Ourselves, Our Bodies: Thin-Ideal Media, Self-Discrepancies, and Eating Disorder Symptomatology in Adolescents

Research has shown that exposure to thin-ideal media is related to eating disorder symptomatology, yet little is known about the processes underlying this relationship. Following self-discrepancy theory, it was predicted that body-specific self-discrepancies would mediate the relationship between thin-ideal media exposure and disordered eating. A sample of 366 male and female adolescents participated in two studies. The findings of the first study support the mediation prediction for thin-ideal television and ideal discrepancies. The findings of the second study demonstrate that exposure to a thin-rewarded portrayal activated ideal discrepancies, whereas exposure to a fat-punished portrayal activated ought discrepancies. Activation of both types of discrepancies is associated with an increase in negative affect whose chronic presence is predictive of disordered eating. Discussion focuses on the utility of self-discrepancy theory in synthesizing the growing collection of studies demonstrating individual differences in sensitivity to the adverse effects of exposure to thin-ideal media.