The “aging” population in America has been steadily increasing since the 1960s [1]. Data indicates that in the next ten years, the number of older adults (aged 50 and older) is projected to increase by almost 18 million. However, with this increase in life expectancy, comes the increase in a population of individuals living with chronic conditions. These changes in physical health conditions in older adults are important to consider because of the long-term impacts on mental health. Further, research indicates that for older adults, holding a positive body image is an important factor in later phases of life [2]. Body image has long been documented as having a significant impact on mental health and well-being. Many studies have investigated body image formation in younger adults and its impact on mental health. Yet as we consider an aging population that is steadily increasing in size, it is important to examine the impact of body image issues within the context of the challenges that are unique to this population.

It has been found that a positive body image, especially in women, may assist with improving the aging process, along with overall quality of health. A complex interaction of both internal and external changes heavily influences body image [3]. Examples of these internal changes include mental and physical health issues, whereas external changes include environmental factors, such as retirement, change in family structure, or financial issues. Qualitative studies have suggested that older adults constantly battle this combination of internal and external changes by feeling pressure to age gracefully while resisting appearance changes [10]. Both self-objectification and social comparison theories have traditionally provided the theoretical framework of this phenomenon.

Self-objectification theory finds that women, in particular, are typically acculturated to internalize what they perceive as a primary view of their physical selves [4]. For example, people self-objectify when the perceived consideration of the outsider is internalized. Given that the notion of self-objectification has such a strong influence on young women, it is important to consider the impact that this has on the older population. To explain this a bit further, self-objectification seems to have people viewing themselves from a third person perspective and not a first person perspective [4]. Furthermore, there is limited evidence of self-objectification’s influence on men.

Just as self-objectification lends insight into body image, social comparison is an important aspect to consider when exploring the phenomenon of body image. In particular, social comparison explores the relationship between the media and body image formation. Given that the older population are large consumers of media, particularly social media, exploring the theoretical framework of social comparison and body image is worth noting. Regarding social media, research indicates that 69% of adults between the ages of 50-64 and 40% of those 65 and older use social media, such as Facebook [6]. There is little research to explore the relationship among body image, social media usage, and older adults.

Participant Recruitment and Procedures

This study examined the general attitudes and perceptions of body image in older adults who were participating in organized recreational activities. Participants ranged in age from 50 years of age to 90 years of age. Of the 78 participants, 37% were in the 71 – 80 age group; 36% were in the 61 – 70 age group; the youngest was 50 years of age and the oldest was 90 years of age. Sixty-seven percent of the participants identified as female and 33% identified as male. Most of the participants (83%) were white/Caucasian. Fifty-three percent reported an income above $60,000 per year. Participants were recruited from a number of organized recreational groups in the Southeast portion of the United States. The organized recreational groups were as follows: Senior Olympics multi sports, the YMCA, church groups, and exercise facilities. Data was collected with paper-and-pencil surveys administered by all of the investigators who were available to answer questions by the participants. The University’s Institutional Review Board approved the research activities. Consent for participation was given by voluntary completion of the survey. Participants did not receive incentives for their participation.

Survey

The survey consisted of: 1) demographic information; 2) a scale measuring attitudes toward appearance; 3) a scale measuring body image; and 4) a scale measuring overall Quality of Life.

Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Scale (SATAQ) (38 items) was used to measure body image as influenced by the general media, athletic and sport figures, as well as pressure to conform to the media ideal [4]. The Sociocultural Attitudes toward Appearance Scale is a 38-item survey that is divided into six sections: Importance, Pressure, Internalization – TV/Magazines, Internalization – Athlete, Internalization – Comparison and Awareness. Each item is scored from 1 to 5 with 1 being definitely disagree, 2 being somewhat disagree, 3 being neither disagree nor agree, 4 being somewhat agree and 5 being definitely agree. This instrument has demonstrated high test-retest reliability, high internal consistency, and strong convergent validity for the assessment of attitudes about body image.

Importance – This section (9 items) was designed to determine the importance of “being attractive” as viewed through tv programs, commercials, music videos, magazine articles, advertisements and pictures; movies and movie stars/famous people. An example of an item in this section is “Movies are an important source of information about fashion and ‘being attractive.’” Pressure – This section (7 items) was designed to determine the pressure from tv or magazines to look a certain way or to do certain things. For instance, to lose weight, look pretty, be thin, have a perfect body, to diet, to exercise and to change your appearance. An example of an item in this section is “I’ve felt pressure from TV/Magazines to have a perfect body.” Internalization - TV/Magazine - This section (6 items) was designed to determine the amount of external cues such as TV/Magazines that cause us to want to look different. An example of an item in this section is “I wish I looked like the models in music videos.” Internalization - Athlete – This section (3 items) was designed to determine the amount of external cues from famous athletes that cause us to want to look like them. An example of an item in this section is “I wish I looked as athletic as sports stars.” Internalization - Comparison – This section (4 items) was designed to determine how often and to what extent people may compare themselves to those of movie stars and athletes on TV and in magazines. An example of an item in this section is “I compare my body to the bodies of people who appear in magazines.” Awareness – This section (9 items) was designed to determine the impact of awareness on body image. For instance, awareness of attractiveness, thinness, athleticism, and success. An example of an item in this section is “People who are thin are better looking than people who are overweight.” Figure Rating Scale is composed of nine drawings of bodies that represent the female body and nine drawings of bodies that represent the male bodies that progressively increase in size from very thin to overweight [7] the participants were asked to look at the drawings of the bodies and choose the one that best described themselves. This instrument has demonstrated high test-retest reliability and strong validity for the assessment of thinnes or obesity.

