Dayna Blustein

The influence of Viewing Race Consistent vs. Race inconsistent Models on Self Esteem for High And Low Self-Monitors

Introduction

The influence of viewing race consistent vs. Race inconsistent models on self esteem for high and low self-monitors. Explore the influence of race-consistent vs. race-inconsistent models on self-esteem for high and low self-monitors. Study with Caucasian female students found no significant effects.

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, self-monitoring and race inconsistent and consistent photographs. The Sorensen Self-Esteem Scale was used to measure self-esteem and the Snyder Self Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) was used to measure self-monitoring levels. Caucasian female participants viewed either photographs of Caucasian models or African American models. Data were collected from 40 undergraduate students at Huron University College. A 2 (high versus low self-esteem) X 2 (congruity of race of photos) analysis of variance demonstrated that there were no significant main effects, nor was the interaction significant. Implications and limitations of the present study and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Review

This study endeavors to explore a timely and relevant question concerning the impact of media representation on self-esteem, specifically examining the role of race-consistent versus race-inconsistent models and individual differences such as self-esteem and self-monitoring. The premise that exposure to diverse or homogeneous visual stimuli can influence psychological constructs like self-esteem is an important area within social psychology and media effects. However, a significant discrepancy between the title, which emphasizes "High And Low Self-Monitors," and the described statistical analysis (a 2x2 ANOVA with self-esteem and race congruity) immediately raises a concern, as self-monitoring, despite being measured, does not appear to have been included as an independent variable in the primary analysis presented in the abstract. Methodologically, the study faces several limitations that significantly impede the interpretability of its findings. The sample size of 40 undergraduate students is notably small, particularly for an ANOVA attempting to detect interaction effects, which typically require greater statistical power. Furthermore, the homogeneity of the sample (Caucasian female students from a single institution) severely restricts the generalizability of any conclusions to broader populations. While the abstract mentions the use of established scales (Sorensen Self-Esteem Scale and Snyder Self Monitoring Scale), details regarding their reliability within this specific sample, or how "high versus low self-esteem" was operationalized (e.g., median split), are absent. Most critically, the omission of self-monitoring from the reported 2x2 ANOVA, despite its prominence in the title and its measurement, suggests either a misrepresentation of the study's core analysis or a critical oversight in the abstract's description of the methodology. This lack of clarity regarding a central theoretical construct undermines confidence in the reported design and subsequent results. The finding of no significant main effects or interactions is stated, implying that viewing race-consistent versus race-inconsistent models did not significantly impact self-esteem for this group of participants, nor did self-esteem levels moderate any such effect. However, given the substantial methodological weaknesses, particularly the small sample size and the unclear role of self-monitoring in the analysis, these null results are difficult to interpret definitively. They could very well be a consequence of insufficient statistical power rather than a true absence of effect. While the authors acknowledge discussing limitations and future research, it is imperative that future studies address these issues by employing larger, more diverse samples, clarifying the role of all measured variables in the statistical models, and providing more detailed information about the stimuli and the specific analytical approach. Without these improvements, the potential implications of model representation on self-esteem remain largely unexplored under robust conditions.

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