Consequences of exposure to the thin ideal in mass media depend on moderators in young women: An experimental study.

Munsch, Simone; Messerli‐Bürgy, Nadine; Meyer, Andrea; Humbel, Nadine; Schopf, Kathrin; Wyssen, Andrea; Forrer, Felicitas; Biedert, Esther; Lennertz, Julia; Trier, Stephan; Isenschmid, Bettina; Milos, Gabriella; Claussen, Malte Christian; Whinyates, Katherina; Adolph, Dirk; Margraf, Jürgen; Assion, Hans‐Jörg; Teismann, Tobias; Ueberberg, Bianca; Juckel, Georg; Müller, Jörg; Klauke, Benedikt; Schneider, Silvia

doi:10.1037/abn0000676

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The majority of publications on the effects of social media on body dissatisfaction examined female samples, although Instagram is an app that is used equally by women and men ( Sumter et al, 2022 ). The studies published so far examine exposure to images of one’s own gender, both in female (e.g., Cohen et al, 2019 ; Munsch et al, 2021 ) and male samples (e.g., Tiggemann and Anderberg, 2020 ; Sumter et al, 2022 ). A design in which a person is exposed to images of their own gender is consistent with Festinger’s theory of social comparisons (1954), on the basis of which comparison is sought with people who share characteristics such as age or gender.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media and body dissatisfaction in young adults: An experimental investigation of the effects of different image content and influencing constructs

Silva

Steins²

2023

Front. Psychol.

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Research shows negative correlations between media exposure of body images in the context of hegemonic beauty ideals and body satisfaction. The present study deals with the underlying mechanisms and the effects of different exposure contents. In the online experimental study, a sample consisting of 226 individuals (82.3% female, 17.7% male) received a three-minute exposure to Instagram images of women and men in the context of either hegemonic beauty ideals in the experimental group or body diversity in the control group. A conducted Mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed significant group differences, including an increase in body dissatisfaction in the experimental group and a reduction in the control group after exposure. Statistically significant detrimental effects of exposure to images in the experimental group on women’s state mood as well as descriptive similar tendencies on men’s state mood were found. Moderating effects of the tendency to make upward social comparisons and the internalization of the gender-specific beauty ideal on the relationship between exposure content and the change scores of body dissatisfaction were found. Furthermore, a mediation model was calculated to investigate the effect of exposure content on post-measurement of body dissatisfaction, using the constructs “comparison processes regarding sexual attractiveness” and “assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness” as mediators. The model did not yield significant mediation, although significant relationships were found between the model components. Exploratory analyses were conducted on the influence of the assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness on related social comparisons and the intensity of engagement with Instagram content as a predictor of body dissatisfaction. The results highlight the relevance for psychoeducational purposes of addressing a critical engagement with depicted beauty ideals in social media. Moreover, the study proposes body diversity as an alternative content that can have a positive impact on body satisfaction, which can be actively sought during the individual Instagram user experience.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media and body dissatisfaction in young adults: An experimental investigation of the effects of different image content and influencing constructs

Silva

Steins²

2023

Front. Psychol.

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“…In the online-questionnaire sub-study presented here, we assessed mental health correlates of a German-speaking general youth population across two measurement points, one year apart (baseline, 12-month follow-up), using the platform Qualtrics. The study received approval from the cantonal ethical committee of Bern, has been registered (Study ID: 2019–01277; DRKS-ID: DRKS00023706) and the protocol has been published ( Munsch et al, 2021a , b ). The present report is the first to report results from the i-BEAT study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, participants were emailed a link to the online-questionnaire and first provided with the information and aims of the study, to which they had to give online informed consent in order to proceed. The questionnaire then started with an assessment of the sociodemographic characteristics, followed by different mental health questionnaires (for the selection used in this study see measures and a detailed overview see Munsch et al, 2021a , b ). Completion of the whole online-questionnaire took approximately 30–45 min and was anonymous.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological correlates of body dissatisfaction in Swiss youth over a one-year study-period

