Examination of the effects of printed media on body cathexis among adolescent and post-adolescent males.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference existed in the body cathexis scores of males who viewed pictures of attractive male physiques and males who viewed pictures of unattractive physiques. Participants in this study were freshman male students enrolled in a physical education class at Emporia High School (N= 83) and traditional male college students (ages 18-22) enrolled in Lifetime Fitness at Emporia State University (N= 73.) The participants completed Rogers Body Cathexis Scale after viewing a booklet of pictures taken from popular print media. The test was administered during the regularly scheduled class period. All data were analyzed at the 12<.10 level of significance through the use of t-tests. A significant difference (Q=.07) existed between the scores of the high school students who viewed pictures of attractive physiques and those high school students who viewed unattractive physiques. There was no significant difference between the scores of college students who view pictures of attractive physiques and those college students who viewed unattractive physiques.