U.S. researchers have found a surprising cultural influence on some boys' drive for muscularity: video gaming magazines.
University of Illinois researchers discovered exposure to video gaming magazines has a stronger influence on pre-adolescent boys' drive for muscularity, or desire for muscle mass, than does exposure to magazines depicting a more realistic muscular male-body ideal.
However, the relationship between video gaming magazines -- "where characters are drawn with extreme muscularity and much more realism than in video games themselves" -- and the drive for muscularity was found only for Caucasian boys, not for African-American boys.
Professor Kristen Harrison and doctoral student Bradley Bond say theirs is the first study to link the gaming magazine genre to boys' body ideals.
"In a nutshell, we found that exposure to video gaming magazines, which are immensely popular, increased boys' subsequent drive for muscularity, more than exposure to other, more realistic 'ideal-body' magazines like sports, fashion and fitness," Harrison said.
The effect, she said, was significant regardless of how thin or fat boys perceived themselves to be.
The study is to be published this summer in the journal Body Image.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Too many choices -- good or bad -- can be mentally exhausting
Each day, we are bombarded with options -- at the local coffee shop, at work, in stores or on the TV at home. Do you want a double-shot soy latte, a caramel macchiato or simply a tall house coffee for your morning pick-me-up" Having choices is typically thought of as a good thing. Maybe not, say researchers who found we are more fatigued and less productive when faced with a plethora of choices.
Children are introduced to sipping and tasting alcohol in the home
“Almost all of the limited scientific literature on alcohol use in children has focused on drinking, not sipping or tasting alcohol,” said John E. Donovan, an associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. “Local community studies seem to show that drinking by children – not sipping – correlates with higher levels of disinhibition, more positive alcohol expectancies, more peer alcohol use, and lower school grades, just as it does in adolescence.”
Goddard Engineers and Divers Multi-Task for Hubble
Ever wonder how NASA astronauts prepare for Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions? I wish I could say it’s rocket science, but what it really comes down to is lots of preparation. And the astronauts spend many hours practicing on intricate, full-sized models of the telescope.
Are women being scared away from math, science, and engineering fields?
Have you ever felt outnumbered? Like there are just not that many people like you around? We’ve all felt outnumbered in one situation or another and walking into a situation in which you sense the possibility of being ostracized or isolated can be quite threatening.
Transparent transistors to bring future displays, 'e-paper'
Researchers have used nanotechnology to create transparent transistors and circuits, a step that promises a broad range of applications, from e-paper and flexible color screens for consumer electronics to "smart cards" and "heads-up" displays in auto windshields.
Sexual stereotypes influence behavior in adult bookstores, study
Visits to adult bookstores elicit behavior that ranges from macho swagger to skulking insecurity in men and bold confidence to adolescent giggling in women, a new University of Florida study finds.
Nokia N80 gets best in mobile image device
Nokia announced Monday that its Nokia N80 was voted Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe 2006 by the Technical Image Press Association.
Interview: Voom HD, cutting edge of tele programming
Voom HD is the little network that's trying hard to push high-definition programming to the masses.