Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Personality traits and dysfunctional construal of online health promotion messages

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

With the Internet becoming increasingly popular as a source of information, blogs offering healthy lifestyle techniques and knowledge have become popular and accessible. Despite their focus on health, these blogs portray content that may be negatively construed by viewers, especially those with or at risk for eating disorders. The present study investigated changes in affect and self-esteem after viewing a prototypic health blog. Personality traits, specifically neuroticism and conscientiousness, were also investigated.

Methods

A prototypic health blog was constructed after extensive review of existing blogs. A parallel format was then followed to create a home décor website for a control condition. Female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two blog sites, and participants completed an earlier personality assessment and post-viewing study questionnaires.

Results

Contrary to the hypothesis that readers of the health blog will report more negative outcomes, no main effect of blog condition was found. However, individuals high in trait neuroticism experienced greater differences in negative affect, but not self-esteem, when viewing the health blog versus the control blog.

Conclusions

This study found that viewing health blogs did not have immediate effects on affect and self-esteem, but more neurotic individuals were more inclined to experience negative affect when viewing health promotion messages. Personality traits assessed prior to the experiment were more predictive of negative affect and self-esteem during the experiment than blog viewing conditions.

No level of evidence, experimental study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. King TK, Matacin M, White KS, Marcus BH (2005) A prospective examination of body image and smoking cessation in women. Body Image 2:19–28. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.01.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wilson RE, Latner JD, Hayashi K (2013) More than just body weight: the role of body image in psychological and physical functioning. Body Image 10:644–647. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.04.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Davison TE, McCabe MP (2005) Relationships between men’s and women’s body image and their psychological, social, and sexual functioning. Sex Roles 52:463–475. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-3712-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mond J, van den Berg P, Boutelle K, Hannan P, Neumark-Sztainer D (2011) Obesity, body dissatisfaction and emotional well-being in early and late adolescence: findings from the project EAT study. J Adolesc Health 48:373–378. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.07.022

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Paxton SJ, Neumark-Sztainer D, Hannan PJ, Eisenberg ME (2006) Body dissatisfaction prospectively predicts depressive mood and low self-esteem in adolescent girls and boys. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 35:539–549. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3504_5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Stice E, Chase A, Stormer S, Appel A (2011) A randomized trial of dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program. Int J Ear Disord 29:247–262. doi:10.1002/eat.1016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Stice E, Mazotti L, Weibel D, Agras WS (2000) Dissonance prevention program decreases thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptoms: a preliminary experiment. Int J Ear Disord 27:206–217. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(200003)27:2<206::AID-EAT9>3.0.CO;2-D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wertheim EH, Koerner J, Paxton SJ (2001) Longitudinal predictors of restrictive eating and bulimic tendencies in three different age groups of adolescent girls. J Youth Adolesc 30:69–81. doi:10.1023/A:1005224921891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Grabe S, Ward LM, Hyde JS (2008) The role of the media in body image concerns among women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychol Bull 134:460–476. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kaye BK (2005) It’s a blog, blog, blog world: users and uses of weblogs. Atl J Commun 13:73–96. doi:10.1207/s15456889ajc1302_2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Harper K, Sperry S, Thompson JK (2008) Viewership of pro-eating disorder websites: association with body image and eating disturbances. Int J Eat Disord 41:92–95. doi:10.1002/eat.20408

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Bardone-Cone AM, Cass KM (2007) What does viewing a pro-anorexia website do? An experimental examination of website exposure and moderating effects. Int J Eat Disord 40:537–548. doi:10.1002/eat.20396

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Delforterie MJ, Larsen JK, Bardon-Cone AM, Scholte RH (2014) Effects of viewing a pro-ana website: an experimental study on body satisfaction, affect, and appearance self-efficacy. Eat Disord 22:321–336. doi:10.1080/10640266.2014.898982

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Rains SA (2007) Perceptions of traditional information sources and uses of the World Wide Web to seek health information: findings from the Health Information National Trends Survey. J Health Commun 12:667–680. doi:10.1080/10810730701619992

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Boepple L, Thompson JK (2014) A content analysis of healthy living blogs: evidence of content thematically consistent with dysfunctional eating attitudes and behaviors. Int J Eat Disord 47:362–367. doi:10.1002/eat.22244

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Friedman HS, Kern ML (2014) Personality, well-being, and health. Annu Rev Psychol 65:719–742. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115123

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. McCrae RR, Costa PT, de Lima MP, Simoes A et al (1999) Age differences in personality across the adult life span: parallels in five cultures. Dev Psychol 35:466–477. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.466

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Malouff JM, Thorsteinsson EB, Schutte NS (2005) The relationship between the Five-Factor Model of personality and symptoms of clinical disorders: a meta-analysis. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 27:101–113. doi:10.1007/s10862-005-5384-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Diaz-Marsa M, Luis J, Saiz J (2000) A study of temperament and personality in anorexia and bulimia nervosa. J Pers Disord 14:352–359. doi:10.1521/pedi.2000.14.4.352

