Dominance, phylogenetically ancient, and prestige, unique to humans, are ways to gain or maintain high rank

Dominance and Prestige: A Tale of Two Hierarchies. Jon K. Maner. Current Directions in Psychological Science.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417714323

Abstract: Dominance and prestige represent evolved strategies used to navigate social hierarchies. Dominance is a strategy through which people gain and maintain social rank by using coercion, intimidation, and power. Prestige is a strategy through which people gain and maintain social rank by displaying valued knowledge and skills and earning respect. The current article synthesizes recent lines of research documenting differences between dominance- versus prestige-oriented individuals, including personality traits and emotions, strategic behaviors deployed in social interactions, leadership strategies, and physiological correlates of both behaviors. The article also reviews effects that dominance versus prestige have on the functioning and well-being of social groups. The article also presents opportunities for future research and discusses links between dominance and prestige and the social psychological literature on power and status.

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Although both dominance and prestige serve as viable routes to high social rank, the propensity to use one strategy over the other varies across individuals. Some work indicates no correlation between people’s use of dominance and prestige (Cheng et al., 2013), suggesting that use of one strategy is not contingent on use of the other. Other work suggests a positive correlation, as both strategies share in common the motivation for high rank (Maner & Mead, 2010).

The two strategies have different implications for groups and the individuals who comprise them. For example, the two strategies are characterized by different personality traits. Whereas people who use dominance are relatively aggressive, disagreeable, manipulative, and high in dark-triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), people who use prestige instead are
high in self-esteem, agreeableness, need for affiliation, social monitoring, fear of negative evaluation, and conscientiousness (Case & Maner, 2017; Cheng, Tracy, & Henrich, 2010; Semenya & Honey, 2015).

Dominance and prestige are also marked by different types of emotion. Dominance is associated with feelings of arrogance, superiority, and conceit (hubristic pride; Cheng et al., 2010), whereas prestige is associated with feelings of achievement, but without a sense of superiority or arrogance (authentic pride; Cheng et al., 2010; see also Liu, Yuan, Chen, & Yu, 2016). Another emotion that distinguishes dominance from prestige is humility (Weidman, Cheng, & Tracy, 2016). Prestige, but not dominance, is associated with appreciative humility, which results from a sense of personal success and leads people to celebrate others. Given these distinct profiles of personality and emotion, it comes as no surprise that people adopting a prestige strategy tend to be more well-liked than people adopting a dominance strategy (Cheng et al., 2013).

Clear evidence for physiological correlates of dominance and prestige is limited. Many findings have linked dominance to high levels of testosterone (Mazur & Booth, 1998), yet studies in humans have tended not to differentiate between dominance and prestige. One study that did so found no correlation between dominance and testosterone; instead, the study documented a negative relation between testosterone and prestige (Johnson, Burk, & Kirkpatrick, 2007), consistent with the hypothesis that prestige is associated with an active downplaying of aggression and competitiveness. Another found that testosterone was linked with use of dominance but not with one’s actual rank in the hierarchy (van der Meij, Schaveling, & Van Vugt, 2016). Dominance (but not prestige) has been linked with wider facial width-to-height ratio (Mileva, Cowan, Cobey, Knowles, & Little, 2014)—a morphological cue associated with greater testosterone, aggressiveness, and unethical behavior (Carré, McCormick, & Mondloch, 2009; Lefevre, Lewis, Perrett, & Penke, 2013; but see Bird et al., 2016). The literature on physiological aspects of dominance and prestige would benefit from further development.

Assessments of twins’ general homophobia targeting gay men

Genetic Variance in Homophobia: Evidence from Self-and Peer Reports. Alexandra Zapko-Willmes and Christian Kandler. Behavior Genetics, accepted,  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320963054_Genetic_Variance_in_Homophobia_Evidence_from_Self-and_Peer_Reports

Abstract: The present twin study combined self- and peer assessments of twins’ general homophobia targeting gay men in order to replicate previous behavior genetic findings across different rater perspectives and to disentangle self-rater-specific variance from common variance in self- and peer-reported homophobia (i.e., rater-consistent variance). We hypothesized rater-consistent variance in homophobia to be attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental effects, and self-rater-specific variance to be partially accounted for by genetic influences. A sample of 869 twins and 1329 peer raters completed a seven item scale containing cognitive, affective, and discriminatory homophobic tendencies. After correction for age and sex differences, we found most of the genetic contributions (62%) and significant nonshared environmental contributions (16%) to individual differences in self-reports on homophobia to be also reflected in peer-reported homophobia. A significant genetic component, however, was self-report-specific (38%), suggesting that self-assessments alone produce inflated heritability estimates to some degree. Different explanations are discussed.

