RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 “There She Is, Your Ideal”
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0522-12347R1
DO 10.3368/jhr.0522-12347R1
A1 Carpenter, Christopher S.
A1 Churchill, Brandyn F.
YR 2023
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/08/02/jhr.0522-12347R1.abstract
AB 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.