A Sociological Study or the Effect of Western Values and Mass Media on Body Image (The Case of 15-and-above Years Old Women in Tabriz)

Body image is a complicated phenomenon including physiological, psychological and sociological indexes. Recently, new studies are conducted about body image. From a psychological perspective, it is defined, as "an image of the body one has in mind and the way that the body is seen". In fact, Body image is a mentality means that everyone is concerned with his /her appearance. Much of this mindset, positive or negative, roots in values of the society in which it is promoted. In every society, there are certain patterns and characteristics associated with cultural ideals of beauty and the ways that female body should look and appear. One specific example of this, which is accepted in most societies, is being slim. However, appearance and its ideals have a broad meaning and cannot be considered only from a physiological perspective. Instead, it can be studied from a sociological perspective, as it is the society which dictates the appropriate appearance for people. To the extent that a person tries to have an acceptable appearance, he or she is accepted by the community. The society and culture in which a person is born and grows, teaches them how to define and interpret many of the changes that occur in the body. It is through our perceptions of our body that we come to understand how to establish relations with others, and may also affect the responses that we receive from others. Considering the fact that mass media and Western values are among the most important influential sources by which body image is defined, this study examines the relationship between Western values and mass media with body image The statistical population of this study includes all 15-and-above years old women in Tabriz. Sample size was chosen through Cochran Formula, according to which 316 women were selected by means of cluster sampling method. This study is done through survey method and we used questionnaire for collecting the data. Also, we analyzed the data by using SPSS software. Discussion of Results and The results of the study show that there is a positive and significant correlation between Western values and the effects of mass media with body image. Two variables, namely internalizing Western values and using the Internet, could totally explain 19% of the variance of body image. The existence of such positive relationship between body image from one hand and mass media and western values on the other hand, is in contrast with similar studies in other countries. This difference could be attributed to cultural differences between Iran and other countries.