Listeners can reliably determine a speaker's sincerity through prosodic cues, since sincere compliments are spoken faster and with a higher pitch

The sound of (in)sincerity. Karyn Fish, Kathrin Rothermich, Marc D.Pella. Journal of Pragmatics, Volume 121, November 2017, Pages 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.10.008

Highlights
•    Sincere compliments and prosocial lies occur frequently in communication.
•    Listeners can reliably determine a speaker's sincerity through prosodic cues.
•    Sincere compliments are spoken faster and with a higher pitch.
•    Social context biases impressions of sincerity in compliments.
•    Prosody and speaker attitude are both important for understanding speaker intentions.

Abstract: In social life, humans do not always communicate their sincere feelings, and speakers often tell ‘prosocial lies’ to prevent others from being hurt by negative truths. Data illuminating how a speaker's voice carries sincere or insincere attitudes in speech, and how social context shapes the expression and perception of (in)sincere utterances, are scarce. Here, we studied the communication of social, other-oriented lies occurring in short dialogues. We recorded paired questions (So, what do you think of my new hairdo?) and responses (I think it looks really amazing!) using a paradigm that elicited compliments which reflected the true positive opinion of the speaker (sincere) or were meant to hide their negative opinion (insincere/prosocial lie). These Question–Response pairs were then presented to 30 listeners, who rated the sincerity of the person uttering the compliment on a 5-point scale. Results showed that participants could successfully differentiate sincere compliments from prosocial lies based largely on vocal speech cues. Moreover, sincerity impressions were biased by how the preceding question was phrased (confident or uncertain). Acoustic analyses on a subset of utterances that promoted strong impressions of sincerity versus insincerity revealed that compliments perceived as being sincere were spoken faster and began with a higher pitch than those that sounded insincere, while compliments rated as insincere tended to get louder as the utterance unfolded. These data supply new evidence of the importance of vocal cues in evaluating sincerity, while emphasizing that motivations of both the speaker and hearer contribute to impressions of speaker sincerity.

Adjusting communication to take into account information available to one’s audience is routine in humans -- Now in chimpanzees

Vocalizing in chimpanzees is influenced by social-cognitive processes. Catherine Crockford, Roman M. Wittig and Klaus Zuberbühler. Science Advances  Nov 15 2017, Vol. 3, no. 11, e1701742. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701742

Abstract: Adjusting communication to take into account information available to one’s audience is routine in humans but is assumed absent in other animals, representing a recent development on the lineage leading to humans. This assumption may be premature. Recent studies show changes in primate alarm signaling to threats according to the receivers’ risk. However, a classic problem in these and other perspective-taking studies is discerning whether signalers understand the receivers’ mental states or simply are responding to their behavior. We designed experiments to exclude concurrent reading of the receivers’ behavior by simulating receivers using prerecorded calls of other group members. Specifically, we tested whether wild chimpanzees emitted differing signals in response to a snake model when simulated receivers previously emitted either snake-related calls (indicating knowledge) or acoustically similar non–snake-related calls (indicating ignorance). Signalers showed more vocal and nonvocal signaling and receiver-directed monitoring when simulated receivers had emitted non–snake-related calls. Results were not explained by signaler arousal nor by receiver identity. We conclude that chimpanzees are aware enough of another’s perspective to target information toward ignorant group members, suggesting that the integration of signaling and social cognition systems was already emerging in early hominoid lineages before the advent of more language-specific features, such as syntax.

Blocking nocturnal blue light for insomnia: A randomized controlled trial.

