title: Exposure to Barbie: Effects on thin-ideal internalisation, body esteem, and body dissatisfaction among young girls.
abstract: Barbie doll ownership is high among girls in early primary school. It has been suggested that exposure to Barbie impacts negatively on body image. The present study sought to investigate the effect of exposure to Barbie on young girls' thin-ideal internalisation, body esteem, and body dissatisfaction. Participants were 160 girls (aged 5-8 years) from Adelaide, South Australia. They were randomly allocated one of three Barbie conditions (physical engagement, physical observation, print observation) or to a control toy. Results indicated that exposure to Barbie, irrespective of format, led to higher thin-ideal internalisation than exposure to the control, but had no impact on body esteem or body dissatisfaction. This suggests that interacting with Barbie may encourage girls in early primary school to adopt a preference for a thin body, but with no immediate effect on body image. The long-term impact of Barbie exposure on body image remains unknown.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: karlie.rice@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Karlie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: ivanka.prichard@flinders.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ivanka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prichard
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tiggemann
authors.affiliation: Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Slater
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D049628:Body Size; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D013021:South Australia
keywords: Barbie doll; Body dissatisfaction; Body esteem; Body image; Thin-ideal internalisation; Young girls