1.73) were video-recorded. A multilevel triangulation design of mixed method research was applied to merge: (a) the Observational System of Teaching Oriented Responsibility (OSTOR), which revealed how the students' behavior patterns shifted an alongside the interventions with (b) a set of five complementary questionnaires: Motivation toward Education Scale (EME), Responsibility Questionnaire (PSRQ), Basic Psychological Needs Questionnaire (PNSE), Questionnaire to assess social school climate (CECSCE) and Questionnaire of School Violence (CUVE). The mixed methods design confirmed that both the observational and the inferential analysis show an improvement of the TPSR implementation in the student's responsibility and satisfaction and the social climate of the classroom. The other variables, although they were also improved, did not do it significantly; all the motivation dimensions showed higher values, except for amotivation and violence.