Blocking nocturnal blue light for insomnia: A randomized controlled trial. Ari Shechter et al. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2017 Oct 21;96:196-202. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.10.015

Abstract: The use of light-emitting electronic devices before bedtime may contribute to or exacerbate sleep problems. Exposure to blue-wavelength light in particular from these devices may affect sleep by suppressing melatonin and causing neurophysiologic arousal. We aimed to determine if wearing amber-tinted blue light-blocking lenses before bedtime improves sleep in individuals with insomnia. Fourteen individuals (n = 8 females; age ± SD 46.6 ± 11.5 y) with insomnia symptoms wore blue light-blocking amber lenses or clear placebo lenses in lightweight wraparound frames for 2 h immediately preceding bedtime for 7 consecutive nights in a randomized crossover trial (4-wk washout). Ambulatory sleep measures included the Pittsburgh Insomnia Rating Scale (PIRS) completed at the end of each intervention period, and daily post-sleep questionnaire and wrist-actigraphy. PIRS total scores, and Quality of Life, Distress, and Sleep Parameter subscales, were improved in amber vs. clear lenses condition (p-values less than 0.05). Reported wake-time was significantly delayed, and mean subjective total sleep time (TST), overall quality, and soundness of sleep were significantly higher (p-values less than 0.05) in amber vs. clear lenses condition over the 7-d intervention period. Actigraphic measures of TST only were significantly higher in amber vs. clear lenses condition (p = 0.035). Wearing amber vs. clear lenses for 2-h preceding bedtime for 1 week improved sleep in individuals with insomnia symptoms. These findings have health relevance given the broad use of light-emitting devices before bedtime and prevalence of insomnia. Amber lenses represent a safe, affordable, and easily implemented therapeutic intervention for insomnia symptoms.

KEYWORDS: Actigraphy; Behavioral intervention; Blue blocker; Insomnia; Randomized controlled trial; Sleep

Focusing on the present predicts improvements in life satisfaction but not happiness

Being present: Focusing on the present predicts improvements in life satisfaction but not happiness. Peter Felsman et al. Emotion. 2017 Oct;17(7):1047-1051. doi: 10.1037/emo0000333

Abstract: Mindfulness theorists suggest that people spend most of their time focusing on the past or future rather than the present. Despite the prevalence of this assumption, no research that we are aware of has evaluated whether it is true or what the implications of focusing on the present are for subjective well-being. We addressed this issue by using experience sampling to examine how frequently people focus on the present throughout the day over the course of a week and whether focusing on the present predicts improvements in the 2 components of subjective well-being over time — how people feel and how satisfied they are with their lives. Results indicated that participants were present-focused the majority of the time (66%). Moreover, focusing on the present predicted improvements in life satisfaction (but not happiness) over time by reducing negative rumination. These findings advance our understanding of how temporal orientation and well-being relate.

Women’s relationship satisfaction was related to similarity in left-right and liberal-conservative political attitudes

Leikas, Sointu, Ville J Ilmarinen, Markku Verkasalo, Hanna-Leena Vartiainen, and Jan-Erik Lönnqvist. 2017. “Relationship Satisfaction and Similarity of Personality Traits, Personal Values, and Attitudes”. PsyArXiv. November 15. psyarxiv.com/cs62j

Abstract: Spousal similarity and its consequences are widely studied, but methodologically challenging topics. We employed Response Surface Analysis to examine similarity along political attitudes, personal values, and personality traits. Opposite-sex couples (624 individuals) expecting a child were recruited. Spouses were highly similar regarding their political attitudes and moderately similar regarding trait Openness and the personal values Universalism and Tradition. Similarity for other traits and values was weak (e.g. Conscientiousness, Power values) or non-existent (e.g. Neuroticism, Benevolence values). Similarity in conservative vs. liberal attitudes was non-linear: a conservative-conservative union was most common. Women’s relationship satisfaction was related to similarity in left-right and liberal-conservative political attitudes, and both partners’ satisfaction was related to similarity in Self-Direction values. Similarity in personality traits was unrelated to relationship satisfaction.

Examining Overlap in Behavioral and Neural Representations of Morals, Facts, and Preferences

Theriault, Jordan E, Adam Waytz, Larisa Heiphetz, and Liane Young. 2017. “Examining Overlap in Behavioral and Neural Representations of Morals, Facts, and Preferences.”. PsyArXiv. November 14. doi:10.1037/xge0000350

Abstract: Moral objectivists generally believe that moral claims are akin to facts, whereas moral subjectivists generally believe that moral claims are more akin to preferences. Evidence from developmental and social psychology has generally favored an objectivist view; however, this work has typically relied on few examples, and analyses have disallowed statistical generalizations beyond these few stimuli. The present work addresses whether morals are represented as fact-like or preference-like, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, in combination with statistical techniques that can a) generalize beyond our sample stimuli, and b) test whether particular item features are associated with neural activity. Behaviorally, and contrary to prior work, morals were perceived as more preference-like than fact-like. Neurally, morals and preferences elicited common magnitudes and spatial patterns of activity, particularly within dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a critical region for social cognition. This common DMPFC activity for morals and preferences was present across whole-brain conjunctions, and in individually localized functional regions of interest (targeting the Theory of Mind network). By contrast, morals and facts did not elicit any neural activity in common. Follow-up item analyses suggested that the activity elicited in common by morals and preferences was explained by their shared tendency to evoke representations of mental states. We conclude that morals are represented as far more subjective than prior work has suggested. This conclusion is consistent with recent theoretical research, which has argued that morality is fundamentally about regulating social relationships.

