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III. Content Analysis of Magazine HeadlinesChanges over Three Decades?

Article  in  Feminism & Psychology · May 2007

DOI: 10.1177/0959353507076559

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III. Content Analysis of Magazine Headlines:

Changes over Three Decades?
Deana B. DAVALOS, Ruth A. DAVALOS and
Heidi S. LAYTON

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the role of the media in
women’s development of self-concept and societal attitudes (Cattarin et al., 2000;
King et al., 2000; Thomsen et al., 2002). Magazines appear to be a particularly
influential medium for young adults, in particular, young women. While
Hermes’s (Hermes, 1995) research has suggested that the content of text in
magazines may not have significant and enduring effects on women, increasing
evidence suggests that for young women, magazines may play a large role in
influencing what types of information they value. Zollo (1995) asked young
adults to recommend the medium that they believed would be most effective for
advertisers in reaching their age group. Overall, they ranked magazines and radio
first, cable television second, followed by the time slots before movies and
finally other television. In particular, young women ranked magazines only after
friends as the most influential source of information. In her international best-
seller, The Beauty Myth, Wolf (1991) described women’s magazines as ‘women’s
mass culture’ and even as ‘an invisible female authority figure to admire and
obey, parallel to the mentor–protégé relationship that men are encouraged to
forge in their education and on the job’ (p. 74). She theorizes that magazines may
provide women with an opportunity to identify with other females in a way that
is larger than personal relationships alone can provide.
Studies have been conducted in the past that aimed to assess then-current
messages being conveyed in the media. In 1986, Blakely reviewed the headlines
on the covers of 10 of the top-selling North American magazines directed toward
female readers. Her findings suggested that covers reflect that a female’s biggest
concern is to get smaller by dieting and exercise. Researchers continued this line
of research in the 1990s and into the 21st century. Citing a scarcity of informa-
tion, Evans et al. (1991) analyzed the article and advertisement content of con-
temporary magazines frequently read by adolescent females, finding one salient
theme emerging. Under 30 disguised categories of self-improvement, articles and
advertisements advocated the value that happiness lies in attracting males through

Feminism & Psychology © 2007 SAGE (London, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Singapore)
http://fap.sagepub.com, Vol. 17(2): 250–258; 0959-3535
DOI: 10.1177/0959353507076559

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DAVALOS et al.: Content Analysis of Magazine Headlines 251

personal attractiveness. Peirce (1990) chose specifically to analyze the contents

of Seventeen magazine because of its almost 50-year position of influence on
adolescent females in the USA, evidenced by its circulation rate of approximately
1.7 million readers in a typical year. Peirce sought to ascertain the extent to which
feminist ideology might have replaced traditional ideology in light of the influ-
ence of the feminist movement, which occurred during Seventeen’s years of
publication. Traditional messages stressed the importance of looking good, find-
ing a man, and taking care of home and children (coded as: appearance,
male–female relationships, and home). Feminist messages were identified as con-
cerned with taking care of oneself, being independent, and not relying on a man
for fulfillment or identity (self-development). Results of the study indicate that
while there was a slight increase in self-development topics in the early 1970s
when the feminist movement attracted the most attention, magazines published
prior to the 1970s and more current issues both contain a majority of articles
devoted to traditional themes.
While these studies have assessed the written messages being sent via maga-
zines during specific years, the evolution of these messages over the years has not
been assessed.
The purpose of this article is to examine the covers of magazines frequently
viewed by young women in the USA to ascertain common themes (Are these
themes consistent with previous research? Have these messages changed over the
years?).
While few researchers have focused specifically on magazine headlines, a
relationship between brief media exposure and behavior has been found in
similar studies in the past. The majority of research in the past has focused on
exposure to thin-ideal images (Harrison and Cantor, 1997; Levine and Smolak,
1996; Thompson et al., 1999). Studies focusing on media images have found
that even brief exposure to thin models leads to negative affect and acute body
dissatisfaction.

