The Impact of Media Influences on Body Image Satisfaction and Importance in Relation to Gender and Age.

Body image relates to a person’s thoughts, feelings and perceptions of one’s body, inwhich body image concerns can vary from one individual to another and has beensuggested to change through many social and environmental factors such as media.The aim of the present research was to determine if media influences affect bodyimage concern in a mainly white British (91%) sample of 89 young adults (mean age= 22.9) and 89 middle-aged adults (mean age = 46.67). Participants were required tocomplete the Body Image and Body Change Inventory and Sociocultural Influenceson Body Image Questionnaire, administered through a web link provided on socialnetworking sites and Internet forums. This was utilised to examine differences inbody image, satisfaction and importance, with relation to media influences.Consistent with previous research, females were more likely to be dissatisfied withbody image and reported more importance towards body image. However, discordantwith expectations, young adults reported body image to be more important. Middleaged adults reported more media influence to lose weight and gain weight andreporting of media influence to increase muscle was higher for males. Most resultssupported initial hypotheses suggesting a need for future intervention.