Associations Between Media Representations of Physical, Personality, and Social Attributes by Gender: A Content Analysis of Children’s Animated Film Characters

Authors

  • María Pilar León González University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression University Alfonso X el Sabio Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Álvaro Infantes Paniagua University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression
  • Tracey Thornborrow University of Lincoln School of Psychology
  • Onofre Contreras Jordán University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression

Keywords:

media, physical attractiveness, children, gender stereotypes, films

Abstract

This study conducted a content analysis of 130 characters from 24 recent popular animated children’s films and examined the associations between physical appearance, personality, and social attributes by gender. We found that physical attractiveness was associated with having more friends and receiving more affection among male characters, and negatively associated with weight status among females. Also, wearing close-fitting clothes was associated with attractiveness among females and with popularity, musculature, and strength among males. However, being muscular, stronger, and taller was associated with less intelligence among males. Regarding gender-stereotyped body ideals, female characters were portrayed as slimmer and attractive more frequently than males, who tended to be larger, muscular, and stronger. Results suggest that mainstream media’s narrow and stereotypically gendered appearance standards are prevalent in content aimed at children and highlight the need for continuing research examining their impact on children’s body image and gender development.

Author Biographies

María Pilar León González, University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression University Alfonso X el Sabio Faculty of Social Sciences

PhDDepartment of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression967599200 (ext. 2581)I did my undergraduate in Primary Education and Physical Education, and two related masters at University of Castilla-La Mancha and Catholic University of San Antonio. I am working at the University of Alfonso X el Sabio as associate lecturer. My thesis project received a four year financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/00137). I also received financial support for a predoctoral stay in United Kingdom, where I spent three months last year. My PhD, which was under the supervision of Professor Onofre Contreras Jordán and Dr. Irene González-Martí, focused on body image among pre-schoolers aged 4 to 6 years old and intends to know how is the development of body image at such early ages. Specifically, it was based on exploring body size perception and body satisfaction/dissatisfaction. My research also involves physical activity and physical education among preschoolers and older children. Also, I collaborate as a researcher in two innovative educational projects and three financed projects.

Álvaro Infantes Paniagua, University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression

PhD studentDepartment of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression967599200 (ext. 2564) Álvaro Infantes-Paniagua is a predoctoral researcher at Faculty of Education of Albacete in the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). He is supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU16/00082). He obtained his Degree in Education from the UCLM in 2015 and a Master’s Degree in educational research and innovation (UCLM) in 2017. A year later, he also obtained another Master’s Degree in teacher for the gifted training from the same institution. His research is focused on gifted students’ self-concept and the relationships between their habits of physical activity and their academic achievement and psychological well-being.

Tracey Thornborrow, University of Lincoln School of Psychology

Coming from a background in broad based anthropology, I obtained my PhD from the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University. Under the supervision of Professor Martin Tovee of University of Lincoln, and Dr Lynda Boothroyd of Durham University, my doctoral research investigated beauty ideals among a rural Nicaraguan population, with the aim of improving our understanding of how environmental factors, particularly the media environment, contribute to appearance ideals and shape body image. I am currently developing further research projects with this population, including the role of body movement in attractiveness judgements, and men's body image. I am also involved in several projects with researchers in Spain, Argentina, and the U.S, looking at both adult and children's body perceptions and body image. I endeavour to use mixed methods and take an interdisciplinary approach to the work, both of which I consider to be essential when researching the human condition and human behaviour. My subjects specialism are attractiveness, body image, eating disorders. Cross cultural research, mixed methods and interdisciplinary approaches.

Onofre Contreras Jordán, University of Castilla-La Mancha Department of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression

ProfessorDepartment of Didactics of Music, Arts and Corporal Expression967599200 (ext. 2541) Onofre R. Contreras-Jordán has been working as a Professor in the area of Didactics of Corporal Expression in the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) since 2000. He obtained his Degree on Primary Education teacher from the University of Murcia (1976), a Law Degree from National Distance Education University (1981), a Degree on Physical education from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1984), and his PhD in Law from the UCLM (1992). Onofre is the Principal Investigator (head of the lab) of the EDAF research group. He is the Director and Coordinator of the Master’s Degree in training for teachers for the gifted. He has authored numerous publications and has also supervised more than 20 doctoral dissertations. He is member of several scientific committees and assessment institutions, such as ANECA and the Andalusian Agency of accreditation for Lecturers and Professors. He has earned four periods of six year on research work proved by the National Commission for Evaluating Research Activity. He has coordinated several research projects.

Downloads

Published

2020-11-11

Issue

Vol. 14 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

The International Journal of Communication is an academic journal. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of information. For this reason, IJoC is freely available to individuals and institutions. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. However, commercial use of the IJoC website or the articles contained herein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the editor. Authors who publish in The International Journal of Communication will release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) license. This license allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given. For details of the rights authors grants users of their work, see the "human-readable summary" of the license, with a link to the full license. (Note that "you" refers to a user, not an author, in the summary.) This journal utilizes the LOCKSSsystem to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may:
  • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials;
  • Use material consistent with original license terms;
  • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair.
 

Fair Use

The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 specifies, in Section 107, the terms of the Fair Use exception: Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; &
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the International Journal of Communication believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.

The International Journal of Communication encourages authors to employ fair use in their scholarly publishing wherever appropriate. Fair use is the right to use unlicensed copyrighted material (whether it is text, images, audio-visual, or other) in your own work, in some circumstances. We consult the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Scholarly Research in Communication, created by the International Communication Association and endorsed by the National Communication Association, and you should too. If you have any questions about whether fair use applies to your uses of copyrighted material (whether it is text, images, audio-visual, or other) in your scholarship, simply include your rationale, grounded in the Best Practices, as a supplementary document with your submission.