METHOD

Magazines were selected on the basis of circulation and target audience. The
Writer’s Market (2000) was used to select magazines that reported a circulation
in excess of a million readers and to establish that females were the target
market. The sample included North American versions of Seventeen, Teen, Good
Housekeeping, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, New Woman,
Vogue, and McCall’s. Although the magazines varied in the ages of the target
market, it was decided that it was reasonable to assume that covers of magazines
targeted at older readers (i.e. Cosmopolitan) are viewed by young women, if not
purchased by them. In addition, high-circulation magazines also have expansive
exposure through various means (e.g. check-out lines, read at home by mother, in
waiting areas).

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252 Feminism & Psychology 17(2)

The cover headlines of these magazines were chosen for analysis by theme.
Since many magazines are bought at checkout counters as impulse items, it is
reasonable to assume that magazines select specific headlines most likely to
result in impulse buying due to the appeal of the topic. The goal of many of the
magazine headlines analyzed appeared to be to capture the reader’s attention
through dramatic messages (e.g. ‘Lose 30 Pounds in Two Weeks’), which are
often clarified in the actual article (e.g. ‘these results are seen in one in one
thousand dieters’). While this may be true, the brevity of the message that is sent
through the cover does not explain the pros and cons which would make the head-
line more accurate.
Magazines were chosen for the years 1976, 1986, and 1996 in an attempt to
obtain an accurate representation of the themes conveyed during each decade.
The selected years were chosen rather than mid-decade issues (e.g. 1995, 1985,
and 1975) due to the inaccessibility of magazines published in 1975. The issues
for the months of February, May, August, and December were coded in an
attempt to represent messages during different times of the year and to control for
seasonal changes in cover topics. For each of the three years analyzed, 40
magazines were coded, with the total sample for the study consisting of 120
magazine covers.
Initially, headlines were to be analyzed using the ‘feminist’ versus ‘tradition-
al’ message categories outlined in the Peirce study (1990). However, based on a
review of the content of the magazine headlines, greater distinction was deemed
appropriate for certain categories. Peirce (1990) combined body issues and
beauty in one category defined as ‘appearance’. Based on our specific interest in
body image and the presence of clearly delineated headlines focusing on body
issues versus hair and make-up, a separate category of ‘diet and body image’ was
established in addition to ‘beauty and fashion’. Using the categories described
in the Peirce study (1990) as a guideline, raters developed eight categories for
classification. Following the development of categories, a checklist was designed
for each of the three raters to assess the frequency of headlines in each category
for each magazine. Categorical data were compared using chi-square tests.
The number of cover topics for the magazines was 258 for 1976, 345 for 1986
and 286 for 1996. The percentage of cover topics devoted to each category was
established by dividing the number of category topics by the total number of
cover topics.
Categories emerging were ‘sex and romance’, ‘beauty and fashion’, ‘diet and
body image’, ‘mental and physical health’, ‘career and finance’, ‘other relation-
ships’, ‘domestic issues and child rearing’, and ‘miscellaneous’. ‘Sex and
romance’ headlines included titles such as, ‘How to Keep Your Man Sexually
Interested’, while ‘other relationships’ included titles such as, ‘Family Ties at 20,
30, 40’. ‘Beauty and fashion’ included topics such as ‘Summer Magic; The
Sleekest Swimwear’. ‘Physical health’ was differentiated from body image based
on topics whose primary interests included healthier eating, strength and cardio-
vascular health, and medical health – ‘What’s that Lump? Life Saving Advice’ –

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DAVALOS et al.: Content Analysis of Magazine Headlines 253

