How does mass media influence adolescent mind in regards to body image?
How does mass media influence adolescent mind in regards to body image?
The mass media has been able to create, produce, and promote a lot of theories and ideas that have a substantial influence on the adolescent population and the perspective that they have about themselves. Either the spoken, broadcast, or written communication that the medium may include radio, movies, television, magazines, internet, telephone, and newspaper become mass media, which affects the perception of adolescents about themselves, and it tend to influence the structure of the society. This is a significant social, scientific question to analyze because, the adolescents are mainly affected by the presentation of the media in regards to the female and male body. There are different ways that the media influence the mind of adolescents in relation to their body images.
Mass media has presented the bodies of females and males in unrealistic ways such that, it lead to people believing that, the bodies that are presented in the media are what people should strive to achieve. This has had an enormous effect in the mind of adolescents because they want to appear as what is being reflected in the media. Because of the stereotypical norms and images being presented in the media, it has led to female adolescents making unhealthy decisions. It has also caused a lot of confusion on how one is supposed to correctly care for their body during the adolescent development. The influence of mass media on the adolescent mind in regards to their body image has led them to making decisions like diets, excessive exercise, eating disorders, and dieting pills. The aim of this scientific question is to inform the instructors the significance of comprehensive education in media literacy for adolescents while they are in school.
Scientific research methods
$11. What are the influence of mass media on body image
There are several ways that media has influenced the body image of many adolescents. When adolescent spend most of their time on the internet, watching television and reading magazines, a lot of information is displayed on this forms of mass media that tend to provide information on how people can improve their body images so that to appear perfect. Many adolescents start thinking that the images that are created by the media are what people are supposed to look like. This question will also help to gather information on the different activities and chemicals that adolescents will get involved in, so that they can have images like the one they see on media. By answering this question, it will be easy to know how mass media influence the adolescent mind regarding their body image. It will also be possible to identify the positive and the negative effects that mass media might have on adolescents’ body image. Because of wanting to have the admirable body image that they see in the media, adolescents might decide to start watching what they consume. Media sometimes provide a good body image when someone ensures that they eat healthy food. Adolescents will be able to determine the correct food staffs to eat and avoid food that may affect their health. After answering this question, it will be easy to know the effect of media on adolescents mind.
$12. How do different types of media influence the body image of adolescents?
In order to be able to answer how mass media influence the adolescent mind, in relation to body image, it is necessary to understand the type of body images that are presented by the media. To be able to answer the key question, it will be necessary to analyze the different types of mass media and how they are used to influence the perception of adolescents concerning their body image. Advertisements on screen play and in print significantly influence the perception of adolescents of the body images. Mass media are heavily used by adolescents; therefore, its impact is more on this age. Because adolescents like associating themselves with others people who they think look better than them, they are likely to be affected significantly by the images that they see mostly in magazines. There are many magazines that target female adolescents, and they tend to support the idea that their success and happiness is tied on their physical appearance.
$13. What method can be used to gather information on individual reaction to media on body image?
Different methods can be mused when gathering data on the reaction of adolescents on mass media and its influence on body image. However, the research method to be used will be an interview. This is the effective method that will be used to gather information, and be able to determine the most effective mass media that has an adverse effect on the way adolescent think about body image. Performing interviews with female and male adolescents will help in understanding how media make them think about their body images and their reaction towards the news. It will also be easy to know how adolescents view their body images after they have seen different images in the media. When doing the interview, there will be several questions that will mainly focus on individual people who will be required to answer personal questions. The questions that will have to be answered on the interview will focus on individual body image, media, body shape, body size, weight, and gender. Individuals will be required to fill in the types of mass media that they enjoy being involved in and how they affect their perceptive of body image. People to be interviewed will have to provide some information on their body sizes, weight, and shape and how media has influenced who they are in regards to body image.
Scientific method
Scientific method is an approach that is used for discovering and testing the scientific truth. This is a method where a problem is first identified the relevant data is then gathered, the hypothesis is formulated from the gathered data, and hypothesis is tested empirically. The scientific method in natural and physical science is understood to consist of a series of steps including observation, theorizing, hypothesis, and experiment. It uses some type of measurement in order to analyze the results (Perry E & Perry J 2009). The findings of the results are then feed back into the theory of what is known about the data. In the first step of observation, some phenomena of interest are observed, gathered, and then interpretation of the observation.In natural or physical sciences, it is concerned with some experiments that are required to be done and observation is extremely necessary so that to see the results of the experiment. In the scientific method, it is essential to gather information carefully, ensure that when evaluating the information, it remain unbiased, and conduct accurate recording procedures and results. This will make sure that the findings from the research are original. When using scientific methods, it requires the ability and vision of observing the implication of the results (Perry E & Perry J 2009). Scientific methods are used by scientists in natural and physical sciences, so that to ensure that the discoveries that they make are meaningful and they are found on logic and reasoning rather than emotion.
Interview and scientific method
In order to perform research on how mass media influence the adolescent mind in regards to body image, the research method that will be used when gathering data will be an interview. An interview will be conducted both orally and in write form. This interview will be focused on both female and male adolescents. Individuals will be required to answer some question that will be written on a sheet of paper where they will answer questions regarding their size, weight, and gender. An oral interview will then be done so that to gather information of how the perspective of different adolescents tend to change, after they have read articles and watched different images of people in the media. This interview will involve discussion so that we can also understand the views of people regarding mass media effect on body image.The gathered information will be analyzed and then come to a conclusion on how mass media has effect on adolescent mind in regards to body image. The information that will be gathered will not have to be compared with what is known about the data because; this is something that is changing every day. In the scientific method, there are different steps that need to be done so that to come into a conclusion, but this is not the same with interviewing on social science. However, there are some steps that apply in the scientific method that will also apply when doing the interview.
Social science
Social science does not have to rely on scientific method in the same way as natural or physical science. However, there are some steps in the scientific method that have to apply in social science. In social science, the observation that one will receive after having analyzed the information gathered will not have to be compared with is known about that data. The information that is analyzed after some observation on social science is expected to change from time to time (Perry E & Perry J 2009). In natural or physical science, the conclusion that is arrived at after having analyzed the data is expected not to change. It should remain the same as what was concluded years ago. In the case of the social, scientific question that is being discussed in this paper, the results that will be received after performing the research are expected to change with time. The results will differ with the one that was done years back, and the conclusion to be arrived at after having done a research on the same problem years from now. The influence that mass media have on the mind of adolescents in regard to their body image is likely to change from time to time.
Reference
Perry E & Perry J (2009). Contemporary Society Pearsons
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