College-educated escorts have better outside options to prostitution, attracting fewer unpleasant clients and combining sexual services with non-sexual services such as companionship

Prostitution, hours, job amenities and education. Scott Cunningham, Todd D. Kendall. Review of Economics of the Household, December 2017, Volume 15, Issue 4, pp 1055–1080. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-017-9360-6

Abstract: We analyze the relationship between education and criminal behavior based on a survey of nearly 700 North American female escorts who provide (typically illegal) prostitution services. Nearly 40% of the women in our sample report college completion. College-educated women are less likely to see clients in any given week and do not earn higher average hourly wages. However, conditional on seeing any clients, college-educated prostitutes see more clients and provide longer client sessions. We demonstrate that these results are consistent with a model in which college-educated prostitutes have better outside options to prostitution, but are also able to reduce the marginal disutility of prostitution work by attracting fewer unpleasant clients and by combining sexual services with non-sexual services such as companionship, where college education may be productive.

The ability to block a moving ball affected the ball’s perceived speed

Is There a Chastity Belt on Perception? Jessica Witt, Nathan Tenhundfeld and Michael Tymoski. Psychological Science,  https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617730892

Abstract: Can one’s ability to perform an action, such as hitting a softball, influence one’s perception? According to the action-specific account, perception of spatial layout is influenced by the perceiver’s abilities to perform an intended action. Alternative accounts posit that purported effects are instead due to nonperceptual processes, such as response bias. Despite much confirmatory research on both sides of the debate, researchers who promote a response-bias account have never used the Pong task, which has yielded one of the most robust action-specific effects. Conversely, researchers who promote a perceptual account have rarely used the opposition’s preferred test for response bias, namely, the postexperiment survey. The current experiments rectified this. We found that even for people naive to the experiment’s hypothesis, the ability to block a moving ball affected the ball’s perceived speed. Moreover, when participants were explicitly told the hypothesis and instructed to resist the influence of their ability to block the ball, their ability still affected their perception of the ball’s speed.

Consumers who experience the sensation of going against the flow pick alternatives that are normatively not preferred

Going against the Flow: The Effects of Dynamic Sensorimotor Experiences on Consumer Choice. Mina Kwon and Rashmi Adaval. Journal of Consumer Research, ucx107, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx107

Abstract: Sensorimotor experiences of going against the flow can affect the choices consumers make. Eight experiments show that consumers who experience the sensation of going against the flow pick alternatives that are normatively not preferred (experiments 1a and 1b). These effects are evident only when the sensations are dynamic and self-experienced (experiments 2a and 2b), subjective feelings are elicited (experiments 4a and 4b) and no other objective, external norm information is supplied (experiment 5). Experiences of going against the flow typically involve both movement and direction and are represented in memory schematically. Re-experiencing these sensations leads to the activation of this schematic representation and elicits a feeling-based behavioral disposition to do something different, or to go against one’s initial inclination (experiment 3), leading participants to pick an option that is normatively not preferred

Keywords: sensory motor experiences, embodied cognition, choice, affect, norms

Indoor Prostitution Lowers Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City

The Effect of Indoor Prostitution on Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City. Riccardo Ciacci & María Micaela Sviatschi. Columbia University Working Paper, November 25 2016. http://www.micaelasviatschi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/sex_crimeNYC.pdf

Abstract: We use a unique data set to study the effect of indoor prostitution establishments on sex crimes. We built a daily panel from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2012 with the exact location of police stops for sex crimes and the day of opening and location of indoor prostitution establishments. We find that indoor prostitution decreases sex crime with no effect on other types of crime. We argue that the reduction is mostly driven by potential sex offenders that become customers of indoor prostitution establishments. We also rule out other mechanisms such as an increase in the number of police officers and a reduction of potential victims in areas where these businesses opened. In addition, results are robust to different data sources and measures of sex crimes apart from police stops.

