Professors Joan Chrisler and Jennifer Gorman, both well-known experts on women's body image, and two of their students have analyzed nearly 1,000 tweets about the 2011 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and the results are the subject of a new article published by USA Today College.
Chrisler, the Class of '43 Professor of Psychology; Gorman, a senior lecturer in psychology; and seniors Kaitlin Fung and Alexandra Lopez found that approximately one in 10 tweets included a negative comment about weight and dieting. The study was published in the September 2013 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Body Image.
The USA Today article quotes Fung, who says these reactions on social media highlight the influence social comparison has on body image.
“Media messages arouse concerns that we don’t look good as we are, which makes us want to compare ourselves to others,” she told USA Today. “The results (of the study) suggest that vulnerable viewers could experience negative emotions and body image concerns and even contemplate engaging in harmful behaviors as a result of watching the show.”