TABLE 1
Sample Headlines for Each Category

Category 1976 1986 1996

Sex and ‘Passive Men: Love ‘Top Therapists Tell ‘First Ever Global Sex
romance Them or Leave You How to Rev Up Questionnaire’
Them or What?’ Your Marriage’
Beauty and ‘90 Greatest Looks ‘Party-Perfect ‘Glamorous Seductive
fashion Going: Super Hair and Makeup’ Fashion’
Accessories’
Diet and ‘Latest News on ‘5 Diets that Work’ ‘The Diet that Takes It
body image Cosmetic Surgery’ Off Where You Are
Fattest’
Mental and ‘How to Kick the ‘Shape up with Mom’ ‘Self Esteem . . . The
physical health Worry Habit’ Hard-to-Get Best
Thing You Can Have
. . . Here’s How’
Career and ‘College: Special ‘8 Ways to Cope with ‘Stressed-Out at
finance Guide – How to Do a Frustrating Job’ Work? Chill-Out Tips’
Anything Better at
College’
Other ‘Why your Parents ‘Our Hearts Belong to ‘What’s Your Friend
relationships Sometimes have to Daddy’ Type?’
Say No’
Domestic ‘Last-Minute ‘Dinnertime Express: ‘Special Report: The
issues and Decorations to Sew, 8 Great Meals-in- School Lessons that
child-rearing Knit or Crochet’ Minutes’ Hurt Your Child’
Miscellaneous ‘Our Favorite Story ‘Michael J. Fox’ ‘Horoscope Bonus’
by Pearl S. Buck’

versus body image issues such as, ‘Living Fat Free. Liposuction Up Close and
Personal’. ‘Domestic issues and child rearing topics’ represented headlines such
as ‘Jam-packed with Easy Ideas for Cookies and Toys and Decorations and Gifts
to Make and the Greatest Holiday Cake You Ever Saw’. Finally, ‘career and
finance’ headlines included topics such as ‘How Does Your Boss Rate You? Tips
to Score High’. Table 1 illustrates samples of magazine headlines for each of the
topic areas for the three time periods studied.
No cover topic was placed in more than one category. Topics that deviated
from the categories of interest were placed in the ‘miscellaneous’ category. These
included interviews with celebrities, horoscopes, book and movie reviews and
travel articles.
Data were collected and categorized by two raters who separately assessed
the selected magazines. Since both raters were part of the research team that
abstracted the initial categories, a third rater was engaged to provide additional

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254 Feminism & Psychology 17(2)

evidence of reliability of content coding. All raters were females. The ages of
the raters were 27, 38 and 56 years old. Inter-rater reliability was defined as the
number of headlines that all raters placed in the same category. Reliability across
three raters was above 90 percent. Those cover topics that did not have unani-
mous consent independently were further discussed as a group and classified in
what was deemed the appropriate category.
Data were entered into the statistical software program SPSS®. Chi-square
analyses were utilized. The standard alpha level of p < .05 was used to determine
statistical significance.

RESULTS

Chi-square analysis suggests that the frequency of headlines in each of the topic
areas has not changed significantly during the periods assessed between 1976 and
1996. Consistently, the greatest number of cover topics fell within the category
of ‘beauty and fashion’ (see Table 2). In other studies, body issues and beauty
have been categorized together under the heading of ‘appearance’ (Peirce, 1990).
If this type of coding were utilized in the present study, appearance would
account for approximately one-third of magazine headlines for all of the years
analyzed. However, a separate category of ‘diet and body image’ was established
to look more closely at the issue of body image. In both 1976 and 1986, this
category accounted for 8 percent of the cover topics. In 1996, this category
almost doubled, representing 15 percent of the cover topics.
Another category that represented a notable portion of the headlines was ‘sex
and romance’. This category included maintaining your relationship with your
mate and a significant number of articles advising methods to obtain a romantic
relationship. Similar to ‘diet and body image’, this category also remained con-
stant from 1976 to 1986 with an increase occurring in 1996 (Table 2). The
category ‘domestic issues and child-rearing’ was the only one to steadily
decrease. In 1976, it accounted for 18 percent of the cover topics. It dropped to
16 percent in 1986 and 11 percent in 1996.
Each of the remaining categories accounted for no more than 10 percent of the
headlines at any period of time. The category ‘mental and physical health’ topped
out in 1976, representing 10 percent of the cover topics. The category ‘career and
finance’ never accounted for more than 4 percent of headlines presented. Finally,
the category ‘other relationships’ represented the least amount of coverage. This
category included any topic concerning friendships, family (other than partner),
and any other relationships. It maintained its meager 3 percent of representation
in 1976 and 1986, and then dropped to 2 percent in 1996. Clearly, the messages
being sent to females center on the ideas of looking a certain way and being
involved in a certain type of relationship.
The message that females need to take care of their mental and physical health
never represented a significant theme in magazine covers. Although many women