Check also Street Prostitution Zones and Crime. Paul Bisschop, Stephen Kastoryano, and Bas van der Klaauw. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2017, 9(4): 28–63. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/opening-prostritution-zone-decreases.html

Psychopathy and Heroism in First Responders: Traits Cut From the Same Cloth?

Patton, C. L., Smith, S. F., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2017). Psychopathy and Heroism in First Responders: Traits Cut From the Same Cloth? Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/per0000261

Abstract: Some scholars have posited that certain traits associated with psychopathy—namely, fearlessness, boldness, and willingness to take risks—are associated with greater engagement in heroic and altruistic acts; nevertheless, this conjecture has received little empirical attention. We examined the relations among psychopathic traits, heroism, altruism, workplace deviance, and leadership in first-responder (n = 138) and civilian (n = 104) samples recruited by means of an online platform. Across samples, fearless dominance, boldness, sensation seeking, and several other psychopathy-related variables were positively and significantly associated with everyday heroism and altruism. First responders scored significantly higher than did civilians on measures of psychopathy, fearlessness, boldness, heroism, and altruism, and reported significantly greater workplace deviance and participation in leadership activities. Our results support previous suggestions of ties between psychopathic traits, especially fearlessness and heroism, although they leave unresolved the question of why certain antisocial and prosocial behaviors appear to covary.

Have passive rentiers replaced the working rich at the top of the U.S. income distribution? They haven't.

Capitalists in the Twenty-First Century. Matthew Smith, Danny Yagan, Owen Zidar, and Eric Zwick. http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/owen.zidar/research/papers/capitalists.pdf

Abstract: Have passive rentiers replaced the working rich at the top of the U.S. income distribution? Using administrative data linking 10 million firms to their owners, this paper shows that private business owners who actively manage their firms are key for top income inequality. Private business income accounts for most of the rise of top incomes since 2000 and the majority of top earners receive private business income--most of which accrues to active owner-managers of mid-market firms in relatively skill-intensive and unconcentrated industries. Profit falls substantially after premature owner deaths. Top-owned firms are twice as profitable per worker as other firms despite similar risk, and rising profitability without rising scale explains most of their profit growth. Together, these facts indicate that the working rich remain central to rising top incomes in the twenty-first century.

The view that political attitudes are detached from any physical properties is unsustainable -- social justice attitude linked to genetics

A Genetic Basis of Economic Egalitarianism. Nemanja Batrićević, and Levente Littvay. Social Justice Research, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11211-017-0297-y

Abstract: Studies of political attitudes and ideologies have sought to explain their origin. They have been assumed to be a result of political values ingrained during the process of socialization until early adulthood, as well as personal political experience, party affiliation, social strata, etc. As a consequence of these environment-dominated explanations, most biology-based accounts of political preference have never been considered. However, in the light of evidence accumulated in recent years, the view that political attitudes are detached from any physical properties became unsustainable. In this paper, we investigate the origins of social justice attitudes, with special focus on economic egalitarianism and its potential genetic basis. We use Minnesota Twin Study data from 2008, collected from samples of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs (n = 573) in order to estimate the additive genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental components of social justice attitudes. Our results show that the large portion of the variance in a four-item economic egalitarianism scale can be attributed to genetic factor. At the same time, shared environment, as a socializing factor, has no significant effect. The effect of environment seems to be fully reserved for unique personal experience. Our findings further problematize a long-standing view that social justice attitudes are dominantly determined by socialization.

Check also Sabatini, Fabio and Ventura, Marco and Yamamura, Eiji and Zamparelli, Luca (2017): Fairness and the unselfish demand for redistribution by taxpayers and welfare recipients. Ludwig-Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/higher-support-for-redistribution-by.html

Male prairie voles enjoy forcing sex on the females, the females do not enjoy not being able to escape

Mating and social exposure induces an opioid-dependent conditioned place preference in male but not in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). M. Ulloa et al. Hormones and Behavior, Volume 97, January 2018, Pages 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.10.015

Highlights
•    In male prairie voles (M. ochrogaster), one ejaculation is rewarding.
•    In males, social cohabitation with mating for 6 h that leads to pair bonding is rewarding.
•    In females, neither condition induces conditioned place preference.
•    The reward state induced by one ejaculation or 6 h of mating is opioid dependent.

