Running head: The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 1

Is Tanning Related to Need for Acceptance?

Erica Bewley, Natalie Kent, and Emilee Roberts

Hanover College

PSY 220: Research Design and Statistics

Winter 2012

The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 2

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationship between tanning and the need for acceptance. 76 participants (56 females and 20 males) were randomly sampled to complete an online questionnaire sent via email. The questionnaire was designed to measure each participant’s need for acceptance, attitudes toward tanning, and tanning behaviors. There was a significant positive correlation between attitudes toward tanning and scores on the need for acceptance scale, r(76) = +0.43, p < .001, indicating that people with attitudes more in favor of tanning scored higher on the need for acceptance scale. In addition, women scored significantly higher on the need for acceptance scale than men, t(33.39) = 2.35, p < 0.025. On average, females scored 2.50, while men scored 2.12. The 95% confidence interval for the effect of gender on scores on the need for acceptance scale is between 0.05 and 0.7 points.

The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 3

Is Tanning Related to Need for Acceptance?

Tanning is the act of going to an indoor tanning salon, laying outside, or using lotion in order to increase the pigmentation of your skin to make appear darker. Indoor tanning salons consist of tanning beds, which contain UV lights that serve as artificial sunlight in order to create a tan. Outdoor tanning would obviously result in color from the natural sun, and spray tanning coats the skin with a layer of dark color.

People partake in various appearance-related behaviors. Appearance-related behaviors not only include actions that influence a person’s physical appearance, but affect their social appearance as well. One fairly new behavior that has swept through the United States is the use of tanning beds. There are endless reasons why someone would choose to take part in the act; one reason, interestingly enough, might be linked with a person’s need for acceptance.

Prior to the 20th century, pale skin was often perceived as a mark of beauty, wealth, and refinement in Western countries. Tanned skin in the period was considered to be typical of manual laborers, linked to their working outside. According to an overview of fashion magazines, the trend for wanting tanned skin started in 1928 (Martin et al., 2009). Today, people with tan skin are often perceived as more beautiful, intelligent, and attractive than people with pale skin (Cox et al., 2009). Tanning has become a normal activity in many people’s lives. One reason for this is that tanned skin is perceived as attractive. When men are given the option of deciding if a woman is more intelligent if she is dark tan, versus medium tan, they almost always choose the girl with the darkened skin (Banerjee, Campo, & Greene, 2008). This The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 4 displays the importance of understanding why people are so motivated to live up to cultural standards even when such efforts compromise health and safety (Cox et al., 2009)

However, studies have linked UV rays to skin cancer. Studies have shown that indoor tanning leads to similar, if not worse, adverse health effects than the sun (Lessin, Perlis, & Zook,

2012). A study by Knight et al. (2002) showed that more than 90% of tanning bed users were knowledgeable of the risks of premature aging and skin cancer but continued to tan for cosmetic reasons (Martin et al.,).Terror management theory (TMT) argues that individuals are motivated to live up to culturally derived standards because doing so confers self-esteem (Cox et al., 2009).

So why do some people use tanning, while others choose not to? Studies show that it could be a psychological motivation as to why people choose to engage in a behavior that they know to be unhealthy. A study by Park (2007) stated that people who had high appearance- based rejection sensitivity were more likely to show eating disorders than those that didn’t.

Compared with tanning, it could be that the general need for acceptance in societies could lead people to tan, although they know the health risks.

Is there a relation between tanning and the need for acceptance within college students? Students that tan are more likely to give regards to their peers’ opinions than students that do not tan. To justify this assumption, people who tan often are more aware of the effect of appearance on acceptance. Just as they are concerned with “fitting in”, they would be more likely to tan in order to feel accepted. To try and justify our accusations, we randomly sampled students at Hanover College by giving them a survey. Questions were asked about attitudes toward tanning, need for acceptance, and actual tanning behaviors. We expect that The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 5 the need for acceptance will be positively correlated with attitudes toward tanning and tanning behavior.

Method

Participants

A total of 76 participants were included in this experiment. The participants were college students, ranging in age from 18 to 22. There were 20 males (26%) and 56 females (74%), with the majority (95%) Caucasian. The average year born was 1991. Participation in this study was volunteer-based.

Materials

The material used in this study will be a questionnaire, online informed consent forms, and debriefing forms. There was a total of fifteen questions on the administered questionnaire.

Seven questions measured the need for acceptance. For instance, “I feel self-conscious when

I’m around people in a superior position.” Seven questions were used to measure attitudes toward tanning. For instance, “Being tan is worth it, even if it results in some skin damage.” One question was used to determine the extent to which each participant participated in indoor tanning. All questions used a 5 point Likert scale.

Procedure

Participants were randomly sampled from the student email directory and administered the questionnaire via email. Each participant was directed to a webpage containing the consent form. The informed consent form directed the focus of the study to the correlation between The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 6 gender and tanning. Participants had to select “Continue” to proceed with the questionnaire.

