Acts of appearance management include a range of activities to control the presentation of the body that one makes to self and to others. Appearance management behaviors (AMBs) can be divided into two categories: risky and non-risky. Risky AMBs can all be linked to some threat to health if engaged in for extended periods of time. We investigated body-related variables predicting engagement in three specific categories (i.e., cosmetic procedures, extreme dieting, use of diet aids) of risky AMBs with female undergraduates from the U.S. (n = 349) and from South Korea (n = 338). The predictor variables were objectified body consciousness (OBC) and body image investment (BII). Mediating variables investigated were body comparison (BC) and body satisfaction (BS). Across all risky AMBs investigated and with participants from both countries, as BC increased, BS decreased. Similarly, OBC and BII significantly predicted BC for both groups of women. For Korean women, OBC predicted engagement in cosmetic procedure and extreme dieting through BC. For U.S. women, OBC and BII predicted extreme dieting and use of diet pills through BS. Further, there was a difference between the two countries in terms of the specific risky AMBs engaged in. Korean participants engaged in cosmetic procedures followed by extreme dieting. U.S. participants engaged in the use of diet aids followed by extreme dieting.
ArcelusJ.MitchellA.WalesJ.NielsenS. (2011). Mortality rates in patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders: A meta-analysis of 36 studies. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 724–731.
3.
BessenoffG. (2006). Can the media affect us? Social comparison, self-discrepancy, and the thin ideal. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 239–251.
4.
CashT. F. (1994). Body-image attitudes: Evaluation, investment, and affect. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 1168–1170.
5.
CashT. F. (2000). The multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire user’s manual (3rd ed.). Norfolk, VA: Old Dominion University Press.
6.
CashT. F.MelnykS. E.HraboskyJ. I. (2004). The assessment of body image investment: An extensive revision of the appearance schemas inventory. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 35, 305–316.
7.
CashT. F.PruzinskyT. (Eds.). (2002). Body image: A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
8.
CattarinJ. A.ThompsonJ. K.ThomasC.WilliamsR. (2000). Body image, mood, and televised images of attractiveness: The role of social comparison. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 220–239.
DavisC.DionneM.SchusterB. (2001). Physical and psychological correlates of appearance orientation. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 21–30.
11.
DijkstraP.BareldsD. P. H. (2011). Examining a model of dispositional mindfulness, body comparison, and body satisfaction. Body Image, 8, 419–422.
12.
Engel-MaddoxR. (2005). Cognitive responses to idealized media images of women: The relationship of social comparison and critical processing to body image disturbance in college women. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 1114–1138.
13.
FestingerL. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.
14.
FioreA. M.KimleP. A. (1997). Understanding aesthetics for the merchandising and design professional. New York, NY: Fairchild Books.
15.
Fitzsimmons-CraftE. E.Bardone-ConeA. M.KellyK. A. (2011). Objectified body consciousness in relation to recovery from an eating disorder. Eating Behaviors, 12(4), 302–308.
16.
FlegalK. M.CarrollM. D.KitB. K.OgdenC. L. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999–2010. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 307, 491–497.
17.
FredricksonB. L.RobertsT. (1997). Objectification theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206.
18.
FrithK.ShawP.ChengH. (2005). The construction of beauty: A cross-cultural analysis of women’s magazine advertising. Journal of Communication, 55, 56–70.
19.
JungJ.ForbesJ. B. (2006). Multidimensional assessment of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Korean and US college women: A comparative study. Sex Roles, 55, 39–50.
20.
JungJ.LeeS. (2006). Cross-cultural comparisons of appearance self-schema, body image, self-esteem, and dieting behavior between Korean and U.S. women. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 34, 350–365.
21.
JungJ. H.LeeY.-J. (2009). Cross-cultural examination of women’s fashion and beauty magazine advertisements in the United States and South Korea. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal, 27, 274–286.
22.
KaiserS. B. (1996). The social psychology of clothing: Symbolic appearances in context (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Fairchild Books.
23.
KrathwohlD. R. (1998). Methods of educational and social science research: An integrated approach (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Addison-Wesley Educational Publisher.
24.
LeaheyT. M.CrowtherJ. H.MickelsonK. D. (2007). The frequency, nature, and effects of naturally occurring appearance-focused social comparisons. Behavior Therapy, 38, 132–143.
25.
LeeJ.JohnsonK. K. P. (2009). Factors related to engagement in risky appearance management behaviors. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal, 27, 163–178.
26.
LeeS.RuddN.KimJ. (2001). Body image I: A comparison of ideal beauty, body image, and appearance management behaviors among Korean and American women. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 25, 969–980.
27.
LennonS.RuddN. (1994). Linkages between attitude toward gender roles, body satisfaction, self-esteem, and appearance management behaviors in women. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 23, 94–117.
28.
LennonS.RuddN.SloanB.KimJ. S. (1999). Attitudes toward gender role, self-esteem, and body image: Application of a model. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 17, 191–202.
29.
McKinleyN. M. (1995). Women and objectified body consciousness: A feminist psychological analysis. Dissertation Abstract International, 56, 05B, 9527111.
30.
McKinleyN. M. (1998). Gender differences in undergraduates’ body esteem: The mediating of objectified body consciousness and actual/ideal weight discrepancy. Sex Roles, 39, 113–123.
31.
McKinleyN. M. (1999). Women and objectified body consciousness: Mothers and daughters body experience in cultural, developmental, and familial context. Developmental Psychology, 35, 760–769.
32.
McKinleyN. M.HydeJ. S. (1996). The objectified body consciousness scale. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181–215.
33.
MuthJ. L.CashT. F. (1997). Body image attitudes: What difference does gender make?Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 1438–1452.
34.
NamY.LeeS. (2001). Comparison of perceived body size and actual body size between Korean and American college women. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 25, 764–772.
35.
Neumark-SztainerD. (2005). I’m, like, SO fat! Helping your teen make healthy choices about eating and exercise in a weight-obsessed world. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
36.
OhY. H. (2004, July). Korean women live to be thin and slim. The Korea Herald, A11.
37.
PajaresF.MillerM. D. (1994). Role of self-efficacy and self-concept beliefs in mathematical problem solving: A path analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 193–203.
38.
RobinsonJ. P.ShaverP. R.WrightsmanL. S. (1991). Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes. San Diego: Academic Press.
39.
RuddN. A. (1997). Cosmetics consumption and use among women: Ritualized activities that construct and transform the self. Journal of Ritual Studies, 11, 59–77.
40.
RuddN. A.LennonS. J. (2000). Body image and appearance management behaviors in college women. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal, 18, 152–162.
41.
SeoR. S. (2012). The factors that affect the appearance satisfaction resulting from appearance management behaviors and appearance importance of college women. Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology, 18, 180–186.
42.
SieverM. (1994). Sexual orientation and gender as factors in socioculturally acquired vulnerability to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 252–260.
43.
StormerS. M.ThompsonJ. K. (1996). Explanations of body image disturbance: A test of maturational status, negative verbal commentary, social comparison, and sociocultural hypotheses. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 19, 193–202.
ThompsonJ. K.HeinbergL. J.AltabeM.Tantleff-DunnS. (1999). Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, treatment of body image disturbance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
46.
van den BergP.PaxtonS. J.KeeryH.WallM.GuoJ.Neumark-SztainerD. (2007). Body dissatisfaction and body comparison with media images in males and females. Body Image, 4, 257–268.
47.
YooJ.KimH. (2012). Adolescents’ body-tanning behaviours: Influences of gender, body mass index, sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body satisfaction. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 36, 360–366.
