Volume 207, Issues 1–2, 15 May 2013, Pages 113–117
Body image concerns in professional fashion models: Are they really an at-risk group?
Abstract
Although
professional models are thought to be a high-risk group for body image
concerns, only a handful of studies have empirically investigated this
possibility. The present study sought to overcome this dearth of
information by comparing professional models and a matched sample on key
indices of body image and appeared-related concerns. A group of 52
professional fashion models was compared with a matched sample of 51
non-models from London, England, on indices of weight discrepancy, body
appreciation, social physique anxiety, body dissatisfaction, drive for
thinness, internalization of sociocultural messages about appearance,
and dysfunctional investment in appearance. Results indicated that
professional models only evidenced significantly higher drive for
thinness and dysfunctional investment in appearance than the control
group. Greater duration of engagement as a professional model was
associated with more positive body appreciation but also greater drive
for thinness. These results indicate that models, who are already
underweight, have a strong desire to maintain their low body mass or
become thinner. Taken together, the present results suggest that
interventions aimed at promoting healthy body image among fashion models
may require different strategies than those aimed at the general
population.
Keywords
- Fashion models;
- Body image concerns;
- Size zero;
- Social physique anxiety
1. Introduction
It is now clear that anxiety about appearance and body image concerns are highly prevalent among women worldwide (Swami et al., 2010), with some authors even referring to such concerns as ‘normative’ experiences (Rodin et al., 1984, Cash, 2004 and Smolak, 2006).
Indeed, it is widely recognized that negative body image is an
important public health concern for societies globally because of its
reliable association with symptoms of disordered eating (Stice and Shaw, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006) and poorer psychological well-being (Keery et al., 2004).
Given such findings, some scholars have sought to identity groups that
may be at-risk for the development of negative body image, with the
expectation that such groups will benefit from targeted interventions
aimed at promoting healthier body image.
For example, recent studies have indicated that ethnic minority groups (Swami et al., 2009a, in press), transcultural migrants (Swami et al., 2012b), and urbanized populations (Swami et al., 2012a)
may all have more negative body image than comparison groups. It has
also been suggested that at-risk groups include populations whose
typical behavioral patterns include specific antecedents of negative
body image, such as the need to maintain extremely slender physiques as a
result of task requirements (e.g., performance advantages or weight
standards) or social pressure. On this basis, a good deal of research
has focused on the body images of athletes and esthetic dancers (Smolak et al., 2000, Byrne and McLean, 2002, Sundgot-Borgen and Torstveit, 2004, Swami et al., 2009b, Torres-McGehee et al., 2009 and Swami and Harris, 2012).
Another group that is considered to be at high-risk for the development of body image concerns is professional fashion models (Mears, 2010).
In particular, some scholars have commented that the fashion industry,
through its promulgation of an extremely slender bodily ideal, creates a
‘toxic’ environment conducive to the growth of body image and eating
disorders (Treasure et al., 2008,
p. 243). That is, the need to maintain an extremely slender figure as a
result of professional pressure and industry standards, on one hand,
and unrealistic expectations among women who believe that extreme
thinness will help them achieve success and attention as a fashion
models on the other, is suggested to result in more negative body image
among this group (Treasure et al., 2008 and Mears, 2010).
The excessive focus on appearance and body weight, extreme
competitiveness, and widespread use of clinically underweight models in
the fashion industry may further heighten appearance concerns among
fashion models (Preti et al., 2008).
While the significance of fashion models as a high risk group is frequently highlighted in scholarly commentary (e.g., Treasure et al., 2008)
and the popular press, research on the prevalence of body image
concerns among fashion models is surprisingly scant. Indeed, the
majority of studies have focused specifically on the incidence of
disordered eating among fashion models. In the earliest of such studies,
Garner and Garfinkel (1980) reported that the prevalence of anorexia nervosa
and excessive dieting concerns were over-represented in a sample of
modeling students compared to other university students. However, other
studies have failed to find significant differences between professional
fashion models and control participants on such dimensions as
eating-disordered behavior (Brenner and Cunningham, 1992) or prevalence of anorexia and bulimia nervosa (van Hanswijck de Jonge and van Furth, 1999).
In a recent study, Preti et al. (2008)
suggested that these inconclusive findings may reflect methodological
limitations in early study designs. For example, the tendency to use
undergraduate populations as a control group may not be effective, given
age and other demographic differences with fashion models. Consistent
with this proposition, two studies that have used community samples as
control groups have indicated that the prevalence of partial-syndrome
eating disorders (Santonastaso et al., 2002) and symptoms of eating disorders (Preti et al., 2008)
is significantly higher among professional fashion models. In addition
to traditional explanations for these findings (e.g., the professional
pressure to be thin in the fashion industry), Preti et al. (2008)
have further speculated that the fashion industry may be preferably
chosen by women who are already oriented toward symptoms of disordered
eating.
By contrast, only two
previous studies have specifically examined body image among fashion
models, with both reporting no significant differences between
professional fashion models and a comparison group on measures of body
satisfaction (Brenner and Cunningham, 1992) and body dissatisfaction (Preti et al., 2008).
In explanation, it has been suggested that fashion models may have
personality profiles that allow them to cope more effectively with the
pressures of maintaining a thin figure or that aspects of the job (e.g.,
the boost to self-esteem derived from conforming to societal or
industry ideals) may in fact act as a buffer against negative body image
(van Hanswijck de Jonge and van Furth, 1999).
Clearly, however, it is difficult to draw definite conclusions about
the incidence of body image concerns among fashion models in the absence
of more comprehensive data-sets.
In
the present study, therefore, we sought to examine the incidence of
body image and related concerns among a sample of professional models.
In line with the commentary of Preti et al. (2008)
that the composition of the control group is important in establishing
the reliability of results, we compared professional models with a
control sample matched on key demographics (age, ethnicity, and social
background as measured by educational qualifications). In addition, we
included a range of body image and appeared-related variables that,
theoretically at least, we expected to differ between professional
models and the control sample. Based on earlier scholarly commentary (Treasure et al., 2008), we expected that professional fashion models would evidence more negative body image than the control group.
