Defining the Effects of Television on the Body Image on the basis of Adolescents’ Opinions

Year 2010, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 65 - 77, 01.02.2010

Berrin Dinç

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effects of television on the body images of the adolescents at high school. In the study, mixed method was used. Out of 1222 high school students, who completed the “Scale of Satisfaction from Body Parts and Features”, 36 students participated in the study according to their scores from this scale. Qualitative data of the study was collected through semi-structured interviews and the interview data was analyzed descriptively. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the adolescents were satisfied with their bodies, yet the males reported more satisfaction than the females. Furthermore, it was seen that the adolescents emulated the ideal body types and features on television that they wanted to have or they did not have and they sometimes tried to resemble these. Moreover, it was determined that most of the adolescents compared themselves with the ideal body images on TV and they sometimes experienced disappointment and pessimism

Keywords

Adolescence, body image, media means, television