Crisis On The Catwalk: Fashion Models Feeling Unhappy

Researchers at The City University, London, have found that models experience lower psychological need satisfaction and well-being than those not in the profession.

After questioning a group of models and non-models of the same age range on their need satisfaction, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, self-actualisation and general mental health across two studies, it appears that being a model doesn't automatically make you happy.

What's more, with the current debate raging over whether size 00 models should be banned from the catwalk, it seems that models have more troubles than just their weight.

The researchers - led by Dr Björn Meyer, research fellow at The City University, and including professional models and City psychology graduates Kristin Enström and Mona Harstveit - are urging the modelling industry to take these results seriously and attend to the potentially problematic well-being among their employees.

In the first study, two groups of people (each being 63% female) aged between 18 and 35 (with 56 models recruited from two London modelling agencies and 53 non-models from two companies in London) were asked to respond to several questionnaires assessing levels of psychological need fulfilment, happiness and self-actualisation.

The team's findings, which coincide with the start of London Fashion Week, show that models on average scored lower on several of the questionnaires, particularly when quizzed on their psychological need satisfaction. That is, many of the models felt relatively unfulfilled in their need for social relatedness (the need to feel connected with others), their need for autonomy (feeling free to make independent decisions) and their need for competence (the need to feel skilled and effective rather than incompetent in one's daily activities).

According to the theory the study was based on-self-determination theory-the fulfilment of these three needs is a prerequisite for happiness and good mental health. Consistent with the theory's predictions, lower need satisfaction predicted lower well-being, and models scored significantly lower than others on both need satisfaction and well-being. Dr Meyer explains: "These results do not mean that models are mentally disturbed, but they are nevertheless concerning and point to a potentially serious issue."

Dr Meyer says: "There are certain jobs which give you a sense of competence and challenge - their complex nature gives you the sense that it takes talent to do it well, that you are tested in some way. Some of the models in our study might have felt a lack of opportunity to experience this feeling of competence on the job, so they reported feeling unsatisfied in this respect. If your job values you solely for your looks or your ability to walk up and down, opportunities for experiencing this satisfying sense of competence may be limited."

Meanwhile Kristin Enström explains that feelings of isolation - not being connected with those around you - along with not feeling in control of one's life - are common from her personal experience as a model: "I have always been aware of the lack of fulfilment of doing modelling. In addition, the sense of loneliness often kicks in when one travels to do a job - one never has enough time to bond with anyone.

"With regard to autonomy, models don't need to think much in terms of what needs to be done - models are always being told what to do and where to go."

In the second study, a group of 35 female models from two different agencies were contrasted with a group of 40 female non-models from two companies in London - one design office and one literary agency.

This second study focused on certain personality features as well as life satisfaction and happiness - and the models again reported significantly lower levels of well-being and happiness. On average, the models also reported feeling lower self-esteem, and they endorsed more problematic personality features, such as feeling more suspicious of others, being more disconnected and lonely, more impulsive and reckless, more intensely emotional, and more self-centred.

Dr Meyer explains: "These personality features have nothing to do with a clinical diagnosis of a personality disorder - these things shouldn't be confused. The personality features we measured in this study are simply characteristics everyone has to a greater or lesser extent. The fact that the models, on average, scored higher on many of these questionnaires is nevertheless worrying. We need to find out whether these findings generalize or are unique to the models in this particular study. And then we need to investigate the reasons underlying these differences."

With debates raging about the weight and physical health of models, these findings show that the industry needs to be concerned about the mental well-being of models, too. Dr Meyer says: "Why should the industry be worried? Because you should want your employees to be reasonably happy and well adjusted - that is a valuable end in itself."

"Sometimes we stereotype models as commodities, good for displaying clothes and nothing else, but they are, of course, human beings, with the same needs and concerns as everyone else. The industry needs to ensure that the working conditions are such that they do not undermine the models' need satisfaction and psychological well-being."

Kristin adds: "The findings haven't made me stop modelling because of the money I can earn and also, because of what I've gained from our research, I am less likely to allow myself to be affected by the downsides of modelling. But many models are clueless to the potential detrimental effects modelling can have. This profession makes the mind lazy and one can easily end up in a state of apathy."

Asked whether the results tie in with concerns over eating disorders amongst models, Dr Meyer says: "We did not study eating disorders, as such. However, our findings are consistent with the notion that psychological adjustment might be an issue among some models. This needs to be investigated further. Perhaps the main lesson from this research concerns the importance of finding opportunities to get your needs met. To the extent that your job supports this kind of need satisfaction, it is probably good for your general psychological adjustment and well-being-and that holds true for fashion models as well as others."