their identity exploration which is vital to this developmental period .
One study showed that the more female undergraduates were exposed to media with a high proportion of thin ideal body images , the greater their likelihood of trying to manage their weight through behaviors which are characteristic of anorexia and bulimia , such as skipping meals and taking laxatives ( Stice , Schupak-Neuberg , Shaw & Stein , 1994 ). More particularly , a survey of high school females illustrated that restricting caloric intake and taking diet pills was influenced by reading beauty and fashion magazines ( Thomsen , Weber , & Brown , 2002 ). Similarly , results of an experiment indicated that adolescent females had increased eating disorder symptoms with increased exposure to fashion magazines while females with decreased symptomatology had significantly decreased their exposure to fashion magazines and TV ( Vaughan & Fouts , 2003 ).
Social cognitive theory . Social cognitive theory provides some explanation in outcomes of negative body image and increased appearance importance . The theory asserts that observing behaviors , attitudes , and emotions that are rewarded will be learned while behaviors that are punished will not be learned ( Bandura , 1977 ). For instance , a content analysis of sitcoms indicated that
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