Female Body Image Perception: A Study of Teenage Girls Attending Single-sex Versus Coed Schools

1. Female Body Image Perception: A Study of Teenage Girls Attending Single-sex Versus Coed Schools By: Olivia Feehery

2. Question • Do either single-sex or coed schools provide a more accepting or less judgmental environment for girls?

3. Background Information • There are many different opinions concerning single-sex and coeducation. • Girls have a greater sense of belonging at single-sex schools. • Belonging has an effect on many part of wellbeing. • Female body image is especially fragile during the adolescent years and many factors influence body image

4. Hypothesis • It was hypothesized that girls at single-sex schools would have a more accepting or positive perception of others’ bodies.

5. Procedure • A survey was created with 25 questions using four images to reveal the subjects’ perceptions of the body images. • Two hundred and forty copies of the survey were produced with an attached informed consent form. • Half were distributed to a coed school, and half were distributed at a single-sex school. • One hundred six girls from the coeducational school and one hundred four girls from the single-sex school between the ages of 13 and 16 completed the survey. • All of the data was collected in spreadsheets. • Averages, ranges, and t-tests were calculated for a few questions that were appropriate. Modes and frequencies were calculated for all of the questions.

6. The Survey Image A Image B Image C Image D

7. Statistics

12. Factors Affecting the Results

13. Conclusion • The results did not point to either group as more accepting because many of the results were similar or not definitive enough. • This knowledge could play a role in education decisions by showing that neither type of education is better for a child in this specific area, and seemingly neither creates a less judgmental environment.

14. References • Bracey, G. W. (2007, February 1). The success of single-sex schools is still unproven. The Education Digest. Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=23&edition=&ts=F08676F6BEAB5D29A70862920396D962_1286477339095&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3B • Brutsaert, H. (n.d.). Girls’ and boys’ sense of belonging in single-sex versus co-educational schools. Retrieved from CBS Interactive website: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3765/is_200211/ai_n9100189/pg_4/?tag=content;col1 • Davison, T. E., & McCabe, M. P. (2006, February 1). Adolescent body image and psychosocial functioning. The Journal of Social Psychology. Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=advance&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=15&edition=&ts=4ACA5EE3C9F6151933690ACA5FB831B4_1286496877495&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk% • The Eye of the Beholder and the Mind of the Beheld. (n.d.). Science Buddies. Retrieved from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Soc_p025.shtml?fave=no&isb=c2lkOjEsaWE6U29jLHA6MixyaWQ6NzE2MTYzOQ&from=TSW • Playing with beauty [photograph]. (2010). Retrieved from Microsoft website: http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/girlsonly/playing_with_beauty.aspx • Straker, D. (2008, April 20). Likert scale. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/research/measurement/likert_scale.htm • Update: single-sex education. (2008, June 6). Retrieved from http://www.2facts.com/icof_story.aspx?PIN=i1300310&term=single+sex+education • What are the standards of beauty?; How do images of beauty affect society? (2010). In The culture of beauty (pp. 19-89). Greenhaven Press.