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A content analysis of 28 different prime-time television situation comedies examined the body weights of 52 central female characters (88% White, 10% Black, 2% Asian), the verbal comments they received from other characters as a function of body weight, and their self-comments with respect to their own body weight, shape and dieting behaviors. Compared with the general population, below average central female characters were over-represented in situation comedies; above average weight characters were under-represented.

Older children and young adolescents spend almost 25% of their awake time watching television (four hours per day; e.g., Liebert & Sprafkin, 1988). Therefore, television has the potential to create and reinforce particular social values, stereotypes and behaviors as well as alter young viewers' perceptions of reality (Liebert & Sprafkin, 1988; Sipiora, 1991). One area of recent concern has been the "ideal" female body attractiveness stereotypes presented in television advertising and programming. For example, Ogletree, Williams, Raffeld, Mason and Fricke (1990) found that the vast majority (86%) of appearance enhancement advertisements on television target young female viewers. In 1980, Kaufman reported that relatively few prime-time TV characters were overweight (12%) and under-represented the proportion of overweight individuals in the general population; six years later, Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson and Kelly (1986) found that 5% of female TV characters were rated as "heavy," whereas 69% of female characters were rated as "thin." This suggests a trend towards an increasingly thinner stereotype of the female body on television.

Exposure to these stereotypes likely models and reinforces the association between thinness in women and characteristics such as physical attractiveness, desirability, personal self-worth, and success (Garner, Garfinkel & Olmstead, 1983). It has been suggested that this may lead some young women to internalize the thin ideal stereotype and form a distorted mental construction of themselves which results in dissatisfaction with their bodies (Downs & Harrison, 1985; Ogletree et al., 1990; Salmons, Lewis, Rogers, Gotherer & Booth, 1988). Myers and Biocca (1992) found that watching only 30 minutes of TV programming and advertising can alter a young woman's perception of the shape of her body, indicating that body image is malleable and can be influenced by observing ideal body shapes. Levine, Smolak and Hayden (1994) found that ideas about having an attractive body shape, the drive to be slender, and dieting were related to television viewing and magazine reading for many females.

Past research on the contents of television programs examine general programming, much of which pre- and young adolescents do not watch. Also, research examining the effects of televised body images has focused upon late adolescents and adults rather than younger and more impressionable viewers. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the occurrence of the two most powerful social influence variables on television (Bandura, 1965, 1969, 1977, 1986; Fouts, 1977), modeling and vicarious reinforcement, in the programs that pre- and young adolescent viewers watch in great numbers. Situation comedies (e.g., "Friends," "Home Improvement") were the focus of this study because they are the preferred programs of 10-16 year old females and they watch an average of 14 situation comedies per week (Fouts & Burggraf, 1997). Thus, these programs are the most likely to influence young female viewers who are at the stage when their body self-concept and self-esteem are developing.

Repeated exposure to female characters' modeling the thin ideal may be particularly detrimental for individuals predisposed to developing an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa. Not only do thin models present body images that young viewers may internalize and use to judge and motivate themselves, they may also model the means (e.g., dieting) for achieving unrealistic body shapes. For example, Hamilton and Waller (1993) found that exposure to female fashion images contributes to overestimation of body weight by young women with eating disorders. Similarly, Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw and Stein (1994) found a direct relationship between overall media exposure (TV and magazines combined) and eating disorder symptomatology. The present study examines the body images and dieting behaviors that central female characters in situation comedies model for young viewers. It was expected that there would be more belowaverage weight characters than above-average weight characters.

The positive and negative verbal comments these characters received regarding their bodies was also examined. This social influence variable has not been examined by researchers. This is unfortunate because observing vicarious reinforcement has been shown to have a major influence on young viewers (e.g., Bandura, 1965, 1977). For example, vicarious positive reinforcement and punishment provide information to young viewers as to what is and is not acceptable, respectively, as well as motivation and inhibition, respectively, for engaging in modeled behavior. Thus, the combination of modeling of thinness and the receipt of positive reinforcement (e.g., verbalizations such as "You look great!" or "Wow!") may increase the internalization of the modeling and influence young viewers' behaviors more than either modeling or positive reinforcement alone. Similarly, observing a heavier model and her receipt of negative comments about her weight from others may present a strong emotional message, leading the viewer to be dissatisfied with her body and wanting to be like the thin models she observes. The combination of differential modeling and reinforcement is the most influential means to shape behavior (e.g., Aronfreed, 1968; Bandura, 1965, 1977). This is consistent with Stice (1994) and the research by Toro, Salamero and Martinez (1994) who found that the degree of exposure to social models and verbal messages significantly differentiates anorexics and non-eating disordered women. It was expected that thin female characters on television would receive more positive comments about their bodies than heavier characters, with the latter receiving more negative comments about their bodies.