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DAVALOS et al.: Content Analysis of Magazine Headlines 255

TABLE 2
Percentages of Headlines in Each Category During Selected Years

1976 1986 1996

Category % N* % N % N

Beauty and fashion 20 (51) 26 (87) 19 (55)

Sex and romance 14 (38) 14 (50) 21 (60)
Diet and body image 8 (21) 8 (29) 15 (30)
Domestic issues and child-rearing 18 (46) 16 (55) 11 (35)
Mental and physical health 10 (26) 7 (26) 9 (27)
Career and finance 3 (7) 4 (13) 3 (10)
Other relationships 3 (8) 3 (9) 2 (7)
Miscellaneous 24 (61) 22 (76) 20 (62)

Total 258 345 286

* Figures in parentheses indicate observed number of headlines within each category.

are single or in relationships that are maintained by two incomes, the messages
that convey information to young women on how to manage their money or
survive in their work environments are barely existent. Finally, it appears that
messages stressing non-romantic relationships or support systems are mostly
absent.

DISCUSSION

Analysis of themes of women’s magazine headlines indicates that, while there

may be changing perceptions in society towards women and their roles, the media
does not always reflect these views. The dominant messages that appear to be
clear are that women should be thin, beautiful and attractive to males. Other
messages appear secondary to those.
Although we attempted to present a wide array of magazines encompassing
three decades, there are limitations to this study that should be addressed. The
goal of this analysis was to address the trends in magazine headlines that have
prevailed for the latter half of the 20th century to heighten awareness about the
messages being conveyed to women since the introduction of female-focused
magazines. However, it is possible that these messages have changed in the last
few years and these changes may not be represented in the current study. We are
hopeful that this line of inquiry will continue with studies addressing these trends
into the 21st century.
In addition, the influence of ethnicity and magazines directed at different eth-
nicities was not addressed. Limited research suggests that the effects of magazine
advertisements and images may be different for women of different ethnicities

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256 Feminism & Psychology 17(2)

and in different parts of the world (Edwards-Hewitt and Gray, 1993; Tiggemann
and Rueuetel, 2001). Plous and Neptune’s (1997) research suggests that maga-
zines whose target audiences are black women may be sending disparate
messages from those directed at white females. However, results are inconsistent
across studies and future research is warranted to focus on the differences in the
effects of media across ethnicities and the possible reasons for these differences.
Considering the limitations of this study, our findings suggest that magazine
headlines have, in general, maintained a static representation of females and their
role in society over the years and generally convey messages that focus on body
image and sexual relationships. This study has confirmed what others have found,
that the women’s movement has not changed the fundamental messages that are
conveyed to women in the media. Little material was found tied to the themes of
identity development and achievement. Personal development through intellec-
tual, aesthetic or athletic endeavors was not a focus and few articles existed about
education and career choices, and social, political and world events. The reason
for this lack of change in messages being conveyed via magazine headlines is not
clearly understood. There are those that contend that while women’s roles in the
workforce continue to increase, the more traditional expectations regarding
dependency on males and importance of physical beauty persist (Wolf, 1991).
Others argue that the current thin-ideal de-emphasizes curvaceousness associated
with the female body because of societal stereotypes that associate curvaceous-
ness with low intellect (Silverstein and Perlick, 1995). Regardless of the specific
reasoning that researchers present regarding the continuing importance of thin-
ness and physical attractiveness in today’s culture, most agree that that messages
being sent to females often lead to psychosocial conflict (Gordon, 2001; Katzman
and Lee, 1997; Wolf, 1991).
Although most of the trends we have found represent the latter half of the 20th
century, recent publications suggest that there is a growing awareness of the
possible role of media in adolescent identity development. We hope that with a
new millennium and new interest in the role of media, researchers will continue
to discuss the messages conveyed in the media today and the possible impact
these messages have on young women.