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Miller JL, Schmidt LA, Vaillancourt T, McDougall P, Laliberte M (2006) Neuroticism and introversion: a risky combination for disordered eating among a non-clinical sample of undergraduate women. Eat Behav 7:69–78. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2005.07.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Rush CC, Becker SJ, Curry JF (2009) Personality factors and styles among college students who binge eat and drink. Psychol Addict Behav 23:140–145. doi:10.1037/a0013167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. MacLaren VV, Best LA (2010) Nonsuicidal self-injury, potentially addictive behaviors, and the five factor model in undergraduates. Personal Individ Differ 49:521–525. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Keller C, Siegrist M (2015) Does personality influence eating styles and food choices? Direct and indirect effects. Appetite 84:128–138. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.10.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Groesz LM, McCoy S, Carl J, Saslow L et al (2012) What is eating you? Stress and the drive to eat. Appetite 58:717–721. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.11.028

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Stroebe W, Van Koningsbruggen GM, Papies EK, Aarts H (2013) Why most dieters fail but some succeed: a goal conflict model of eating behavior. Psychol Rev 120:110–138. doi:10.1037/a0030849

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Raynor DA, Levine H (2009) Associations between the five-factor model of personality and health behaviors among college students. J Am Coll Health 58:73–81. doi:10.3200/JACH.58.1.73-82

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. John OP, Srivastava S (1999) The Big Five trait taxonomy: history, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In: Previn LA, John OP (eds) Handbook of personality: theory and research, 2nd edn. Guilford Press, New York, pp 102–138

    Google Scholar 

  28. Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A (1988) Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Personal Soc Psychol 54:1063–1070. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Crawford JR, Henry JD (2004) The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. Br J Clin Psychol 43:245–265. doi:10.1348/0144665031752934

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Rosenberg M (1965) Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  31. Robins RW, Hendin HM, Trzesniewski KH (2001) Measuring global self-esteem: construct validation of a single-item measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Personal Soc Psychol Bull 27:151–161. doi:10.1177/0146167201272002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Orth U, Robins RW, Widaman KF (2012) Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes. J Personal Soc Psychol 102:1271–1288. doi:10.1037/a0025558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Beer A, Watson D, McDade-Montez E (2013) Self-other agreement and assumed similarity in neuroticism, extraversion, and trait affect: distinguishing the effects of form and content. Assessment 20:723–737. doi:10.1177/1073191113500521

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Verduyn P, Brans K (2012) The relationship between extraversion, neuroticism, and aspects of trait affect. Personal Individ Differ 52:664–669. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.12.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Merz EL, Roesch SC (2011) Modeling trait and state variation using multilevel factor analysis with PANAS daily diary data. J Res Personal 45:2–9. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2010.11.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Donnellan MB, Kenny DA, Trzensniewski KH, Lucas RE, Conger RD (2012) Using trait-state models to evaluation the longitudinal consistency of global self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood. J Res Personal 46:634–645. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2012.07.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kling KC, Hyde JS, Showers CJ, Buswell BN (1999) Gender differences in self-esteem: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 125:470–500. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.4.470

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Robins RW, Trzensniewski KH, Tracy JL, Gosling SD, Potter J (2002) Global self-esteem across the lifespan. Psychol Aging 17:423–434. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.17.3.423

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Boepple L, Thomspon JK (2016) A content analytic comparison of fitspiration and thinspiration websites. Int J Eat Disord 49:98–101. doi:10.1002/eat.22403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Tiggemann M, Zaccardo M (2015) “Exercise to be fit, not skinny”: the effect of fitspiration image on women’s body image. Body Image 15:61–67. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.06.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Garner DM (2004) Eating Disorder Inventory-3 professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa

    Google Scholar 

  42. Rush CC, Becker SJ, Curry JF (2009) Personality factors and styles among college students who binge eat and drink. Psychol Addic Behav 23:140–145. doi:10.1037/a0013167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Roberts A, Good E (2010) Media images and female body dissatisfaction: the moderating effects of the Five-Factor traits. Eat Behav 11:211–216. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2010.04.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Ferguson CJ (2013) In the eye of the beholder: thin-ideal media affects some, but not most, viewers in the a meta-analytic review of body dissatisfaction in women and men. Psychol Pop Media Cult 2:20–37. doi:10.1037/a0030766

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Idaho State University, 626 Garrison Hall, 921 S 8th Avenue, Pocatello, ID, 83209, USA

    Yaeeun Lee

  2. Department of Psychology, Villanova University, 320 Tolentine Hall, 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA, 19086-1699, USA

    John E. Kurtz

Authors
  1. Yaeeun Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John E. Kurtz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yaeeun Lee.

Ethics declarations

Funding

No funding has been received for the current study.

Conflict of interest

Both authors, Yaeeun Lee and Dr. John E. Kurtz, declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, Y., Kurtz, J.E. Personality traits and dysfunctional construal of online health promotion messages. Eat Weight Disord 24, 1137–1144 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-017-0451-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-017-0451-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation