The dark side of Instagram: Predictor model of dysmorphic concerns

Abstract

Background/Objective Dysmorphic concern are excessive preoccupation about one or several physical characteristics perceived as defects, usually unnoticeable by others. This study was intended to explore the relationship between Instagram use and dysmorphic concerns through appearance-related comparisons, ideas of reference and problems with emotion regulation, and find out whether this relationship is moderated by gender. Method: The sample was comprised of 796 participants ( M age = 22.49; SD = 3.56; 54% women). Results: The results showed a non-significant direct effect between Instagram use and dysmorphic concerns. However, the relationship between these variables was statistically significant through appearance-related comparisons, ideas of reference about “laughing, commenting” and difficulties in emotion regulation. Gender did not moderate any relationship. Conclusions: Men and women who made the most use of Instagram were equally vulnerable to dysmorphic concerns when they tended to compare their appearance with other users, had problems regulating their emotions, and showed interpretative biases related to the belief that others could make comments about them or laugh at them because of their imperfections. The implications of the study are discussed.

Augmented Reality Filters and the Faces as Brands: Personal Identities and Marketing Strategies in the Age of Algorithmic Images

“…Effectively, social media using ARF have been accused by an increasing number of studies to promote "Snapchat dysmorphia" [9], a particular occurrence of body dysmorphic disorders (BDD), consisting in a misalignment between the desired image of one's body and the one actually perceived, due to continuous and intensive use of beautification ARF [10,11]. In turn, Snapchat dysmorphia would lead to lower levels of self-esteem [12] and higher levels of depression [13][14][15]; to several disorders of nutritional behaviour [16] and more frequent use of plastic surgery [17][18][19]; to selfobjectification [20,21] and adaptation to stereotypical socio-cultural aesthetic standards [22] (including racial and skin-colours ones [23]); to "aesthetic labour" [24] and mutual surveillance through female "policing gazes" [25]. However, other studies have shown that beautification is neither the only reason for the use of ARFs nor the prevailing one; in fact, aesthetic motivations are flanked by entertainment, coolness, curiosity, social interaction, silliness, having fun, creativity, brand "fandomship" and so on [26][27][28][29].…”

Compulsive Instagram use: Roles of stickiness, gratifications, and mindfulness

“…Thus, the relation of gender difference to compulsive Instagram use should be examined with caution and according to the context of Instagram use. Specifically, Instagram allows users to compare their appearance with the idealized photographs from significant others serving as reference models (Senín-Calderón et al, 2020). For those females caring about their body image, Instagram provides an opportunity for them to internalize third-party perspectives and objectify their physical selves as the object to be looked at and evaluated, which is associated with their increase in Instagram use (Feltman & Szymanski, 2018).…”

Mensajes de odio hacia la comunidad LGTBIQ+ en los perfiles de Instagram de la prensa española

“…Las investigaciones sobre Instagram en los últimos años se han centrado principalmente en temas clave (Figuereo et al, 2021) como la educación (Ruiz-San-Miguel et al, 2020;Carpenter et al, 2020); el marketing (Góngora y Lavilla, 2020a;Casaló et al, 2021;Velar-Lera et al, 2020;Djafarova y Bowes, 2021); la comunicación política (Parmelee y Roman, 2020;García et al, 2020;Lindholm et al, 2021); el análisis de influencers gastronómicos (Allué, 2013;González y Martínez, 2020;Herrero y Navarro-Beltrá, 2021;Marauri et al, 2021), de moda (Ribeiro-Cardoso et al, 2016) o deportistas (Segarra-Saavedra e Hidalgo-Marí, 2020; Lobillo y Aja, 2020); y, finalmente, problemas psicológicos como ansiedad (Senín-Calderón et al, 2020;Wallace y Buil, 2020), depresión (McCosker y Gerrard, 2020 o adicción (Chávez y Vallejos-Flores, 2021).…”