Examining the Roles of Self-Objectification and Appearance Expectations in Young Women’s Indoor Tanning Behavior

Abstract

Indoor tanning among U.S. young women is a major public health concern that increases risk for skin cancer. Many young women engage in indoor tanning despite the risks, and prior evidence suggests that appearance-related motivations for tanning may outweigh health concerns. The present study examined appearance expectations as a mediator of the association between young women's self-objectification and indoor tanning behavior. Emerging adult college women (n = 332, 18–19-years-old; 66.9% White) provided reports of their self-objectification (operationalized as body surveillance), appearance-related tanning expectations, body esteem, and indoor tanning behavior. Results revealed that higher levels of self-objectification were indirectly associated with women's higher likelihood of indoor tanning. This association was mediated by positive appearance expectations for tanning. These associations appeared to be robust: The mediational model was significant whether body esteem was included as a control variable or not; whether the behavioral outcome was lifetime or past-year indoor tanning; and whether the sample included only White participants or was ethnically heterogeneous. Results suggest that young women who more frequently engage in self-objectification are more likely to engage in indoor tanning and that this association is explained in part by young women's positive appearance-related expectations for tanning. Furthermore, the findings point to indoor tanning as an important and understudied correlate of self-objectification. A deeper understanding of women's appearance-related motivations to tan may in turn facilitate the development of more effective interventions for this high-risk behavior, which remains troublingly common among young women in the United States.

https://ift.tt/2EMEOpx