relevant information , this developmental period is seen by many as an extension of the exploration period that begins in adolescence ( Mccourt , 2004 ). However , one could argue that this period is even more exploratory than adolescence because one is free of parental constraints .
Can Media Influence Appearance Importance ?
Media images seem to suggest that the thin female ideal and male muscular ideal have increasingly become accepted in today ’ s society . In an early study , Silverstein , Perdue , Peterson , and Kelly ( 1986 ) conducted content analyses of portrayals on popular TV shows and in magazines . They concluded that on TV , females were more likely to be thin ( 69 % vs . 18 %) and less likely to be fat ( 5 % vs . 30 %) than males . In fact , women on TV have become thinner ( Silverstein et al ., 1986 ). A content analysis of situational comedies aired during 1996 and 1997 concluded that below average weight female characters were overrepresented while above average weight characters were underrepresented ( Fouts & Burggraf , 2000 ). For magazines , a similar pattern arises such that as of 1980 , the mean bust-to-waist ratio of female models in popular women ’ s magazines had decreased to one third of the value that it was in the early 1900s and the mean bust-to-waist ratio for movie
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