Masters Theses

Date of Award

6-1986

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

June N. Adamson

Committee Members

Kelly Leiter, Cheryl Travis

Abstract

This study examined the thematic content of 91 articles on the psychology of women selected from five popular women's magazines: Cosmopolitan, Ladles' Home Journal, Ms., Seventeen, and Working Woman. A sample of 50 college women judged the content of the articles for suitability, usability and accuracy. Subjects also judged the Image of women presented by the articles and determined whether or not women's magazines seemed to be a good source of Information. The study was conducted using questionnaires to assess both the thematic content of the articles and the subjects' perceptions of the Information.

Results showed that approximately one-third of the subjects did not consider women's magazines a good source of Information, and only 44 percent considered the Image of women presented by the articles to be positive. The majority of subjects found the Information to be suitable, usable and accurate.

Results Indicated a need to further evaluate how Involved women are as magazine readers and how credible they perceive women's magazines to be. If the subjects are representative of female magazine readers as a whole, then a significant number of women may not be Interested In women's magazines as an Information source. Because the majority of magazine consumers are women, the magazine Industry has a vested Interest In studies of this nature that examine the content and effect of women's magazines.

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