Abstract
The present study examined the appearance concerns of 440 engaged women recruited from bridal websites across Australia. Participants completed a short online questionnaire incorporating measures of appearance investment, dietary restraint, and their pre-wedding beauty preparation plans. Overall, brides-to-be reported similar levels of both facets of appearance investment (self-evaluative salience and motivational salience) to normative samples. High appearance investment and dietary restraint were significantly related to a greater number of pre-wedding beauty, diet, and exercise regimes. Furthermore, pre-wedding plans were predicted differently by the two facets of appearance investment. Specifically, self-evaluative salience predicted wedding weight discrepancy, while motivational salience was a significant predictor of both appearance-related and exercise/eating behaviors. Results indicate that reducing the focus on appearance surrounding weddings and promoting a healthier bridal weight ideal may be useful in discouraging harmful appearance altering behaviors and attitudes (e.g., tanning, surgery, desire to lose weight) among women with high appearance investment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 282-286 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Body Image |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2011 |
Keywords
- Appearance investment
- Body image
- Brides
- Diet
- Weddings
- Weight