Shifts in Media Images of Women Appearance & Social Status from 1960 to 2010: A Content Analysis of Beauty Advertisements in Two Australian Magazines

Ageing well and successful ageing have become important themes to describe how older individuals should keep ageing at bay. Products and services aimed at controlling ageing have become associated with ageing well. 

In this study we aimed to analyse the representation of older women in advertisements specific to appearance and ageing. In particular, we sought to explore how ageing for women was presented in the media over a period 50 years and when advertisements began to use the term 'anti-ageing'. 

A content analysis of 710 advertisements from two prominent Australian women's magazines, from 1960 to 2010, was conducted. Analyses showed that advertisements provided a narrow range of images representing women's physical appearance. 

The underlying messages were that ageing is problematic and that it had become unforgivable to show any signs of ageing. Text contained in advertisements for beauty products from the two chosen Australian magazines often gave specific and prescriptive advice to women on ways to avoid losing their youthful appearance. 

It was concluded that media relay powerful messages to spread and modify cultural beliefs informing individuals of a range of options that propose liberation from the problem of ageing.

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By:  Brown A1, Knight T1.

• 1School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood Campus, 23 Colstan Court, Mt. Eliza, Vic, 3930, Australia. 

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Structure Matters: The Role of Clique Hierarchy in the Relationship Between Adolescent Social Status and Aggression and Prosociality

Peer cliques form an important context for the social development of adolescents. Although clique members are often similar in social status, also within cliques, status differences exist. How differences in social status between clique members are related to behaviors of its individual members is rather unknown. 

This study examined to what extent the relationship of individual social status (i.e., perceived popularity) with aggression and prosocial behavior depends on the level of internal clique hierarchy. The sample consists of 2674 adolescents (49.8 % boys), with a mean age of 14.02. We focused specifically on physical and relational aggression, and practical and emotional support, because these behaviors have shown to be of great importance for social relationships and social standing among adolescents. The internal status hierarchy of cliques was based on the variation in individual social status between clique members (i.e., clique hierarchization) and the structure of status scores within a clique (pyramid shape, inverted pyramid, or equal distribution of social status scores) (i.e., clique status structure). 

The results showed that differences in aggressive and prosocial behaviors were particularly moderated by clique status structure: aggression was stronger related to individual social status in (girls') cliques where the clique status structure reflected an inverted pyramid with relatively more high status adolescents within the clique than low status peers, and prosocial behavior showed a significant relationship with individual social status, again predominantly in inverted pyramid structured (boys' and girls') cliques. Furthermore, these effects differed by types of gender cliques: the associations were found in same gender but not mixed-gender cliques. 

The findings stress the importance of taking into account internal clique characteristics when studying adolescent social status in relationship to aggression and prosociality.

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/bkG8aN

By:  Pattiselanno K1, Dijkstra JK2, Steglich C2, Vollebergh W3, Veenstra R2.

• 1Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology, Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands. k.l.pattiselanno@rug.nl.
• 2Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology, Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
• 3Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Utrecht Centre of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan, 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. 

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Aggressive and Prosocial? Examining Latent Profiles of Behavior, Social Status, Machiavellianism, and Empathy

The present study tests whether aggression and prosocial behavior can coexist as part of a socially functional and adaptive profile among early adolescents. Using a person-centered approach, the study examined early adolescents' likelihood of being classified into profiles involving aggressive and prosocial behavior, social status (popular, liked, cool), machiavellianism, and both affective and cognitive components of empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking, respectively). 

Participants were 1170 early adolescents (10-12 years of age; 52 % male) from four schools in metropolitan Santiago, Chile. Through latent profile analysis, three profiles emerged (normative-low aggressive, high prosocial-low aggressive, and high aggressive-high popular status). Both empathic concern and perspective taking were higher in the high prosocial-low aggressive profile, whereas the high aggressive-high popular status profile had the lowest scores on both empathy components as well as machiavellianism. No profile emerged where aggressive and prosocial behaviors were found to co-exist, or to be significantly above the mean. 

The results underscore that aggressive behavior is highly contextual and likely culturally specific, and that the study of behavioral profiles should consider social status as well as socio-emotional adjustment indicators. These complex associations should be taken into consideration when planning prevention and intervention efforts to reduce aggression or school bullying and to promote positive peer relationships.

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By:  Berger C1, Batanova M2, Cance JD3.

• 1Escuela de Psicologia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, 7820436, Santiago, Chile. cberger@uc.cl.
• 2Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. milena.batanova@tufts.edu.
• 3The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. jdcance@austin.utexas.edu. 

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