The modeling of self-reinforcement on situation comedies may also be of importance for young viewers. Verbal self-reinforcement reflects the internalization of the values of external agents of reinforcement and/or cultural values (e.g., Bandura, 1986) as well as levels of self-esteem. Therefore, the observation of self-reinforcement associated with body shape and weight may give young viewers the messages that (a) self-esteem should be related to how one looks, and (b) in the case of negative self-statements, that is it acceptable to denigrate oneself based upon how one appears physically. Therefore, it is important to know whether such modeling occurs on popular programs that young viewers watch. It was expected that thin characters would make more positive comments about themselves (e.g., "Don't I look fantastic!") than heavier characters, with heavier characters making more negative comments about themselves (e.g., "Ugh, I need to lose weight.").

And finally, it was expected that thinner and heavier female characters would make more positive and negative comments, respectively, about other characters' weight or body shape. That is, television characters may model behaviors that reflect a belief that it is acceptable to expect and reward thinness in others and punish (e.g., harass) those who are overweight. Thus, the present study extends previous notions of modeling thinness by examining various kinds of modeling and the complex combination of modeling and vicarious reinforcement for young viewers.

METHOD

Twenty-eight different prime-time situation comedies were available (broadcast, cable) in the Calgary metropolitan area in the week of October 9-16, 1996. Each program was half an hour in length and recorded between 7-10 p.m.; there were no repetitions of the same program. Within these programs, 52 female characters (88% White, 10% Black, 2% Asian) were identified as central characters, i.e., characters who appeared weekly on the programs and the actors were listed as "stars" of the programs (e.g., for "Friends," Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston).

Each character was separately observed and coded for the following variables: Age, body weight, dieting, and verbal reinforcements. The age of the character was coded as teenager, 20-35, 36-50 or 50+ years; characters who appeared younger than teenagers were not coded. Body weight was coded by comparing each character's body weight and shape to the 12 visual images developed by Singh (1993a, 1993b) which systematically vary from below average to above average in weight. There were three categories ("below average," "average" and "above average") employed in the present study with four of the 12 images in each category. Each character was coded as being in one of these three categories when a match was found between the character and one of the 12 images. Dieting and food restriction were coded by recording whether or not the central female character displayed these behaviors or made verbal references to these behaviors (e.g., drinking diet beverages; saying "No dessert for me, I'm watching my weight.")

There were eight measures of verbal reinforcement: (a) frequency of positive comments made by males about or to a central female character regarding her weight or body (e.g., "You look great! Have you lost weight?"); (b) frequency of positive comments by other female characters; (c) frequency of negative comments made by males (e.g., "You're too fat to wear that dress in public!"); (d) frequency of negative comments by other female characters; (e) frequency of positive comments (positive selfcomments) made by the central female character about her own weight or body (e.g., "I'm a size four! I look great!"); (f) her frequency of positive comments about other female characters; (g) frequency of negative comments (negative self-comments) made by the central female character about her own weight or body (e.g., "My behind looks huge in this bathing suit!"); and (h) her frequency of negative comments about other female characters.

Interobserver reliability was ascertained by randomly selecting 20 of the 28 situation comedies and having each character independently coded by two trained observers. The observers were trained by providing them with exemplars for each variable and practicing coding on videotapes of television programs not employed in the present study. Discrepancies were resolved and coding criteria refined. After this training, the observers independently coded the situation comedies without further discussion. Interobserver reliabilities were obtained by calculating the percentages of agreement for each of the 11 variables. Reliabilities for 10 of the 11 variables were moderate to high: age (.92), body weight categorization (.68), dieting behavior (.88), positive comments by males (.72), positive comments by females (.80), negative comments by females (.80), positive self-comments by central female characters (.92), negative self-comments by central female characters (.76), positive comments made about another female by central female characters (.92), and negative comments made about another female by central female characters (.92). Negative comments by males had a low interobserver reliability (.60) and this variable was deleted from further statistical analyses.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A majority of the central female characters (69%) were between the ages of 20-35; 21% were between the ages of 36-50;10% were teenagers; none were over 50. These percentages are inconsistent with age data from the U.S. Census Bureau (1998) which indicate that 21% of the female population is between the ages of 20-35 and 27% of the female population is over 50. Thus, younger female central characters are over-represented in situation comedies and older central female characters are under-represented.

