In the research conducted to determine the way in which people evaluate themselves, the two models represented two types of body constitution, a thin and a heavy one. By dressing the You_thin and You_curvy models in the same clothes and offering the participants to evaluate the looks of the models, as well as imagine what they would look in these clothes like, one could observe the change in people’s perception of their selves.
According to the research hypothesis, the participants will supposedly evaluate the look of the You_curvy model lower, since they will project their selves on the models, which will result in envisioning their selves as a heavy and a thin person correspondingly (Maner et al., 2005).
The research results partially supported the hypothesis. According to the research findings, most of the participants rated the You_thin model positively, therefore, displaying their vision of self on the looks of the model. As the hypothesis assumed, the participants projected their selves on the models; therefore, their idea of beauty predisposed their judgment of the clothes.
It is worth noting, however, that some of the participants still voted for the curvy/heavy model; in fact, the difference between the votes is not that big. However, since the majority voted the curvy/heavy model down, the assumption that their vision of self would drop when relating to a less attractive model (Darlow & Lobel, 2011) has been proven.
It is important to note that the survey presupposed answering three questions, i.e., evaluating the model, the clothes and the look of the participant in the given clothes. Therefore, it is necessary to add that, when considering the participants’ evaluation of the model attractiveness, the author of the research found out that the p in the given case was more than 0.5 (p>0.5), which meant that the appeal of the clothes actually remained just as high.
However, when considering the model’s attractiveness, most of the participants responded negatively, as well as answering the question concerning whether they would look good in the clothes. The given results show graphically that the participants’ image of self was not destroyed completely – they still found the model attractive; the clothes, however, lost their charm, proving absolutely useless to mask the “chubbiness” (Vos Strache, Strong & Peterson, 2004).
It is important to mention that the study was limited by the number of participants. It was practically impossible to embrace the entire variety of opinions. The ethics of the study, however, corresponds to the existing standards. Each case of participation was voluntary and unbiased.
Reference List
Darlow, S. & Lobel, D. (2011). Who is beholding my beauty? Thinness ideals, weight, and women’s responses to appearance evaluation. Sex Roles, 63(11/12), 833–843.
Maner, Jon K. et al. (2005). Functional projection: How fundamental social motives can bias interpersonal perception. Journal of Personality and Functional Psychology, 88(1), 63–78.
Vos Strache, C., Strong, A. & Peterson, C. (2004). Te female physique: Model-guiding evaluation: 1. Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal, 13(2), 5.