The present study examined whether overall body satisfaction is prone to the focusing illusion. We tested if a temporal (experimentally induced) evaluative focus on body can influence judgments about one’s overall satisfaction with life. Built on prior experimental work where the order of satisfaction measures was manipulated resulting in the focusing illusion (Strack et al. 1988), we randomized participants to different conditions asking questions about either the body or about life first. In line with predictions, individuals satisfied with their body were more likely to report higher satisfaction with life when they were asked about their body satisfaction first. This conditional effect significantly added to a baseline correlation between both domains of satisfaction.

This study documented a partial focusing illusion regarding body satisfaction, i.e. a situation when the baseline correlation is enhanced by an explicit focus on a specific aspect of life. This baseline correlation suggests that body satisfaction is spontaneously taken into consideration while forming judgments about satisfaction with life (Schimmack and Oishi 2005). It demonstrates the validity of self-report life-satisfaction measures, even if manipulations with temporarily accessible information have an influence on responses. However, individuals who were made to focus on their body increasingly relied on body information in their ratings of satisfaction with life, as indicated by an increase in explained variance in satisfaction with life. Similar instances of partial focusing were observed in previous studies (Aknin et al. 2009).

It is important to identify those aspects of life that people consider significant for their happiness. Focusing attention on aspects of life with which one is satisfied promotes significant, yet often transient, increases in well-being (Emmons and McCullough 2003; Seligman et al. 2005; Toepfer et al. 2012). Furthermore, the literature on positive psychology interventions provides numerous avenues as to how a focus on positive aspects of the future self can result in increased happiness (Layous et al. 2013). A promising study has collected data from a sample of self-selected individuals dissatisfied with their body (Geraghty et al. 2010). A brief psychological intervention aimed at fostering a positive focus was efficacious in reducing body dissatisfaction with effects comparable to elements of cognitive therapy (monitoring and restructuring) but with higher attrition. Further studies might test how focusing illusion could be used to increase well-being of individuals dissatisfied with their body, and how those who are satisfied already can reap additional benefits.

Asking about life satisfaction first and its hypothetical correlates later may promote the identification of those specific aspects of life that may have more enduring effects on overall well-being, such as becoming a spouse or a parent (Kohler et al. 2005). Some problems within the field of well-being research require measures to influence particular mind-set of participants. For instance, the utility of indicators used in national surveys depends on procedures that minimize the unique characteristics of a particular moment (Campbell et al. 1976). The current study provided new experimental evidence that the focusing illusion can be a psychometric problem for studies on satisfaction with life. The order of questionnaires measuring satisfaction is meaningful (Smith et al. 2006). More specifically, starting with questions about specific satisfaction favors identification of these aspects of well-being that can anchor peoples’ satisfaction with life in general. Further studies might test which of the several available instruments for the measurement of satisfaction with life are more prone or resistant to the focusing illusion (Cummins et al. 2003; Diener et al. 1985). Moreover, it seems that latent state-trait approaches that allow to separate traits from occasion specific influences might be used to minimize the influences of situational factors and attenuate the measurement of satisfaction from random error due to a temporal focus (Eid and Diener 2004).

Our study may have practical implications. By popularizing images of happy and good-looking people, the media promotes the belief that one would be lastingly happy if only his or her body were closer to the ideal. This illusion is also pervasive in novels. Kaminski and Magee (2013) showed that reading about protagonists with low body esteem predicted increased weight concerns among college women. Moreover, media influence is a significant predictor of consideration of cosmetic surgery (Swami 2009) and increasing numbers of cosmetic surgeries linked with body image disturbances have been observed (Callaghan et al. 2011). The ideal promoted excessively in media contributes heavily to body image. Internalization of such an ideal is regarded as a risk factor for eating disturbance (Homan 2010).

The limitation of this study may include its moderate sample size, relatively lower number of male participants in the sample, and not accounting for the body mass index of participants. Moreover, satisfaction scores for body and life were normally distributed, with the mean suggesting that the participants were generally satisfied with their life and with their body. Further studies might test if the same pattern of results hold for clinical groups, for instance for those who are dissatisfied with their body or depressed individuals. Furthermore, the approach we used is only one of the validated methods of testing the focusing illusions. Different research paradigms might be used (e.g. longitudinal designs) to provide a more robust and versatile picture of the body focusing illusion. Further research could test if the efforts to improve life satisfaction by improving body satisfaction are likely to fulfill the expectations. Moreover, despite the effects of focusing illusion being valid on a group level, there can be meaningful individual differences (random effects) with some individuals more and some individuals less prone to the body satisfaction focusing illusion. Larger sample sizes combined with other statistical analysis methods (e.g. multilevel modeling) might be used to disentangle fixed and random effects of body satisfaction on satisfaction with life. Lastly, more advanced experimental tests might be developed to examine the focusing illusion. In the present study, individuals are randomly assigned to a group where the focus in a given domain is facilitated or to a control group with no specific focus. Stronger evidence for the focusing illusion would be provided if each participant completed two trials. For instance, each participant could complete the measure of life satisfaction and then body satisfaction, and several days after (to avoid memory effects) the same participants could complete the scales in the reversed order. The focusing illusion would be indicated by significant within-subject rather than between-subject differences. Furthermore, each participant could repeat the same experiment with a broader range of life domains which would overcome a general limitation of current experimental studies on the focusing illusion that examine single life domains (e.g. Smith et al. 2006).

In conclusion, the focusing illusion regarding body satisfaction pertains to the problem of consequences of counterfactual thinking. People can act upon motivations resulting from “what-if” considerations. Some people can engage in strategies to improve their body satisfaction, expecting that these efforts will make them happier, i.e. physical training, dieting or cosmetic surgery. Focusing illusion is a caveat not only for researchers, but also for lay people who try to look better and be happier.