Looking Up and Seeing Green: Women’s Everyday Experiences with Physical Appearance Comparisons

From Sonoma State: Heather Smith, a psychologist, will speak on her work “Looking Up and Seeing Green: Women’s Everyday Experiences with Physical Appearance Comparisons” at the School of Social Sciences Brown Bag, Tuesday, Oct. 18 from noon to 1 p.m., in Stevenson 2011.  

Psychological research documents the extent to which the body-image and self-worth of white women and girls, in particular, are shaped by social comparisons.

However, researchers rarely investigate how often women make physical appearance comparisons during their everyday lives. For one week, in response to three daily text messages, 87 women recorded whether they made a comparison and if so, the topic, the target and how they felt. 

Discussion describes types of physical comparisons, feelings of envy, and a surprising effect of friends’ demographic diversity.  

Faculty, staff, students, and interested others are invited to bring your brown bag lunch, relax, and enjoy the rich diversity of faculty’s recent research in the School of Social Sciences.