After participants answered all of the questions, the next page contained the debriefing form.

Results

Figure 1. Attitudes toward tanning and need for acceptance. This illustrates the correlation between scores on the need for acceptance scale (ACCEPT) and attitudes toward tanning (ATT).

We computed mean scores for both the need for acceptance and attitudes toward tanning from averaging the participants’ responses to the seven item need for acceptance questionnaire and the seven item attitude toward tanning questionnaire. Scores range from 1 to 5, with one being low levels of need for acceptance and attitudes opposing tanning.

Figure 1 shows the relationship between scores on the need for acceptance scale and scores on the attitudes towards tanning questionnaire. We expected to find a positive The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 7 correlation between the two. There was a significant positive correlation between attitudes toward tanning and scores on the need for acceptance scale, r(76) = +0.425, p < .001. This correlation indicates that people with attitudes more in favor of tanning scored higher on the need for acceptance scale.

Figure 2. The relationship between indoor tanning use and need for acceptance. This illustrates the correlation between indoor tanning behavior and scores on the need for acceptance scale (ACCEPT). ATT signifies the measure of attitudes.

Based on the questionnaire item, “I do not go tanning inside,” (with 1 being Strongly

Disagree and 5 being Strongly Agree), participants who went tanning inside on a more frequent basis (answering with a 1) had a higher mean score on the need for acceptance scale (see

Figure 2). To broaden the topic we decided to test both men and women to determine need for The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 8 acceptance. The dots are color-coded based on gender. Each participant answered seven questions to determine their need for acceptance score. We omitted one item to increase reliability. We reverse-scored one item on the need for acceptance scale. Participants answered seven questions based on attitudes toward indoor tanning. We reverse-scored three items on the questionnaire for attitudes toward indoor tanning. Cronbach’s alpha for the need for acceptance scale is 0.723; the alpha for attitudes toward tanning is 0.833.

Figure 3. Relationship between need for acceptance and attitudes toward tanning with respect to gender. This illustrates the differences in mean scores on the need for acceptance scale (ACCEPT).

Figure 3 shows the best fit lines for both males and females. Gender was tested to calculate if there was a difference between men and women and their relationship to tanning. The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 9

According to Welch's t-test, t(33.39) = 2.35, p < 0.025 women scored higher on the need for acceptance than men. In addition to the gender difference, the slope of the line was similar for men and women. This fact suggests that the relationship between need for acceptance and tanning is similar for men and women.

We led our participants to believe that we were studying the relationship between gender and tanning. Although gender was not our main focus, we analyzed the data to determine the relationships. Scores on the need for acceptance scale varied significantly for the two groups according to Welch's t-test, t(33.39) = 2.35, p < 0.025. On average, females scored

2.50, while men scored 2.12. The 95% confidence interval for the effect of gender on scores on the need for acceptance scale is between 0.05 and 0.7 points. Scores on the attitudes toward indoor tanning differed, but were not significant according to Welch’s t-test, t(48.32) = 1.07, p =

0.289.

Discussion

We hypothesized that people who tanned more often were more concerned with people’s opinions; thus, suggesting a higher need for acceptance. The correlation between the question “I do not go tanning inside” (With one disagreeing and five being agreeing) and the scores on the Need for Acceptance scale was significant- supporting our hypothesis.

The study we conducted did give us useful information; however the study could have given more significant results had we made a few changes. The majority of our questions were on a five point Likert scale. A six point Likert scale may have been more beneficial; this may not allow subjects to select a neutral answer. When using the six point Likert scale- even if the participant felt indifferent about the question- he/she may still choose whether he/she agreed The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 10 or disagreed more with the statement, which collectively gives the researcher an advantage

(Bishop, 1987). Unfortunately, after the questionnaire was administered we realized a few flaws within our questions as well. Many of our questions pertained to attitudes towards tanning rather than the participant’s actual tanning behaviors. Had we collected more data with regards to tanning behavior, we could have provided a much more reliable measure of tanning, increasing the statistical power of our tests. We included questions pertaining to the need for acceptance in the questionnaire, but after administering it we realized that many of the questions we thought would apply to need for acceptance were related to tanning as well. With more questions that pertained to appearance-related rejection sensitivity, our data could have grasped the participant’s true need for acceptance in a broader matter. This would have been more beneficial to our results.

This study probably would have obtained a stronger correlation between need for acceptance and tanning had it been conducted at a middle/high school. In the middle/high school ages there are more opportunities for more high-visibility social events of tanning. The largest well known reason for indoor tanning is of course prom, which is normally held directly after or during the winter season. In adolescence we are influenced immensely by our peers, in college we are still influenced, but not to the same degree (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007).

In summary, we expected to find a positive relationship between participants’ need for acceptance scores and tanning behaviors and tanning attitudes. Our hypothesis was supported by the data that we collected. Participants who had a higher need for acceptance were more likely to be favorable toward tanning.

The Need for Acceptance and Tanning 11

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