Social Media Appearance Preoccupation Scale

Understanding social media appearance preoccupation: The role of body image emotions.

“…The Social Media Appearance Preoccupation Scale (SMAPS; Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021a, 2021b) captured online self-presentation (seven items; e.g., “I prefer to only upload photos of myself to social media where I look physically attractive”), appearance-related activity (five items; e.g., “When on social media my friends post, comment on, share, or like content about getting or staying fit and/or muscular”), and appearance comparisons (six items; e.g., “I am often dissatisfied with my weight or looks in my social media pictures”). Participants responded using a 7-point Likert-type scale from 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 7 ( strongly agree ).…”

“…Higher average subscales scores indicated greater tendency to engage in appearance-related online activities. Internal consistency for the SMAPS subscales has been demonstrated (α = .87-.93;Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021a).…”

“…Based on theoretical tenets (Festinger, 1954; Tracy & Robins, 2004) and empirical evidence (Gioia et al, 2020; Lim & Yang, 2015; Sabiston et al, 2007), it was hypothesized that higher appearance shame and envy would be associated with higher social media appearance preoccupation. Gender, age, body mass index (BMI), and time spent on social media were included as covariates (Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021a). Gender differences were also explored.…”