Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822-2294, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Montana, Missoula, 59812, USA.
Eat Behav. 2023 Dec;51:101820. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2023.101820. Epub 2023 Sep 22.
Despite the theoretical connection between media literacy and body dissatisfaction, empirical findings about their relationship are decidedly mixed. There is not a clear explanation for these discrepancies. The present study aimed to 1) compare the attitudes young adult women with those of a reference group of adolescents to examine whether similar values were observed despite differences in age group and racial/ethnic identity, 2) to examine the relationships between media literacy and body dissatisfaction using recommended measures of media literacy. Racially diverse female undergraduate students (N = 152, M = 21.62) completed the Media Attitudes Questionnaire, the Critical Thinking about Media Measure, and the Body Shape Questionnaire online. Young adult women endorsed greater critical thinking about media messages and greater skepticism towards the similarity of media messages than adolescents. Additionally, greater skepticism towards the desirability and realism of media messages was associated with lower body dissatisfaction while greater critical thinking about media messages was found to be positively related to greater body dissatisfaction. It is possible that greater critical thinking within the context of media literacy cannot occur without increased attention towards or time spent thinking about media messages. Findings suggest that enhancing critical thinking about the media may not be the main mechanism of change for effective media literacy interventions. These findings underscore the complexities that exist within the relationships between media literacy and body dissatisfaction and highlight the continued need for research in this area.
尽管媒体素养和身体不满之间存在理论联系，但关于它们之间关系的实证研究结果却存在明显的差异。对于这些差异，目前还没有一个明确的解释。本研究旨在：1）比较年轻成年女性与青少年参考组的态度，以检验尽管年龄组和种族/民族身份存在差异，但是否存在相似的价值观；2）使用推荐的媒体素养衡量标准来检验媒体素养和身体不满之间的关系。种族多样化的女大学生（N=152，M=21.62）在线完成了媒体态度问卷、媒体批判性思维量表和身体形状问卷。成年女性对媒体信息的批判性思维和对媒体信息相似性的怀疑程度高于青少年。此外，对媒体信息的吸引力和现实性的怀疑程度与身体不满程度呈负相关，而对媒体信息的批判性思维程度与身体不满程度呈正相关。可能是在不增加对媒体信息的关注或思考时间的情况下，无法在媒体素养的背景下进行更多的批判性思维。研究结果表明，增强对媒体的批判性思维可能不是有效媒体素养干预的主要改变机制。这些发现突显出媒体素养和身体不满之间关系中存在的复杂性，并强调了该领域继续进行研究的必要性。
