The Effects of Acute Social Media Exposure on Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Behavior of Male and Female Students

Abstract

Introduction: Experimental research has examined the effect of social media on body dissatisfaction, but little attention has been given to the impact on eating behavior. Across two studies, we tested the causal relationship between acute social media use, body dissatisfaction and eating behavior. Methods: In Study 1, 80 female participants (age: M = 20.75 years; BMI: M = 21.3) viewed their own Facebook account or a news website before completing a portion size selection task. In Study 2 (pre-registered), 148 participants (81 females; age: M = 20.92 years; BMI: M = 22.19), viewed their own or an experimenter-curated Instagram profile before consuming potato chips ad-libitum. Results: In Study 1, body dissatisfaction was significantly higher in participants who viewed Facebook (compared to a news website) and significantly mediated the effect of condition on portion size selection. In Study 2, regardless of condition females reported significantly smaller ideal body sizes and higher body dissatisfaction compared to males. When females reported a thinner body size as ideal, females in the personal Instagram consumed significantly less potato chips than those in the control Instagram condition. When males reported a smaller actual body size, males in the personal Instagram condition consumed significantly less potato chips than males in the control Instagram condition. Discussion: Findings suggest brief bouts of social media use may produce immediate disruptions to body image of both sexes, and restrained snack intake of females endorsing thin ideals.

Body perception and frequency of exposure to advertising on social networks among adolescents

“…In this sense, the results of our work have confirmed that there are significant correlations between the level of exposure of adolescents to food or body care advertising on social networks and the level of satisfaction with their physical appearance (RQ 1). Specifically, the data show that exposure to social networks increases the dissatisfaction that adolescents have with their own bodies, which, as previous studies have shown, can lead to the development of mental health problems such as depressive disorders (Murray et al, 2023), self-esteem problems due to feeling that they do not fit in with the canons of beauty established by society (De-Jans et al, 2021) and agreed upon by social networks, and eating disorders (Cordero et al, 2022;Pink et al, 2022;Sanzari et al, 2023).…”

Self-esteem, but not age, moderates the influence of viewing social media on body image in adult females.

“…Strengths of this study include the large sample with a wide BMI and age range, and the inclusion of a mood and neutral control group. However, there is a need now to examine the effects of viewing such images on BI in other understudied groups, in particular to include males in this research, as they have been neglected in the literature despite becoming increasingly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of having a poor BI (Pink et al, 2022; Rodgers & Rousseau, 2022).…”

“…Body image (BI) is a multifaceted construct that refers to perceptions of and attitudes toward one’s own body (Cash et al, 2002). Poor BI is related to the development of eating disorders (Tylka, 2004), comorbid mental health outcomes (Woodside & Staab, 2006), and has been attributed to sociocultural factors in young females (Thompson et al, 2004), with research indicating social media, in particular thin-ideal body imagery, as a likely influence (e.g., Brown & Tiggemann, 2016; Pink et al, 2022; Saiphoo & Vahedi, 2019).…”

Consumer’s Purchase Intention Towards Organic Products: How Social Media Advertising Exposure Frequency Influences Consumer Purchase Decision in the Organic Food Industry

“…Pink, A.E. et al stated in 2022 that brief exposure, less than 10 times, leads to a negative impact on consumers physically [20,21]. Nevertheless, a recent study illustrated that the optimal level of ad frequency is ten times of exposure, which may guide advertisers to maximize the purchase intention of consumers in a psychological way [13].…”