Working Paper: NBER ID: w31156
Authors: Christopher S. Carpenter; Brandyn F. Churchill
Abstract: We provide novel evidence on the role of negative social comparisons in population health behaviors by exploiting variation in Miss America and Miss USA beauty pageant winners. We show that there was more front-page newspaper coverage and more pageant-related internet search behavior following a home-state win. Teen girls and pageant-aged women with home-state winners were more likely to report that they were trying to lose weight, and pregnant women gained less gestational weight. We do not detect meaningful changes for teen boys, young adult men, or older women for whom social comparisons were plausibly less salient.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| homestate pageant wins (N81) | local awareness of beauty norms (L82) |
| local awareness of beauty norms (L82) | health-related behaviors among young women (I12) |
| homestate pageant wins (N81) | health-related behaviors among young women (I12) |
| increased media exposure (L82) | weight loss intentions among teen girls and pageanted women (I19) |
| homestate pageant wins (N81) | less gestational weight gain in pregnant women (J16) |
| homestate pageant wins (N81) | no significant changes in weight-related intentions among teen boys, young adult men, or older women (I12) |