Stout, Claire
(2024)
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Investigating Adolescent Body Hair Attitudes, Satisfaction, and Removal Practices.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
Introduction: For girls and women living in Eurocentric cultures, body hair removal is a pervasive standard of beauty. However, there is a dearth of research on body hair attitudes and removal practices, particularly among adolescents. Grounded in objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989), this thesis examines attitudes and behaviors regarding body hair among an ethnically and racially diverse sample of adolescent girls and boys. Method: Data for this study were collected from large, suburban and urban schools in the United States during the Fall of 2021 (n = 1,023, aged 11-18). Three separate two-way ANCOVAs determined if there was an interaction effect between gender and race/ethnicity on attitudes towards girls’ body hair, body hair satisfaction, and body hair removal frequency. Among the subsample of adolescent girls, a linear regression assessed if body hair satisfaction mediated the relationship between self-objectification and body hair removal frequency. Two moderated mediation models were explored based on this model. Race/ethnicity was investigated as a moderator of the association between self-objectification and both body hair satisfaction and body hair removal frequency. Among the subsample of girls of color, ethnic and racial identity (ERI) commitment was investigated as a moderator of these associations. Results: Compared to boys, girls were more likely to approve of body hair on girls, were less likely to feel satisfied with their body hair, and reported more frequent body hair removal. The interaction between gender and race on body hair removal was significant. Among girls, self-objectification was negatively associated with body hair satisfaction, which, in turn, was negatively associated with body hair removal; the indirect effect of the linear regression mediation analysis was not significant. This relationship remained consistent across different racial/ethnic groups. ERI commitment did not significantly buffer the relationship between self-objectification and body hair satisfaction among girls of color. Discussion: These findings highlight that body hair growth is not simply an outcome of pubertal development. While a quintessential adolescent experience, body hair growth is associated with attitudes and behaviors which reflect societal beauty standards.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
8 May 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
8 December 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
8 May 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
1 February 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
73 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
MS - Master of Science |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
adolescence; body hair; self objectification |
| Date Deposited: |
08 May 2024 17:34 |
| Last Modified: |
08 May 2024 17:34 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/45797 |
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