The malleability of happiness and success in contemporary media: the content of a malleability narrative and its consequences for adolescents’ mental health

The increased prevalence of mental health issues in adolescents has led to societal concerns and has fueled scholarly attention. The relation between appearance ideals in popular media and a dysfunctional body image has been shown to contribute to this wellbeing problem. The current project argues that the contribution of media is not limited to appearance ideals but also includes ideals regarding academic performance, sexuality, romantic relationships and social life; media abound with idealized representations of not only how one should look, but also behave and perform. This project proposes that the introduction of a ‘malleability perspective’ may help understand how these ideals are presented in media and identify novel pathways through which media may affect mental health. Against the backdrop of literature on the individualistic discourse in Western societies, the malleability narrative in media is defined as a collection of unrealistic ideals that tend to be portrayed as within reach for anyone who works hard or follows a certain ‘recipe’. The prevalence and nature of this narrative will be outlined in a content analysis. Next, a panel and daily experience study will shed new light on the relationship between media ideals and mental wellbeing by describing the role of a set of new concepts, such as the internalization of malleable ideals, but also concepts that are focal within the individualistic discourse, such as performance pressure and self-responsibility.