Model Size in Magazine Advertising and Body Esteem among Female College Students: The Moderating Role of BMI

Weight and body concerns have reached epidemic proportions among female college students. Such high levels of body dissatisfaction can lead to disastrous results. Since the mass media is considered an important purveyor of the thin ideal, the present study investigated the impact model size in magazine advertising has on the body esteem of female college students. Because it is unlikely that all women will respond similarly to the models depicted in such ads, the present study tested the potentially moderating role of Body Mass Index (BMI) on the model size – body esteem relationship. As hypothesized, subject BMI did moderate this relationship. Findings suggest that low/normal BMI females respond differently to skinny and plus-size models portrayed in magazine ads compared to their high BMI counterparts