Out of the 52 central female characters, 33% were below average in weight, with 60% and 7% being average and above average in weight, respectively. This is in contrast to actual prevalence rates of below-average weight women (25% of 20-24 year olds) and above average weight women (26% of 20-34 year olds; Statistics Canada,1994; National Center for Health Statistics, USA, 1994). The over- and under-representation of being below and above average weight, respectively, on television is consistent with the results of Kaufman (1980), Silverstein et al. (1986), and Dietz (1990). Thus, television programs that older children and young adolescents prefer watching present a distorted and unrealistic picture of women's bodies in society.

Turning to verbal reinforcements made about central female characters' weight, shape or bodies by other television characters, it was found that 46% of the central female characters received positive comments from male television characters regarding their weight, shape or bodies; and 21% of the central female characters received positive comments from other female television characters regarding their weight, shape or bodies. A oneway ANOVA revealed that male television characters made significantly more positive comments about female characters' weight, shape or bodies than did other female television characters (F[1,51] = 5.2, p < .001). The message for female viewers of situation comedies appears to be that males are expected to pay attention to women's bodies and make comments regarding their bodies more than do females. The message for male viewers is that it is acceptable, even desirable, to make positive comments about women's bodies.

It was found that the thinner the female character, the more positive comments she received from males (r = -.30, p < .OS). Thus, the message for young female viewers is that one has to be slim in order to be found attractive by the opposite sex, and the way to elicit approval is by achieving a low weight or thin shape. The message for young male viewers is that it is acceptable to differentially respond to women according to their body weights, and especially to withhold positive comments from heavier women.

No relationships were found between central female characters' body weight or shape and negative comments; i.e., heavier characters did not receive nor did they make more negative comments than their slimmer counterparts. This is not surprising since situation comedies (a) emphasize positive and humorous reactions from others, e.g., there were 15% more positive than negative comments; and (b) avoid over-weight issues through their under-representation of heavier people.

The dieting of central female characters was examined. Twelve percent of the central female characters dieted or restricted food as indicated by their behavior or verbalizations that they were doing so. There was no significant correlation (r = -.15,p > .OS) between central female characters' weight and their involvement with dieting; thus, situation comedies may be reflecting the fact that in North America, many women diet who are healthy and not overweight. Interestingly, the more female characters engaged in dieting activities, the more they made negative comments about themselves (r = -.31, p < .05; e.g., "I look huge in these pants! "). Uttering negative comments about themselves likely reflects their negative selfesteem, since dieting women tend to have lower self-esteem than nondieting women (e.g., Chandarana, Helmes & Benson, 1988; Rees, 1996; Rodin, Silberstein & Striegel-Moore, 1984). The message for young female viewers appears to be that it is acceptable for dieting adults to make negative comments about themselves, regardless of whether they have weight issues or not. This is consistent with the behavior of many dieting individuals who justify dieting based upon their distorted perceptions of their bodies (Heilbrun & Friedberg, 1990) and/or the attention they receive for being negative about themselves. The combination of modeling of dieting and providing a rationale for the dieting (self-comments) may be particularly potent in influencing young females to consider dieting.

The more female characters were involved in dieting, the more they made negative comments about other women's weight and bodies (r = -.37, p < .OS). This suggests a projection of their own body issues and likely lower self-esteem. The message for young viewers is that it is acceptable for dieters to denigrate and perhaps harass others who are not dieting. Thus, situation comedies model victimization of others based upon one's own issues associated with weight. There were no other significant findings related to dieting.

In summary, the present study provides evidence that the thin female ideal is clearly presented in the types of television programs that older children and young adolescents predominantly view. Young viewers not only observe the modeling of thin female characters, but also observe their success in receiving positive comments from males. They also observe dieting and negative verbalizations indicating low self-esteem. For young female viewers, the combination of observing modeling and verbal reinforcement are two of the most powerful behavioral change influences (Aronfreed, 1968; Bandura, 1965) that they experience, and this may contribute to their internalization of the thin ideal and may put them at risk for developing eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia (Stice et al., 1994). Concomitantly, young male viewers also view this modeling and vicarious reinforcement and may learn to expect and pressure females to achieve thin bodies through their comments.

Stice, E. (1994). Review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 633-661. Stice, E., Schupak-Neuberg, E., Shaw, H. E., & Stein, R. I. (1994). Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomatology: an examination of mediating mechanisms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 836-840.

Toro, J., Salamero, M., & Martinez, E. (1994). Assessment of sociocultural influences on the aesthetic body shape model in anorexia nervosa. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 89, 147-151.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1998). www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile2-1.txt. U.S. Census Bureau (1997). www.bls.census.gov/cps/pub/1997/m_status.htm.