The Quest for Perfect Appearance: An Examination of the Role of Objective Self-Awareness Theory ...

153 Pages·2012·0.54 MB·English

by  Yazdanparast Ardestani, Atefeh

THE QUEST FOR PERFECT APPEARANCE: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE OF

OBJECTIVE SELF-AWARENE SS THEORY AND EMOTIONS
Atefeh Yazdanparast Ardestani, B.S., M.S.

Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY O F NORTH TEXAS

Aug ust 2012

APPROVED:

Nancy Spears, Major Professor
Kenneth Thompson, Committee Member
Nicholas Evangelopoulos, Committee
Member
Jeffrey Sager, Committee Member and
Chair of the Department of
Marketing and Logistics
Audhesh Paswan, PhD Coordinator for
Marketing and Logistics
O. Finley Graves, Dean of the College of
Business
Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse
Graduate School
Yazdanparast Ardestani, Atefeh. The Quest for Perfect Appearance: An
Examination of the Role of Objective Self-Awareness Theory and Emotions. Doctor of
Philosophy (Marketing), August 2012, 142 pp., 40 tables, 3 figures, references, 163 titles.
Quality of appearance is important in nature and individuals have a basic need to
establish the normality of appearance to confirm their acceptability to others. In daily
inter-relationships of the same species, for instance, normal-appearing members of a
species group reject or kill other members who appear abnormal. In human society,
appearance is considered as one of the most direct sources of information about other
people, and unattractiveness is often accompanied by negative judgments, which can
cause emotional distress and isolation. Accordingly, humans tend to pay great attention to
their personal appearance and make improvements to enhance their self-representations.
The growth of the beauty and cosmetic surgery industries is an indication of an
increasing willingness to enhance physical appearance. However, despite the growing
demand for cosmetic procedures, the consumer research literature on this topic is
extremely sparse. In fact, little is known about the attitudinal and motivational drivers
that facilitate undergoing such procedures. This dissertation enriches our understanding
of factors that affect consumers’ motivation to pursue cosmetic procedures and examines
the role of emotions in such decisions. To that end, objective self-awareness (OSA)
theory is applied and the interplay between the state of public OSA, beauty standards, and
self-conscious emotions of shame and pride is explored.
The results of two experimental studies indicate that access to beauty standards
coupled with the state of public OSA generates self-standard comparison thoughts that
may yield self-standard discrepancies. Negative emotions experienced due to such
discrepancies move individuals into a self-regulatory cycle with the purpose of
discrepancy reduction and impact their motivation to undergo cosmetic procedures. Pride
and shame, two central self-conscious emotions, influence self-regulatory strategies and
differently impact the approach to discrepancy reduction.
These findings contribute to the research advocating the role of emotions in
decision making and provide more insights about self-conscious emotions and their role
in regulating goal pursuit behavior. The findings provide practical implications for
marketers of cosmetics products and services, social marketers trying to encourage or
discourage certain behaviors, and public policy makers. Moreover, the results have wide-
ranging implications for structuring programs designed to contribute to consumer
welfare.
Copyright 2012
by
Atefeh Yazdanparast Ardestani
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is not easy to express how grateful I am for the infinite support and love I have
received throughout these years in the Ph.D. program, without which, I would have not
been able to reach this stage successfully.
I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the patience, guidance, and
support provided by my major professor, Dr. Nancy Spears. I would also like to express
my gratitude to my dissertation committee members, Dr. Jeffrey Sager, Dr. Kenneth
Thompson, and Dr. Nicholas Evangelopoulos, for their precious insights and guidance
throughout this endeavor.
I am grateful to Dr. Ila Manuj for mentoring and encouraging me during my first
year as a doctoral student. I would also like to thank all the other faculty members in the
Department of Marketing and Logistics for their mentorship and stewardship during my
time at the University of North Texas.
Many thanks go to my colleagues, whose support, friendship, and encouragement
made the Ph.D. journey an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for me.
Last, but not least, I would like to thank my amazing family and my dear Mehran
for their unconditional love and support, for always being there for me, listening to me,
and always making me smile. I am grateful for having them in my life and I thank God
for this blessing.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1
Overview ..................................................................................................................1
Research Goals.........................................................................................................7
Managerial and Academic Contributions ................................................................8
Overview of the Research Design ............................................................................9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND........10
Overview ................................................................................................................10
Literature Review...................................................................................................10
Physical Attractiveness ..............................................................................10
Cosmetic Surgery: A Self-Enhancement Tool ...........................................16
Objective Self-Awareness (OSA) ..............................................................24
Public vs. Private Self-Awareness .................................................27
Self-Standard Comparison .............................................................29
Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation .............................................30
Self-Awareness and Emotions .......................................................33
Self-Conscious Emotions ...............................................................35
Self-Conscious Emotions and Self-Monitoring .............................38
Self-Conscious Emotions and Self-Regulation ..............................39
Model and Hypotheses Development ....................................................................42

