Sex Roles (2008) 59:586–601 595<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> current study differed from study 1 in a number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>regards. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> first was that the video game had to be changedbecause the wrestling video game used in study 1 did notallow much exposure to the thin female body. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>dchange was that the female participants were not asked tomake a character look like them, because the results fromstudy 1 showed that this variable did not significantly impactthe results (via a regressi<strong>on</strong> analysis). <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> third change wasthat the measures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> negative body-image were in study 1were specific to men. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>refore, the current study usedmeasures specific to women. Overall, the statistical design <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>study 1 could not overlap with that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> study 2 for a number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>reas<strong>on</strong>s. First, the game used did not allow the players or theresearchers to make characters. In fact, we had difficultyfinding any game that would allow us to manipulate a femalecharacter and still portray the female characters in such a wayto emphasize the body. Sec<strong>on</strong>d, NIH classificati<strong>on</strong> did notneed to be treated as a between-subjects variable, like in study1 due to the lower overall sample size. Thus, NIH classificati<strong>on</strong>and video type were not factors in the current study.MethodParticipantsThirty-two female participants from a large MidwesternUniversity participated in the current study. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> averageage for this sample was 18.94 (SD=1.05) years, and themajority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the sample were Caucasian (81.3%) freshman(81.3%) undergraduate students. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> average height <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thissample was 5′2″ and the average weight was 130.47 lb.According to the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Institute <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Health’s classificati<strong>on</strong>,the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the participants were classified as normalweight (n=26; 81.3%), while <strong>on</strong>ly four were classified asoverweight (12.5%), two were underweight (6.3%), and noparticipants were classified as obese. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> average videogame play time for this sample was .87 (SD=2.47) hoursper week, and the range for this sample was 0.00 h and themaximum was 12.00 h per week.Materials<str<strong>on</strong>g>Video</str<strong>on</strong>g> game <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> video game selected for the current studywas Extreme Heat Beach Volleyball for the PlayStati<strong>on</strong> 2video game system. This game was selected for a variety <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>reas<strong>on</strong>s. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> first is that the participants could select theircharacter based <strong>on</strong> how much they thought it resembledthem. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> results from study 1 showed that the degree towhich the character looked like the participant did notsignificantly influence the results, and thus the currentgame and procedure did not have the female participantsmake such a character. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>d reas<strong>on</strong> that this gamewas selected was because all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the female characters hadsmall waists and wore <strong>on</strong>ly bikinis. This allowed for theparticipants to get the optimal exposure to the “ideal” bodyimage, which we predicted would be related to a negativebody-image. Also, after every five points were scored byeither team, all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the characters would change sides <strong>on</strong> thevolleyball court, and the game would zoom in <strong>on</strong> thefemales’ bending underneath the net, which further exposedtheir flat stomach and large breasts.This game was a two-<strong>on</strong>-two volleyball game. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>participants selected <strong>on</strong>e character and the computerselected the other three (<strong>on</strong>e teammate and two opp<strong>on</strong>ents).<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> objective <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this game was to beat the opposingcomputer team in a game <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> volleyball, which wasexplained to the participants. Standard beach volleyballrules were enforced in this game (e.g., <strong>on</strong>ly hitting the ballthree times before it has to go over the net).Questi<strong>on</strong>naires <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>re were four different questi<strong>on</strong>nairesused in the current study. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> first was the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> EsteemScale (BES; Franzoi and Shields 1984), which wasidentical to the <strong>on</strong>e in study 1 and measured the affectivecomp<strong>on</strong>ent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a negative body-image. However, unlike thefirst study, research using the BES has found a differentfactor structure for the BES for women (Franzoi andShields 1984). Specifically, there were three factors. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>first was sexual attractiveness (SA), which c<strong>on</strong>sisted <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 13items. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>d factor was weight c<strong>on</strong>cern (WC), whichc<strong>on</strong>sisted <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ten items. