The Disney Influence on Kindergarten Girls' Body Image
THE DISNEY INFLUENCE ON KINDERGARTEN GIRLS’ BODY IMAGE Tanawan Asawarachan, B.Ed., M.Ed. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2013 APPROVED: George S. Morrison, Major Professor Harry Benshoff, Committee Member Carol Hagen, Committee Member Anne Rinn, Committee Member Nancy Nelson, Chair of the Department of Teacher Education and Administration Jerry R. Thomas, Dean of the College of Education Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Asawarachan, Tanawan. The Disney Influence on Kindergarten Girls’ Body Image. Doctor of Education (Early Childhood Education), May 2013, 105 pp., 14 tables, reference list, 167 titles. Media is now a part of the early childhood world. In many countries, including industrialized and developing countries, children spend more time consuming various kinds of media. The impact of media on children’s perception of their body images has been and continues to be a concern of parents and early childhood professionals. This research examined the influence of Disney movies on Thai kindergarten girls’ body images and self-esteem. Thai kindergarten girls completed three measures of body self-image: the Body Figure Preference Scale, the Body Esteem Scale, and the Self-Esteem Scale. The girl participants were randomly assigned to two groups: focused on a female theme (FFT) and focused on a non-human theme (FNT). The experimental group viewed “female” Disney movie themes, while the control group viewed “animal” Disney movie themes. Girls in the experimental group expressed greater body image dissatisfaction scores after watching Disney movies, which was an expected finding. Results from the present study suggest that girls in both groups become concerned about their body esteem after video exposure.
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