Figure 1: Figure Rating Scale.

Quality of Life Scale consists of a rating from one to five. One is “bad,” two is “poor,” three is “fair,” four is “good,” and five is “excellent.” This allows the participant to describe their best belief of their overall quality of life. At the end of this survey, the researchers added a section for participants’ comments.

The body image survey revealed that all participants were able to identity with one of the images represented on the Figure Rating Scale (2-8). Most participants responded as having an average (M = 5.2) body image according to the scale. This average response rate is reflective of the responses to the Importance, Pressure, Internalization, Awareness, and Quality of Life questions asked in the body image survey.

Table 1: Body Image.

Based on the participant responses, they “somewhat disagreed” to “neither agree nor disagree” with the importance of TV programs (M = 2.5), TV commercials (M= 2.5), music videos (M = 2.2), magazine advertisements (M = 2.7), picture magazine (M = 2.9), movies (M = 2.6), movie stars (M = 2.4), and famous people (M = 2.5) as a source of information on fashion and being attractive. The participant responses on the influence of media on their fashion choices and perception of attractiveness is contrary to the literature [6].

Table 2: Importance.

As indicated by the Table 2 on the Pressures of perception, the participants responded with average scores (somewhat disagree) on the perception of TV and magazines to lose weight (M = 2.2), to look pretty (M = 2.2), to be thin (M =2.2), to have a perfect body (M = 2.2), to diet (M =2.2), to exercise (M = 2.4), and appearance (M = 2.2). This indicates that they do not feel pressure from the media to look a certain way, dress a certain way or feel like they must have the same body type as the people illustrated in the media.

Table 3: Pressure.

The participants mainly responded that they “definitely disagree” to “somewhat disagree” on Internalization TV/Magazine (Table 4) to look like people on TV (M = 2.2), models on magazines (M = 2.0), people in movies (M = 2.2), models in music videos (M = 1.8), people on TV (M =1.8), and people in music videos (M = 1.5). Based on these averages, the participants’ body image was not affected by people in the media.

Table 4: Internalization Tv/Magazine.

The Internalization Athlete (Table 5) identifies that the older adult participants mostly responded “somewhat disagree” to “neither disagree nor agree” with the notion that they should look as athletic as people in magazines (M = 2.6), sport stars (M = 2.3), and sport athletes (M = 2.0). These average numbers are consistent with the responses to the above categories of perception on media influences on body image which insist there was no influence amongst this sample.

Table 5: Internalization Athlete.

Internalization Comparison (Table 6) displays the results of the association between body appearance and media sources. The results show that the participants resoundingly responded with “definitely disagree” that they compared their body to TV and movie stars (M = 1.8), TV and movie stars (M = 1.8), and people in magazines (M = 1.8). The responses suggest that participants’ perception of their own body image was not impacted by media sources.

Table 6: Internalization Comparison.

According to the recorded responses, the participants primarily responded that they “somewhat disagree” to “neither disagree nor agree” to Awareness (Table 7) on the appearance of clothes on people who are attractive (M = 2.0) and people who are thin (M = 3.1). Additionally, the responses on the perception of attractive people’s likeness (2.7) and happiness (2.2) were consistent with previous responses. Furthermore, the older adults identified their opinions of thin people’s physical appearance compared to overweight (M = 2.8), athletic body types looking better (M = 3.0), and physically fit being more attractive (M = 3.3). It is possible that these older adults are content with their body image, as evidenced by their responses, but do see that certain people with certain physical attributes such as thinness and athleticism are more attractive.

The results overwhelmingly showed that the participants scored their quality of life as “good” to “excellent” which is illustrated by the Quality of Life (Table 8) average response (M = 4.5). Overall, responses in the survey are supported by the Quality of Life average score.

Table 8: Quality of Life.

The purpose of this study was to examine general attitudes and perceptions of body image in older adults over the age of 50 who were participating in organized recreational activities. We applied a descriptive approach to interpreting results from 78 older adults. We were able to identify that the attitudes and media pressure towards appearance had an average of “somewhat disagree” to “neither agree nor disagree” responses. Overall, the participants' responses indicated similarities in the lack of influence on body image, which was reflective in the positive outlook on quality of life. The results in the study challenge the idea that there may be a relationship between social media use and body image among older adults. The lack of issues around body image is perhaps because of less media pressures when participants were growing up. High-visual social media is directly correlated with body image issues in the sense that it increases the likelihood that someone could suffer from dissatisfaction of one's physical appearance. Social media platforms such as: Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter are characterized by the continuous influx of multimedia, specifically photos and videos. The impact of multimedia sources has led to a heightened awareness of social influences in the older generation [8]. In other words, older adults recognize physical appearance, but do not seem to be confined to social media’s depiction of attractiveness. Social media use among the older adult population is influenced by the ability to connect with family and friends, rather than self-validation from peers [9]. While younger adults appear to be influenced by pressures of the media, older adults do not appear to be as susceptible to such factors. The participants in this study reported an overall average body image for themselves suggesting that they are happy with their appearance. Majority of the participants related their quality of life as good to excellent, which indicates life satisfaction was not hindered by body image and appearance. A limitation of this study was the lack of evaluation on usage of media. Additionally, this study did not identify the level of exposure to media. Future research should consider including an assessment of social media exposure and usage in comparison to perceptions of body image.

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