I designed and conducted this survey on body image and the media\’s impact for my college thesis. It was published on surveymonkey.com to college-aged women.

1. Body Image Satisfaction in Female College Students Survey
1. Age1 (in years):
2. What is your class? (circle one)
First Year Sophomore Junior Senior
3. Race2 (circle one):
White Asian
Black or African American Hispanic
Latino/Latina Other (print race)
4. Do you read women’s fashion magazines (Vogue, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan,
Glamour, etc)?
Yes No (if no, skip to question 6)
5. If yes, how often do you read women’s fashion magazines?
Several times a week
Once a week
Once a month
A few times a year
Never
6. Self-Esteem Index3 (Rosenberg 1965: 17-18)
1. On the whole I am satisfied with myself
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
2. At times I think I am no good at all
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
4. I am able to do things as well as most other people
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
6. I certainly feel useless at times
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
7. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
8. I wish I could have more respect for myself
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
9. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
10. I take a positive attitude towards myself
1
Question from American Community Survey 2006
2
Question from American Community Survey 2006
3
Scoring of Self-Esteem Index: Items 1,3-4, 7, 10: 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly
agree; Items 2,5-6, 8-9: 1=strongly agree, 2=agree, 3=disagree, 4=strongly disagree

2. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
7. Are women expected to look a certain way in American culture? (circle one)
Yes No
Continue onto question 8.
8. Describe American culture’s ideal body shape for women in a few short sentences:
9. Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale (SATAQ)4 (from
http://bodyimagedistrubance.usf.edu/sat/index.htm)
Please read the following items carefully and indicate the number that best reflects your
agreement with the statement.
Definitely disagree = 1
Mostly disagree = 2
Neither agree nor disagree = 3
Mostly agree = 4
Definitely agree = 5
1. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to lose weight
2. I do not care if my body looks like the body of people who are in magazines
3. I compare my body to the bodies of people who are in magazines
4. I do not feel pressure from magazines to look pretty
5. I would like my body to look like models who appear in magazines
6. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to be thin
7. I would like my body to look like the people who are in magazines
8. I do not compare my body to the bodies of people who appear in magazines
9. Magazine articles are not an important source of information about fashion
and “being attractive”
10. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to have a perfect body
11. I wish I looked like the models in magazines
12. I compare my appearance to the appearance of people in magazines
13. Magazine advertisements are an important source of information about
fashion and “being attractive”
14. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to diet
15. I compare my body to that of people in “good shape”
16. Pictures in magazines are an important source of information about fashion
and “being attractive”
17. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to exercise
18. I compare my body to that of people who are athletic
19. I’ve felt pressure from magazines to change my appearance
4
Internalization- General items: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 20 Internalization- Athlete items: 15, 18 Pressures:
items: 1, 4, 6, 10, 14, 17, 19 Information: items: 9, 13, 16, 21, Reverse-keyed items: 2, 4, 8, 9, 20, 21

3. 20. I do not try to look like the people in magazines
21. Supermodels are not an important source of information about fashion and
“being attractive”
22. Famous people are an important source of information about fashion and
“being attractive”
Miglinas, Kristin. “The Influence of Day Preference on Body Image and Mood in
College-Aged Women”. Saint Anselm College Department of Psychology. Retrieved
November 15, 2007.
<http://www.anselm.edu/internet/psych/theses/2005/miglinas/webpage.html>
Instructions:
Please take time to look at each of the 9 figures and answer questions 10- 12 regarding
them. Answer each question with the numbers below the figures.
10. Which of these 9 figures do you think most closely resembles your body at the
present time?
11. Which figure do you think males your age find most attractive?
12. If you could choose, which of these 9 figures would you most like to look like?
13. How do you feel about your body?
Proud Content Neutral Dissatisfied

4. 14. How do you feel about these parts of your body (Wooley and Wooley 1984)?
Proud Content Neutral Dissatisfied
Breasts
Stomach
Buttocks
Hips
Waist
Legs
Thighs
Calves
15. Does your weight affect the way you feel about yourself?
Never Sometimes Often
16. How concerned are you with weight gain?
Very concerned Somewhat concerned Not concerned at all
17. Which of the following have you used to control your weight, if any (Wooley and
Wooley 1984)?
Never Sometimes Often
Calorie restriction
Crash diet
Liquid formula diet
Exercise
Diet pills
Laxatives
Diuretics (water pills)
Fasting/starving
Self-induced vomiting
18. Height (in feet and inches): Weight (in pounds):