Does my bum look big in this?
Listen to a bunch of young women talking to each other about how they look, and you would come to the conclusion that social support networks of girlfriends are pretty crucial when it comes to self-image. I’m sure you have heard them saying things like, “… you look fantastic in that skirt”, “… your skin is beautiful”, and “…there is no way that you need botox”.
So, you would think, then, that friends are going to be the social network that is likely to be your support if you are worried about how you look, and that when they tell you that you are beautiful, you believe them. Well surprisingly (or maybe not), new research into the influence of friends and families on how young women decide to get cosmetic surgery tells us something else.
First, some background.
Research conducted in the mid-1980s suggested that there were levels of comparison that men and women undertook when thinking about their identity, including how they looked, and how people perceived them in terms of attractiveness.
This is called the level of self-discrepancy, and is based on the psychological distinction that a person has between the “actual” self (the way that she or he sees themself), the “ought” self (the way that he or she believes they should be), and the “ideal” self (the way that he or she would like to be). These gaps tend to apply in many areas of consumption, including perceptions of attractiveness, our lifestyle (including the houses, cars and other products that we buy), and even our relationships. Anthropologist, Grant McCracken, suggests that we use products to “bridge” the gap between the actual and the ideal self.
A large proportion of advertising works on the principle of highlighting the ideal self, which leads to dissatisfaction, anxiety and sometimes even shame, about the gap between the real person, and the ideal. Men’s anti-ageing moisturiser advertisements shown during football telecasts are one such example. Cosmetic surgery is another product that relies heavily on emphasising this gap between the actual and the ideal self.
New research* just published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour found that amongst young women (18 – 29), family-based social support actually weakens the effect of perceived gap between their actual-ideal body, in relation to whether they choose a cosmetic procedure, while social support from friends, actually amplifies the perceived gap.
What this means is, for some strange reason, when your girlfriends reassure you that you are beautiful, you are more likely to undergo cosmetic procedures, such as liposuction, breast augmentation, even teeth whitening.
It is the support of the young woman’s family that becomes an important resource for body-related consumption choices. In contrast, social support from her friends was found to increase the likelihood of cosmetic surgery for those with high levels of actual-ideal discrepancy.
Why does this happen?
Other research in the area of social psychology has found that parents have a positive influence, while peers seem to have a negative influence on consumer competence. Parents tend to be one of the major sources for consumer socialisation (or understanding how to make good consumer choices), which feeds into psychological principles such as instrumental learning, where children model their behaviour based on their parents’ choices. Alternatively, friends seem to influence young people in a different way, where they model emotional behaviour, and encourage a desire for social approval.
It could even be argued that young women are constantly comparing themselves to their friends, and despite reassurances, might still believe that some form of cosmetic procedure will make them more attractive to (or than) their friends.
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You might like this post, How sincere is Dove?
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Sources
Moschis, GP. 1987. Consumer Socialisation: A Life Cycle Perspective. Lexington: Lexington, MA.
* Thanks to my student, Freddy, for alerting me to this article.
Always said looks matter!
Not if you have a good relationship with your family.