Susan Gomes

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Graham, Steven

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Cartoons are an ignored medium in psychological research namely when referring to body perceptions and self-worth perceptions (Ferguson, Winegard, & Winegard, 2011; Giordano, 2005; Naumann, Tuschen-Caffier, Voderholzer, Schäfer, & Svaldi, 2016). As such this study explores body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and self-esteem as they relate to exposure of different cartoon images with different body types based on gender. The author hypothesized that, (1) cartoons with exaggerated body figures would elicit an increase in body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and lowered self-esteem, and (2) images with average body sizes would have no effect. Of the 95 participants, the results showed no significant difference between the image types and body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and self-esteem. While the results were insignificant, the research offers a first look into cartoon body types as a media form of social comparison.

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