Mueller,

Forrer,

Meyer

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionIt is well known that young individuals often report pronounced negative perceptions and attitudes towards their own body or intense fear of being not muscular enough. There is much less data available, however, on the role of psychological mechanisms on these perceptions and attitudes, such as emotion regulation difficulties, correlates of alexithymia, and appearance-related rejection sensitivity.MethodsWe therefore set out to assess associations between these psychological mechanisms, and body image as well as muscle dysmorphic symptoms. Our sample was recruited as part of a larger-scale study aiming at assessing correlates of mental health (with a focus on eating disorder symptoms) in German speaking Switzerland. The first wave (T1), starting in April 2021, included 605 participants (80% female, 19.6 ± 2.5 years) who completed the online-questionnaire and were reassessed in a second wave (T2), one year later.ResultsResults indicated that at both waves, emotion regulation difficulties [DERS-SF] and appearance-based rejection sensitivity [ARS-D] were both positively cross-sectionally associated with body dissatisfaction [BSQ-8C] and muscle dysmorphic symptoms [MDDI] at the first assessment time-point and one year later at follow-up assessment. Moreover, alexithymia [TAS-20] was positively cross-sectionally associated with muscle dysmorphic symptoms at both waves. We further observed high absolute and relative level stabilities for all variables involved across the one-year study period.Discussion/ConclusionEven though the effects for some associations were rather small, our findings underline the relevance of such mechanisms in the development of body dissatisfaction and to a lesser extent of muscle dysmorphia symptoms over the period of one year. Additional research is necessary to replicate these findings in other youth samples.

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“…In some cases, media advice can have unintended negative consequences. For example, media information on healthy eating or ideal weight can lead to depressed mood or eating disorders in vulnerable individuals (Pearl et al, 2015;Munsch et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key determinant of the influence of a media report on attitudes and behavior is its specific content. For example, a media message on healthy dietary practices that places undue emphasis on an "ideal" weight or body shape may lead to disordered eating, while one which provides information on healthy food components may not have this effect (Munsch et al, 2021). Similarly, a media report on suicide that sensationalizes the act, or presents it as acceptable, may lead to an increase in suicide attempts, while reports that provide only essential details and encourage those with suicidal ideas to seek help have the opposite effect (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do We Need Media Guidelines When Reporting on Panic Buying? An Analysis of the Content of News Reports During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rajkumar

2022

Front. Commun.

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The COVID-19 pandemic, with its attendant supply chain disruptions and restrictions on internal movement, has been associated with frequent episodes of panic buying both in its initial phase and in subsequent waves. Empirical evidence suggests that news media content and consumption are important determinants of attitudes and behavior during the pandemic, and existing research both before and during the pandemic suggests that panic buying can be influenced by both exposure to media reports and their specific content. This pilot study was conducted to assess the quality of media reports of panic buying during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, using two independent measures of news article quality. Seventy news reports of panic buying across 12 countries, covering the “second wave” of the pandemic from January 1 to December 31, 2021, were collected through an online search of media outlets using the Google News aggregator. These reports were analyzed in terms of the content of their reporting, based on existing research of the factors driving panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each report was scored for quality using two different systems: one based on an existing WHO guideline, and one based on the work of a research group which has published extensive work related to panic buying during this pandemic. It was observed that a significant number of reports contained elements that were likely to amplify, rather than attenuate, panic buying behavior, and that the quality of news reports was generally poor regardless of pandemic severity, cultural values, or freedom of the press. On the basis of this evidence, suggestions are offered to improve the media reporting of panic buying and minimize the risk of fear contagion and imitation.

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Consequences of exposure to the thin ideal in mass media depend on moderators in young women: An experimental study.

Cited by 7 publications

References 75 publications

Social media and body dissatisfaction in young adults: An experimental investigation of the effects of different image content and influencing constructs

Social media and body dissatisfaction in young adults: An experimental investigation of the effects of different image content and influencing constructs

Psychological correlates of body dissatisfaction in Swiss youth over a one-year study-period

Do We Need Media Guidelines When Reporting on Panic Buying? An Analysis of the Content of News Reports During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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