A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of state upward appearance comparisons and psychological need frustration on appearance self-conscious emotions, and compensatory dieting and exercise thoughts and behaviours. An Ecological Momentary Assessment design was employed with young women...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie, Ntoumanis, Nikos, Carey, Renee, Dodos, Louisa, Quested, Eleanor
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon Press 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62106
_version_ 1848760789756805120
author Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
Ntoumanis, Nikos
Carey, Renee
Dodos, Louisa
Quested, Eleanor
author_facet Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
Ntoumanis, Nikos
Carey, Renee
Dodos, Louisa
Quested, Eleanor
author_sort Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of state upward appearance comparisons and psychological need frustration on appearance self-conscious emotions, and compensatory dieting and exercise thoughts and behaviours. An Ecological Momentary Assessment design was employed with young women (n = 126; M age = 21.26; SD = 2.76) who responded to surveys 3 times daily every other day for 1 week. Outcome measures included body and appearance self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt, and authentic and hubristic pride) and (thoughts of) dietary restriction and exercise. Mixed linear modelling showed that upward appearance comparisons and psychological need frustration independently predicted several maladaptive appearance-based emotions and behaviours. For thoughts of dietary restriction, an interaction emerged, whereby thoughts of dietary restriction were intensified in situations when participants engaged in upward appearance comparisons and reported high levels of need frustration. The findings suggest that not only upward appearance comparisons but also high levels of state need frustration can make women more vulnerable to self-conscious emotions and compensatory dieting and exercise thoughts and behaviours.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:21:22Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-62106
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:21:22Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Pergamon Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-621062020-07-23T07:37:56Z A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie Ntoumanis, Nikos Carey, Renee Dodos, Louisa Quested, Eleanor The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of state upward appearance comparisons and psychological need frustration on appearance self-conscious emotions, and compensatory dieting and exercise thoughts and behaviours. An Ecological Momentary Assessment design was employed with young women (n = 126; M age = 21.26; SD = 2.76) who responded to surveys 3 times daily every other day for 1 week. Outcome measures included body and appearance self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt, and authentic and hubristic pride) and (thoughts of) dietary restriction and exercise. Mixed linear modelling showed that upward appearance comparisons and psychological need frustration independently predicted several maladaptive appearance-based emotions and behaviours. For thoughts of dietary restriction, an interaction emerged, whereby thoughts of dietary restriction were intensified in situations when participants engaged in upward appearance comparisons and reported high levels of need frustration. The findings suggest that not only upward appearance comparisons but also high levels of state need frustration can make women more vulnerable to self-conscious emotions and compensatory dieting and exercise thoughts and behaviours. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62106 10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.020 Pergamon Press fulltext
spellingShingle Thogersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
Ntoumanis, Nikos
Carey, Renee
Dodos, Louisa
Quested, Eleanor
A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title_full A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title_fullStr A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title_full_unstemmed A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title_short A diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
title_sort diary study of appearance social comparisons and need frustration in young women
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62106