Much-hated Disney princesses are actually good for a child’s self-image: study

Haters, it’s time to leave Ariel and Elsa alone.

Ever since Snow White first appeared on screens in 1937, Disney princesses have endured an onslaught of criticism for being too weak, too thin, too pretty and not racially diverse.

But now, researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Brigham Young University have determined that having a favorite Disney princess can actually improve a child’s body image.

Additionally, some well-loved Disney princesses enhanced the different ways that children chose to play, encouraging young girls, for example, to take on more active, traditionally masculine roles.

“People are critical of Disney princesses,” Jane Shawcroft of the UC Davis Department of Communication and lead author of the peer-viewed study, said in a statement. “With children’s media, people tend to be critical or dismissive of what kids, especially girls, like. Disney princesses really matter to young children.”

However, Shawcroft’s research might cause parents and caregivers to give those princesses a second look.

The study — entitled “Ariel, Aurora, or Anna? Disney Princess Body Size as a Predictor of Body Esteem and Gendered Play in Early Childhood” — was published Thursday in the journal Psychology of Popular Media.

To conduct their analysis, the study team divided Disney princesses into three body categories: thin, average and above average/heavy.

For example, Moana from the 2016 film of the same name was coded as having an average body size. Princess Jasmine, from 1992’s “Aladdin,” was coded as being thin.

Then the researchers surveyed 340 children and their caregivers in the Denver area from 2020 to 2021. Roughly half the children in the study were girls, and about 84% were white.

The team surveyed the children’s caregivers when the children were three years old, and again one year later to measure any changes in body image and gendered play.

Choice of play was based on gender stereotypes: Toy guns, for example, were considered stereotypically masculine, while dolls were considered feminine.

The results found a significant difference between a Disney princess with an average body type and a thin body type. Kids whose preferred princess had an average body — such as Moana — had higher body esteem.

And those kids were also more open to exploring play that was both stereotypically masculine as well as feminine, a finding that was true for both boys and girls, the researchers determined.

Shawcroft said that these results might be due to the fact that Disney princesses with average bodies are more physically active in their story lines.

“They’re running and climbing enormous mountains and fighting things,” said Shawcroft. “For these princesses, their stories are more about what they can do with their bodies than how their bodies look.” 

But what about thin Disney princesses, who are often blamed for causing body-image issues?

An important revelation from the study was that having a favorite princess who was thin did not change or harm children’s body image or preferred type of gendered play.

However, “children whose favorite princess was depicted with a thin body size did not demonstrate” the same degree of increased body esteem and diverse types of play as children who preferred Disney princesses with average bodies.

The researchers believed having a favorite princess with an average body conferred a protective effect for the children who loved them. 

“Princesses with average body size created a protective effect, strengthening how confident children feel about their own bodies and freeing them to play in different ways,” Shawcroft said.