REFERENCES

Blakely, M.K (1986) ‘A Diet of Fluff: The Trivialization of Women in Magazines’,

Newsday, 2 November: 13–17.
Cattarin, J.A., Thompson, J.K., Thomas, C. and Williams, R. (2000) ‘Body Image, Mood,
and Televised Images of Attractiveness: The Role of Social Comparison’, Journal of
Social & Clinical Psychology 19(2): 220–39.
Edwards-Hewitt, T. and Gray, J.J. (1993) ‘The Prevalence of Disordered Eating Attitudes
and Behaviours in Black-American and White-American College Women: Ethnic,
Regional, Class and Media Differences’, European Eating Disorders Review 1: 41–54.

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DAVALOS et al.: Content Analysis of Magazine Headlines 257

Evans, E.D., Rutberg, J., Sather, C. and Turner, C. (1991) ‘Content Analysis of Con-
temporary Teen Magazines for Adolescent Females’, Youth & Society 23(1): 99–120.
Gordon, R.A. (2001) ‘Eating Disorders East and West: A Culture-bound Syndrome
Unbound’, in M. Nasser, M.A. Katzman and R.A. Gordon (eds) Eating Disorders and
Cultures in Transition, pp. 1–23. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Harrison, K. and Cantor, J. (1997) ‘The Relationship between Media Consumption and
Eating Disorders’, Journal of Communication 47: 40–67.
Hermes, J. (1995) Reading Women’s Magazines: An Analysis of Everyday Media Use.
Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.
Katzman, M.A. and Lee, S. (1997) ‘Beyond Body Image: The Integration of Feminist and
Transcultural Theories in the Understanding of Self-starvation’, International Journal
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King, N., Touyz, S. and Charles, M. (2000) ‘The Effect of Body Dissatisfaction on
Women’s Perceptions of Female Celebrities’, International Journal of Eating
Disorders 27: 341–7.
Levine, M.P. and Smolak, L. (1996) ‘Media as a Context for the Development of Dis-
ordered Eating’, in L. Smolak, M.P. Levine, and R. Striegel-Moore (eds) The Develop-
mental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders, pp. 183–204. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Peirce, K. (1990) ‘A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage
Girls through Seventeen Magazine’, Sex Roles 23(9/10): 491–501.
Plous, S. and Neptune, D. (1997) ‘Racial and Gender Biases in Magazine Advertising: A
Content-analytic Study’, Psychology of Women Quarterly 21: 627–44.
Silverstein, B. and Perlick, D. (1995) The Cost of Competence: Why Inequality Causes
Depression, Eating Disorders and Illness in Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, J.K., Heinberg, L.J., Altabe, M. and Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999) Exacting
Beauty: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment of Body Image Disturbance. Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Thomsen, S.R., McCoy, K.J., Gustafson, R.L. and Williams, M. (2002) ‘Motivations for
Reading Beauty and Fashion Magazines and Anorexic Risk in College-age Women’,
Media Psychology 4: 113–35.
Tiggemann, M. and Rueuetel, E. (2001) ‘A Cross-cultural Comparison of Body
Dissatisfaction in Estonian and Australian Young Adults and its Relationship with
Media Exposure’, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 32: 736–42.
Wolf, N. (1991) The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New
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The Writer’s Market (2000) Cincinnati: F & W Publications.
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Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Publications.

Deana B. DAVALOS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology

at Colorado State University, USA. Prior to this she was an Assistant Professor
at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, USA.
ADDRESS: Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins,
CO, 80523, USA.
[email: Davalos@ColoState.Edu]

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258 Feminism & Psychology 17(2)

Ruth A. DAVALOS is a retired public school teacher of gifted students and

Assistant Professor from the University of Texas at Tyler’s School of Education
and Psychology, USA.
ADDRESS: 2044 Village Drive, Milliken, CO 80543, USA.
[email: RuthDavalos@earthlink.net]

Heidi S. LAYTON is a doctoral student in the Geropsychology Doctoral

Program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, USA.
ADDRESS: Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150, USA.
[email: hlayton@uccs.edu]

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