The third psychological assumption relates to the billboard designers’ decision to use a picture of a female anorexic and presumes that the majority, if not all, of anorexic sufferers are female. A study that explored the prevalence of anorexia among males and females was performed by Kjelsås et al (2003).
- Evidence
Evidence opposing the first assumption was conducted by Janis and Feshback (1953), who studied the motivational effect of fear arousal in health promotion communication. The entire freshman class of a Connecticut high school was divided into 4 groups, 3 of which were given 15-minute lectures on tooth decay and oral hygiene, while the fourth acted as the control group. Each lecture had a different strength of fear appeal, and results showed that although strong fear resulted in greater immediate anxiety, the minimal fear group showed the largest changes in behaviour. The minimal fear group showed 36% behaviour change, whereas strong fear only showed 8%. This therefore opposes the view of the article that the image of the naked anorexic woman will cause the fashion industry to take action against the illness and, although it will have some effect, a minimal fear approach would be most successful.
Evidence that supports the second assumption was provided by Albert Bandura (1965). Bandura showed three groups of children tapes of a man being aggressive towards a doll. The first group saw the man being rewarded for his actions, the second saw him being punished and the third were not shown any consequences. The children were then placed in a room with a similar doll and observed. Results of the study showed that children were significantly more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour when they had observed the model being rewarded. Bandura labelled this imitation “vicarious leaning.” This forms part of the social learning theory suggesting that behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation. This supports the second assumption as people observing models within the fashion industry witness them being rewarded for being thin with fame and fortune, and subsequently imitate their behaviour in order to gain the same rewards. They try to be as thin as the models by starving themselves and consequently become anorexic, as the article would suggest.
The evidence that challenges the third assumption is given by Kjelsås et al. They studied 1026 female and 934 male adolescents using DSM-IV and DSM-III-R criteria to establish the prevalence of eating disorders in both genders. Each participant was asked to complete a questionnaire, and results showed that while 17.9% of female participants had suffered anorexia at some point in their lifetime, 6.5% of males had also. The study concludes that although prevalence of anorexia nervosa is higher in females, males are also susceptible to the illness. The image of the female anorexic on the billboard therefore does little to raise awareness of the illness among men and perpetuates the stereotype that eating disorders are a female disease.
- Applications
In relation to the first assumption, Janis and Feshback would argue that instead of using shock tactics a more effective way of bringing about a change within the industry would be to provide people with information on the disease, and preventative measures. Leaflets and posters containing this information could be distributed to people within the industry itself, and perhaps to the public in order to provide awareness to the majority. This may however have little effect, as there is no guarantee that the information would be listened to by an industry out to gain profit.
Bandura’s theory and study suggests that people learn anorexic behaviour from seeing underweight models in the media. Therefore, in relation to the second assumption, the number of anorexic cases could be decreased by ensuring that no model within the fashion industry is below certain measurements; for example, by preventing the use of size zero models. If people are exposed to healthier-looking models, people may develop healthier eating habits. This however assumes that size 0 models are ill, and could be perceived as discrimination against healthy individuals. There may be resistance against this motion from the fashion industry and models themselves.
In relation to the third assumption, Kjelsås et al’s study suggests that males are also susceptible to anorexia. Therefore people need to be made aware of this to increase the perceived susceptibility, especially in males. Health promotion could include information on male anorexia, and contain pictures of male sufferers who are willing to share their stories. If awareness of anorexia in males is raised and the stereotype of it being a typically female disease scrapped, then the number of males who seek help will increase. However if males do not perceive themselves susceptible they are unlikely to choose to read the health promotion in the first place as they believe it to be a female disease.
References
BANDURA (1965) cited in HARARI, P AND LEGGE, K. (2001) Psychology and Health. London: Heinemann.
JANIS AND FESHBACH (1953) cited in BANYARD, P. (2002) Psychology in Practice: Health. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
KJELSAS, E. ET AL. (2003) Prevalence of eating disorders in female and male adolescents. Eating Behaviours, 5, 13-25