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CHAPTER 3: STUDY 1 ....................................................................................................45
Overview ................................................................................................................45
Methodology ..........................................................................................................46
Pre-Test 1 ...................................................................................................46
Procedure .......................................................................................47
Results ............................................................................................47
Pre-Test 2 ...................................................................................................49
Procedure .......................................................................................50
Results ............................................................................................51
Study 1 Design ...........................................................................................52
Sample............................................................................................53
Procedure .......................................................................................55
Data Collection Instrument ............................................................57
Analysis and Results ..............................................................................................60
Measurement Assessment ..........................................................................60
Manipulation Checks .................................................................................70
Public OSA Manipulation Check...................................................70
Standards Manipulation Check ......................................................71
Test of Hypotheses .....................................................................................75
Supplementary Analyses ............................................................................81
Other Appearance Enhancing Procedures .....................................81
Body-Esteem and Objective Self-Awareness ................................83
Discussion of Study 1 Findings .............................................................................85

CHAPTER 4: STUDY 2 ....................................................................................................89
Overview ................................................................................................................89
Methodology ..........................................................................................................89
Pre-Test 3 ...................................................................................................90
Procedure .......................................................................................90
Results ............................................................................................91
Study 2 Design ...........................................................................................94
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Sample............................................................................................94
Procedure .......................................................................................95
Data Collection Instrument ............................................................96
Analysis and Results ..............................................................................................97
Measurement Assessment ..........................................................................97
Manipulation Checks ...............................................................................103
Public OSA Manipulation Check.................................................103
Pride and Shame Manipulation Check .........................................105
Test of Hypothesis ...................................................................................106
Discussion of Study 2 Findings ...........................................................................114

CHAPTER 5: GENERAL DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ................................116
General Discussion ..............................................................................................116
Theoretical Contributions ....................................................................................117
Practical Contributions.........................................................................................119
Limitations and Future Research .........................................................................122

REFERENCE LIST .........................................................................................................129

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LIST OF TABLES

Page

1. Demographic Profile of Respondents-Study 1 ......................................................53
2. Situational Self-Awareness Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 161
3. Body Image State Dissatisfaction Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-
Study 1 ...................................................................................................................62
4. Positive and Negative Affect Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 163
5. Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 1 ..........64
6. Propensity for Appearance Enhancement Factor Analysis and Reliability ...........65
7. Body-Esteem Factor Analysis and Reliability .......................................................66
8. Body Resource Needs Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 1 ...........................67
9. Self-Esteem Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 1 ...........................................67
10. Fear of Cosmetic Surgery Factor Analysis and Reliability ...................................68
11. Measurement Model Assessment of Discriminant Validity-Study 1 ....................70
12. Manipulation Check for Public Objective Self-Awareness- Study 1 ....................71
13. Manipulation Check for Private Objective Self-Awareness-Study 1 ....................71
14. Emotions Index Comparison for Individuals in OSA Condition ...........................72
15. Emotions Index Comparison for Individuals in No-OSA Condition.....................72
16. Body Image State Dissatisfaction for Irrelevant Standards Groups ......................73
17. Motivations and Likelihood to Undergo Cosmetic Procedures for Irrelevant
Standards Groups ...................................................................................................74
18. ANCOVA Results for Test of H1and H2 ..............................................................77
19. ANCOVA Results for Test of H1and H2 after Removing the Control Group ......78
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20. Mediation Analysis Results for Test of H3............................................................82
21. Factor Loadings and Cronbach’s Alpha Values for Pride and Shame ...................92
22. Manipulation Check for Pride/Shame-Pre-Test 3 ..................................................93
23. Manipulation Check for External Shame-Pre-Test 3 .............................................93
24. Demographic Profile of Respondents-Study 2 ......................................................95
25. Situational Self-Awareness Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 297
26. Pride and Shame Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 2 ................98
27. Body Image State Dissatisfaction Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-
Study 2 ...................................................................................................................99
28. Positive and Negative Affect Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 2100
29. Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 2 ........101
30. Body Resource Needs Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 2 .........................102
31. Self-Esteem Factor Analysis and Reliability-Study 2 .........................................102
32. Measurement Model Assessment of Discriminant Validity-Study 2 ..................103
33. Manipulation Check for Public Objective Self-Awareness-Study 2 ...................104
34. Manipulation Check for Private Objective Self-Awareness-Study 2 ..................104
35. Manipulation Check for Pride/Shame-Study 2 ....................................................105
36. Manipulation Check for External Shame-Study 2 ...............................................106
37. Body Image State Dissatisfaction for OSA Vs. No-OSA Groups .......................107
38. Multivariate Analysis of Variance for Cosmetic Surgery Motivation and
Likelihood ............................................................................................................110
39. Mediation Relationships When Shame is Induced ..............................................111
40. Mediation Relationships When Pride is Induced .................................................112

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