Denying diversity: perceptions of beauty and social comparison processes among Latina, Black, and White women

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  July, 2002  by Maya A. Poran

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Materials and Measures

Seven photos of mannequins were presented to participants who responded to them on a variety of dimensions. Mannequins were chosen as a unique stimulus, rather than photos of "real" women, because they represent the standard of beauty without any affective components (i.e., personality) that could introduce "noise." Two "Latina," or tan mannequins, two "Black" mannequins, and three "White" mannequins were used. The presentation of unequal groups of mannequins (one more "White" mannequin) was intended to "re-present" the White bias of images as they are socially presented.

Personal Definitions of Beauty

Personal definitions of beauty were obtained through an open-ended question. Participants read the following: "Please define what the word 'beauty' means to you, what you define as beautiful. Beauty is:" The written answers were first coded into one of four categories: (1) personality traits, (2) physical characteristics, (3) both personality and physical, or (4) "other." Definitions were placed into one of these categories based on content and word-usage. For example, a definition would be placed into the personality category only when the participant explicitly stated they believed that beauty was one's personality. The physical characteristics category was handled the same way. The personality/physical appearance category was also coded based on the characteristics mentioned. The category "Other" were miscellaneous answers that did not fit into either of the first three categories. This category usually contained items that were relatively abstract or poetic descriptions of beauty. Other information was co ded as patterns emerged from the data.

Body Esteem Scale (BES)

The BES (Franzoi & Shields, 1984) was used to measure how the participants felt about their own bodies. Participants were asked to rate the types of feelings they had toward 32 specific body parts and activities on a 5-point Likert scale (1 "have strong negative feelings" to 5 "have strong positive feelings"). The items are contained in three subscales: Sexual Attractiveness, Weight Concern, and Physical Stamina. Scores are summed across all items to provide a total BES score, as well as across the three subsets of items to produce subscale scores. Total scores range from 32 to 160; higher scores indicate higher esteem for one's body.

Perceptions of Cultural Definition of Beauty

The participants' perceptions of the cultural definition/standard of beauty were obtained through an open-ended question. The participants read the following: "Please define what you think is the predominant cultural standard/definition of beauty in U.S. The cultural definition of beauty is:" The written portions were coded first into one of three categories: (1)stereotypical standard of beauty, (2) nonstereotypical standard of beauty, and (3) "other." A definition was coded into the stereotypical category when it mentioned body parts, or descriptions of standards, that fit into the larger feminist critique of stereotypical images of women (e.g., large breasts, skinny, beautiful). A definition was coded into the nonstereotypical category when it mentioned other characteristics that are not present in the standard definition of beauty. Finally, a definition was coded into the "other" category when it did not focus on any physical aspects of beauty. Other patterns that emerged from the data were also coded into relevant categories.