Brain Activation Upon Ideal-Body Media Exposure and Peer Feedback in Young Females (Top 5 Paper)

• In Event: Your Brain on Health Communication: Applications of Communication Science in Health and Education (HIGH DENSITY)

Abstract

Media’s prevailing thin-body ideal plays a vital role in young females’ body image development, but the co-occurring impact of peer feedback is understudied. The present study used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to test media imagery and peer feedback combinations on neural activity related to thin body ideals. Twenty-four healthy female participants rated body sizes of bikini models (‘too thin’ or ‘normal-weight’), directly followed by ostensible peer feedback (‘too thin’ or ‘normal-weight’). Consistent with prior studies on social feedback processing, results showed increased brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula in incongruent situations: When participants rated media models as ‘normal-weight’, while peer feedback indicated the models as ‘too thin’ (or vice versa). This effect was stronger for young females with lower self-esteem. Our results suggest that media-by-peer interactions have pronounced effects on females’ body-ideals.

Authors

• Jolanda Veldhuis, VU U Amsterdam

• Mara Van der Meulen, Department of Psychology, Leiden University; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

• Barbara R. Braams, Department of Psychology, Leiden University; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

• Sabine Peters, Department of Psychology, Leiden University; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

• Elly A. Konijn, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Eveline A. Crone, Department of Psychology, Leiden University; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition