Body Image, Gender, and School Experience in Adolescence: A Data-Driven Learning Guide

Goal & Concept

Goal

The goal of this exercise is to explore the ways in which adolescents' body image is related to attitudes and experiences in school. Particular attention will be paid to similarities and differences between boys and girls. Crosstabulations, comparison of correlations, and comparison of means will be used.

Concept

Body image is an individual's estimation of his/her own physical appearance, and it is closely linked to self-esteem.

Adolescence is characterized by a period of physical, emotional, and psychological development. These rapid mental and bodily changes are associated with increased self-consciousness and awareness of the messages about what is valued in one's network of friends and in the larger society. American teenagers are bombarded with media images of beauty, illustrated by slender, flawless female models and muscular male athletes. Studies show that academic performance for females declines during adolescence and it has been suggested that this is tied to changing self-perceptions (especially lowered self-esteem) brought on by the physical and emotional changes occurring at the same time.

A concept in social psychology that is very closely related to body image is that of reflected appraisals. This is the idea that an individual bases his or her self-concept on the reactions he or she perceives from others during social interaction. In fact, it is the perceived reactions, rather than others' actual thoughts, that have been shown to be most important in the formation of self-concept. Imagine the power that the combined effect of the media and the desire to fit in has on how teens think about their bodies!

Examples of research questions about adolescent body image:

• Do boys have more positive views of their bodies than girls?
• What factors have the strongest influence on one's body image?
• How accurate are adolescents' perceptions of their body size?
• Are overweight/obese teens more likely to be bullied at school than other teens?
• How is body image related to school achievement?

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Goal & Concept - Dataset - Variables - Application - Interpretation & Summary - Bibliography