Plump models may actually lower women's self-esteem

A study reveals that, contrary to assumptions, looking at moderately heavy models lowers most women's self-esteem.

Waifish models have long been accused of setting unrealistic beauty standards and lowering self-esteem, however, a new study in the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that, contrary to many assumptions, looking at moderately heavy models actually lowers most women's self-esteem.

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"We demonstrated that exposure to thin models does not necessarily have a negative impact on one's self-esteem," explain Dirk Smeesters (Tilburg University) and Naomi Mandel (Arizona State University). "On the contrary, exposure to moderately thin (but not extremely thin) models has a positive impact on one's self-esteem."

In the first part of the study, participants selected four representative models in each category extremely thin, moderately thin, moderately heavy, and extremely heavy from a larger sample of images. These images were then shown to randomly chosen women in conjunction with a "lexical decision trial" -that is, the participants were timed as they responded to words related to thinness and heaviness.

Looking at moderately thin or extremely heavy models led to an increase in self-perception of thinness and an increase in self-esteem. By contrast, seeing extremely thin or moderately heavy models focused women's thoughts on how heavy they felt.

These results shed light on why magazines featuring only plus-sized models don't have the success of the magazine that feature slim models: "...campaigns featuring moderately heavy 'real women' might not be as inspirational (or effective) as expected," conclude Smeesters and Mandel.