The effect of digital alteration disclaimer labels on social comparison and body image: Instructions and individual differences

Bury, Belinda; Tiggemann, Marika; Slater, Amy

Abstract

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of digital alteration disclaimer labels appended to fashion magazine advertisements, as well as instructional condition, on women's social comparison and body dissatisfaction. Participants were 378 female undergraduate students who viewed 11 thin ideal advertisements with either no disclaimer, a generic disclaimer, or a more detailed specific disclaimer. There were three instructional conditions: neutral, distractor, and social comparison. Disclaimer labels did not affect appearance comparison or body dissatisfaction, but instructional condition did, with the social comparison instructions producing the highest appearance comparison and body dissatisfaction. In addition, there was a three-way interaction with trait appearance comparison, such that women high on trait appearance comparison who saw specifically worded disclaimers in the distractor instructional condition experienced increased body dissatisfaction, whereas women low on this trait experienced decreased body dissatisfaction. It seems that both instructions and individual differences may influence responses to disclaimer labels.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 13, 2016
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 7, 2017
• Journal: Body Image
• Print ISSN: 1740-1445
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Pages: 136-142
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.03.005
• Keywords: body image, disclaimer labels, social comparison
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/917341
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.03.005
• Contract Date: Mar 17, 2016