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> final factor was physicalc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> (PC), which was identical for males andfemales. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> scoring and interpreting <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the scores wereidentical to that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> study 1. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> reliability for the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g>Esteem Scale was acceptable at baseline (α=.95) and attime 2 (α=.95). Each subscale <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Esteem Scalehad acceptable reliability at both baseline and time 2.Specifically, the reliabilities for the Sexual Attractivenesssubscale (α=.90 for baseline and α=.91 for time 2), theWeight C<strong>on</strong>cern subscale (α=.91 for baseline and α=.92for time 2), and the Physical C<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> subscale (α=.80 forbaseline and α=.89 for time 2) were acceptable.<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>d questi<strong>on</strong>naire was the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Shape Questi<strong>on</strong>naire(BSQ; Cooper et al. 1987), which measured bodysatisfacti<strong>on</strong>, the cognitive comp<strong>on</strong>ent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a negative bodyimage.For the purposes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the current study, we used the24-item versi<strong>on</strong>, which asks participants to resp<strong>on</strong>d <strong>on</strong> a 1(never) to 6 (always) Likert scale to various c<strong>on</strong>cernsfemales have about their appearance. A sample itemincluded, “Have you become afraid that you might becomefat or fatter?” <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> items were summed together, such thathigher scores are indicative <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> more c<strong>on</strong>cern about theirweight and body. Hence, higher scores are indicative <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>lower body satisfacti<strong>on</strong>. Reliability analyses showed thatthe <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Shape Questi<strong>on</strong>naire had acceptable reliability atbaseline (α=.95) and at time 2 (α=.98).
596 Sex Roles (2008) 59:586–601<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> third questi<strong>on</strong>naire was a demographic questi<strong>on</strong>naire,which was used to assess age, ethnicity, and year inschool. Also, this questi<strong>on</strong>naire assessed the height andweight <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the sample, which was used to calculate theirBMI. Finally, the participant’s video game habits wereasked, by measuring how <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten they played video games inan average week, if they had played the video game before,and if they owned a video game system.<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> final questi<strong>on</strong>naire was a suspiciousness questi<strong>on</strong>naire.Due to the highly publicized nature <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> video gameeffects and the heavy emphasis <strong>on</strong> body image questi<strong>on</strong>s,two questi<strong>on</strong>s were asked to determine if the participantshad been told about the hypotheses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the current studyprior to being in the study, and if they were able to infer thepredicti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the current study based <strong>on</strong> the questi<strong>on</strong>sasked <strong>on</strong> the scales. Analysis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this questi<strong>on</strong>naire revealedthat two (5.56%) <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the participants knew the purposes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>the current study prior to being debriefed, and these wereexcluded from further analyses.ProcedureUp<strong>on</strong> completi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the informed c<strong>on</strong>sent, participantscompleted baseline measures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Esteem Scale andthe <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Shape Questi<strong>on</strong>naire. Participants then received abrief tutorial <strong>on</strong> how to play Extreme Heat Volleyball andwere asked to select their character. Specifically, participantswere asked to select a female character and selectwhich color <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> bathing suit the character was to have. Inorder to complete this task, the female participants wereforced to look at each character’s body and see which color<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> bathing suit looked good <strong>on</strong> them. All female characterswere very thin with large breasts and had the supermodellikeappearance. After the character selecti<strong>on</strong> was completed,participants played the video game for 15 min. Afterthat time frame had subsided, participants completed thepost-video game questi<strong>on</strong>naires, which c<strong>on</strong>sisted <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Esteem Scale, the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g> Shape Questi<strong>on</strong>naire, ademographic questi<strong>on</strong>naire, and a suspiciousness questi<strong>on</strong>naire.After the final scale was completed, the participantswere thanked and fully debriefed. Since a male and femaleresearch assistant ran the study and interacted with theparticipants, analyses were c<strong>on</strong>ducted to determine if theirpresence influenced the overall results. T tests <strong>on</strong> all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thedependent variables showed that there was a statisticallysignificant difference between the male and female researchassistant for the Weight C<strong>on</strong>cern subscale <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Body</str<strong>on</strong>g>Esteem Scale, t(30)=2.13, p.80, all ps.40, all ps
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