Toward a Clinical Consumer Psychology.

This article promotes the development of clinical consumer psychology; the study of how dysfunctional and maladaptive cognitive and behavioral processes interact with individuals' consumer experience and behaviors. The article is organized around three primary discussion points: (a) A definition of clinical consumer psychology, supported by illustrative examples of recent research. (b) The delineation of 10 broad priorities for future work that can be used to generate specific research possibilities. (c) How the field will benefit if researchers work within the clinical consumer psychology paradigm, and the bi-directional relationship whereby research in this vein would benefit both fields in which judgment and decision processes are focal (e.g., consumer psychology, marketing, and social cognition) as well as clinical psychology.

The Utility of Clinical Psychology Concepts for Judgment and Decision-Making Research: The Case of Histrionic Features.

This research was conducted to highlight the utility of considering clinical psychology concepts in judgment and decision research. Our overarching thesis is that the judgments and choices people make may often be influenced by clinically relevant phenomena, and that understanding these relationships can, in a reciprocal fashion, help advance our understanding of judgment and decision making as well as specific clinical diagnoses and proclivities. We focused on histrionic personality disorder and conducted four studies that show that histrionic symptomology predicts preferences and choices that facilitate grabbing others' attention, even when such choices cost more money, and are at the expense of giving up more tangible features. In addition to demonstrating a new implication of the histrionic personality, we provide insight into the process underlying this tendency and discuss implications for mental health service providers.

Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder Symptomology as a Risk Factor for Thin-Ideal Internalization: The Role of Self-Concept Clarity.

The study of when and how individuals compare themselves against standards has been an enduring focus for clinical and social psychology researchers in efforts to facilitate well-being and health. Our study focused on internalization of the societal thin-ideal standard for feminine attractiveness, a construct that has proven to be very important in women's psychological health. Although multiple adverse consequences of thin-ideal internalization have been documented, the understanding of variability in the extent of thin-ideal internalization across women (e.g., why do some women strongly internalize thin-ideal standards when others do not?) is much less well developed. This research was conducted to explore the role of adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) symptomology and conceptions of the self in young women's propensity to internalize the thin-ideal attractiveness standard. Results show that elevated ASAD symptoms are associated with greater thin-ideal internalization. A structural equations model demonstrates the reason for this association; young women with higher ASAD symptomology exhibit lower self-concept clarity, which drives greater thin-ideal internalization. This research makes novel practical and conceptual contributions by (a) delineating a new risk factor for the development of thin-ideal internalization, (b) highlighting a previously undocumented vulnerability of women who experience ASAD symptoms, and (c) documenting the relationship between ASAD and lower self-concept clarity. Implications for mental health practitioners are discussed.

Women's exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions.

Exposure to media images of thin-and-beautiful women negatively affects the body image and mood states of young women. However, not all women are equally susceptible to these effects. The present experimental investigation with 123 young college women evaluated the moderating effects of the extent of internalization of media ideals. It also examined the preventative impact of two brief interventions (i.e., media literacy information with and without a dissonance-induction procedure). Results indicated that relative to a control group, the exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images adversely influenced the state body image of participants with high internalization levels. Media-literacy psychoeducation prior to the media exposure prevented this adverse effect. Adding a pre-exposure dissonance-induction procedure did not significantly enhance the preventative effects relative to psychoeducation alone. These results and their implications for the treatment and prevention of body image disturbances are discussed in the context of the empirical literature on the media's effects on body image.

Predictors of women's concern with body weight: the roles of perceived self-media ideal discrepancies and self-esteem.

Researchers have expended significant effort trying to delineate determinants of body image disturbance in young women, in part because of the potential of body image disturbance to precipitate eating disordered behavior. In this research we demonstrate that the extent of the discrepancy women perceive between their own attractiveness and body shape and images representative of ideal feminine attractiveness presented in advertising and the broader media (i.e., self-media ideal discrepancy) predicts how concerned they are with their weight (a measure of body image disturbance). Perhaps more importantly, we also show that perceived self-media ideal discrepancy is a construct independent of global self-esteem. Specifically, our results demonstrate that perceived self-media ideal discrepancy is related to women's weight concern even when self-esteem is statistically controlled. Implications for theory and clinical intervention are discussed.