Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of media as a source of social comparison and self-esteem on university students’ body-related decisions, such as doing physical exercise, going on a diet or the desire to look like the people in the media, as far as body-related features are concerned. A questionnaire was designed consisting of the Media and Social Comparison Scale (Sohn and Jonason 2002) and the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1965) together, with additional questions on demographics to achieve above mentioned aim. Some 381 undergraduate students participated in the research, all from the Faculty of Communication, Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey. This study indicates that both genders first compare themselves with people in the media and later, try to look like them. For males, the motivation for doing exercise and going on a diet is found to be higher than females, whose self-esteem and body comparison with the people in the media has a negative relationship.