The Medium is the Message: Social Media and Body Dissatisfaction Public

Reagan, Julia (Spring 2018)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/j96020624?locale=fr
Published

Abstract

Social media platforms have quickly become a pervasive part of today’s cultural landscape. Given the sizable body of empirical work exploring the negative influence of mass media on body image, as well as the prevalence of body concerns facing the female population, it is important to examine how these new, more immersive and interactive platforms might influence women’s attitudes toward their bodies. The present study examined whether social media platforms negatively influence body satisfaction in the same way as mass media, along with the role that social media image exposure might play in moderating the effects of individual differences in thin-ideal internalization, body comparison, and body consciousness. A sample of 131 undergraduate women participated in the study, which consisted of a series of questionnaires related to social media habits and preferences, body dissatisfaction, and other psychological measures related to body concerns. Contrary to predictions, image exposure via social media was not directly associated with body dissatisfaction. However, image exposure did moderate the significant relationships between the individual characteristics of thin-ideal internalization, body comparison, and body consciousness and the outcome of body dissatisfaction, as predicted. Results suggest that these associations are more pronounced when women encounter more social media imagery; thus, the exposure-dissatisfaction link may be more nuanced than previously found within mass media research. More work is needed to better understand the impact of social media exposure on women’s psychological health.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1

            Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction, and the Role of Mass Media….…………........1

            Individual Differences……….………………..……………..………………....................4

            Social Media……………………….…………………….…………………..…………....8

            Current Study…………………..………………….………………………………...…...10

            Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………………….11

Method……………………………………………………………………………………….......12

            Participants...………………………………………………………………………….….12

            Measures of Key Variables………...…………………………………………..…….......13

            Procedure……………………………………………………………………….………..15

Results……………………………………………………………………………………………15

            Descriptive Statistics……………………………………………………………………..15

Tests of Main Hypotheses………………………………………………………………..16

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..18

            Strengths………………..………………………………………………....……….….....22

            Limitations……………………………………………………………………………….22

Implications and Future Directions……………………..………………………………..24

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….26

References………………………………………………………………………………………..28

Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………….35

Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………38

Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………….42

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement
  • Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.
School
Department
Subfield / Discipline
Degree
Submission
Language
  • English
Research Field
Mot-clé
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor
Committee Members
Dernière modification

Primary PDF

Supplemental Files