Abstract: In rodents, sexual stimulation induces a positive affective state that is evaluated by the conditioned place preference (CPP) test. Opioids are released during sexual behavior and modulate the rewarding properties of this behavior. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are a socially monogamous species, in which copulation with cohabitation for 6 h induces a pair bond. However, the mating-induced reward state that could contribute to the establishment of the long-term pair bond has not been evaluated in this species. The present study aimed to determine whether one ejaculation or cohabitation with mating for 6 h is rewarding for voles. We also evaluated whether this state is opioid dependent. Our results demonstrate that mating with one ejaculation and social cohabitation with mating for 6 h induce a CPP in males, while exposure to a sexually receptive female without mating did not induce CPP. In the female vole, mating until one ejaculation, social cohabitation with mating, or exposure to a male without physical interaction for 6 h did not induce CPP. To evaluate whether the rewarding state in males is opioid dependent, the antagonist naloxone was injected i.p. The administration of naloxone blocked the rewarding state induced by one ejaculation and by social cohabitation with mating. Our results demonstrate that in the prairie vole, on the basis of the CPP in the testing conditions used here, the stimulation received with one ejaculation and the mating conditions that lead to pair bonding formation may be rewarding for males, and this reward state is opioid dependent.

Keywords: Sexual reward; Conditioned place preference; Social cohabitation with mating; Opioids and voles

Vanity of vanities: Consumers tell others about a positive experience if it signals expertise

Signaling Success: Word of Mouth as Self-Enhancement. Andrea C. Wojnicki, and David Godes. Customer Needs and Solutions, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40547-017-0077-8

Abstract: This paper highlights the significance and implications of self-enhancement as an important motivation for consumers’ word-of-mouth behaviors. The authors predict and demonstrate that following a given positive consumption experience, experts generate more WOM than if the experience was negative and more than novices. They do so because WOM regarding positive, successful experiences can serve as an indicator, or signal, of expertise. Four controlled experiments and one empirical study support the theory. This pattern is intensified when consumers’ expertise self-concepts are salient, and it diminishes when the context does not present the opportunity to self-enhance because the outcome of the experience is not attributable to the consumer’s expertise or because the distinction between good and bad products does not require expertise.

The Effect Of Retouched Media Images On Body Dissatisfaction

The Effect Of Retouched Media Images On Body Dissatisfaction. Danielle M Lorch. A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty of The University of Alabama at Birmingham, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Birmingham, Alabama, 2017. https://search.proquest.com/openview/f2cc52b5b26dbf1c295d022a0f7d389a/1.pdf

Contemporary society, including social and main-stream media, perpetuate unrealistic body ideals through their promotion of slender, thin-ideal body shapes and sizes that are typically photo-shopped to appear even thinner. More specifically, portrayal of the thin-ideal can negatively influence body dissatisfaction. Viewing slender models is associated with increased body dissatisfaction, while viewing average or plus size models is associated with decreased body dissatisfaction. This difference in effect of model size (slender vs. average vs. plus-size) on body dissatisfaction varies based on whether individuals compare themselves to others they view as more or less attractive than themselves. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if displaying these media images in their original, untouched forms would reduce the effect of thin-ideal media exposure on body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and state appearance comparison (i.e., social comparison with the media images being viewed) among college females (M age = 19.4 years).

This study was divided into two phases. Phase one (n=27) was designed to validate images used in phase two (n=244), where the effect of photo-shopping media images on outcome variables was assessed. Body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and perceived media pressure were assessed pre- and post- exposure and state appearance comparison was assessed post-exposure. Body dissatisfaction (t (238) = -5.52, p < 0.001), thin-ideal internalization (t (237) = -2.32, p = 0.02), and perceived media pressure (t (238) = -3.58, p < 0.001) significantly increased from baseline to postexposure.

However, there were no significant group effects on body dissatisfaction (F (1, 232) = 0.02, p = 0.89), thin-ideal internalization (F (1, 231) = 3.46, p = 0.06), perceived media pressure (F (1, 232) = 1.34, p = 0.25), or state appearance comparison (F (1, 233) = 0.10, p =0.75) between the untouched and retouched conditions. These results suggest it is likely not photo-shopping of models, but rather the size and/or weight of the models being portrayed, that is associated with increased body dissatisfaction and thin-ideal internalization. Therefore, rather than focusing on policies to prohibit photo-shop use in professional media sources, it may be more beneficial to begin by implementing minimum BMI restrictions for models.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, appearance comparison, thin-ideal media, photo-shop, retouched images.