Difference between revisions of "Social media's effects on adolescent girls' body image"

Revision as of 23:07, 10 February 2023

Summary

Social media’s effects on adolescent girls' body image is associated with body dissatisfaction and even dangerous behavior. ^[1] These unproductive behaviors and obsessions range from compulsively evaluating one's body and engaging in unhealthy fad diets to physical self harm like eating disorders. Arguably equally as serious, severe disappointment with one’s body may lead to dysfunctional eating patterns that create pathways toward depression.​​ ^[2] Reactions to media can vary because of factors like the social networking platform, the environment of the individual, the individual's ethnicity, whether media icons are human or CGI, and more. Considering that adolescent girls are at the intersection of youth and femininity, social scientists and community members alike have shown concern for the ethical implications of social media’s effects on this group in particular. While literature on this specific demographic has risen significantly in recent years, continuing research is a priority given the ever evolving nature of technology.​​ ^[3]

Relevance of Demographics

Axis of Gender

This specific grouping of adolescent girls is of interest to those studying the effects of social networking for two major reasons. In terms of gender expression, there is a notable discrepancy in the effect that media use had on body image. A 2013 study from University of Minnesota showed that girls of this age have higher levels of body dissatisfaction as compared to their male counterparts. With that being said, this study has multiple limitations, the most prominent one being in its adherence to the gender binary (produced no data on intersex or non-binary individuals). ^[4] This limitation was not unique to this study: the available literature that evaluates gender difference in body image tends to . Because of this, most journals include a paragraph on how continuing research is critical to add the currently incomplete data. ^[5]

Axis of Age

Additionally, in the last 20 years, adolescents as a whole have increased their online presence rampantly. ^[6] This staggering increase in exposure to media has made this age group a focus in numerous studies; Epidemiological statistics from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health even suggests that in a 24 hour period, on average, this age group spends more of their time using electronics than sleeping. ^[7] Additionally, due to adolescence being a period of physical and mental development, confusion with body image can be heightened. Moreover, cognitive function like judgment and decision making is lowered due to an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex. ^[8] This means that this particular age group is potentially extra vulnerable to addiction to social networking sites, a habit that is associated with depression and isolation. ^[9] Not only is addiction a possibility when heavily engaging with this material, the combination of these two factors spotlight the cause for growing ethical concerns about adolescent girls’ use of social networking sites.

The Essentially Unattainable Beauty Standard

Many experts cite the over representation of people who are the beauty standard (and thus the under representation of those who fall short of these standards) to be a top cause for body dissatisfaction.​​ ^[10] The beauty standard in America is an evolving concept that historically has placed thinness, eurocentricity, and wealth at its epicenter.​​ ^[11] The ethical issue that comes along with the beauty standard, aside from its inherently exclusionary nature, is that in combination with modern day plastic surgery and digital editing technology like photoshop, the bar for what is beautiful is constantly raised through deceptive media practices or denial of surgical intervention. In terms of how this manifests dangerously on social media, networks like Instagram often showcase bodies without a disclosure of whether the photo is edited or if the person has received cosmetic work. This puts adolescent girls who are viewing this content and assuming it is all natural and unedited at risk. Without the age and experience to know what is fake and what is not, they are potentially going to believe that they have to live up to impossible beauty standards that they learn to understand on social media. Moreover, when one's body image perception does not match their perception of their personal ideal, it can result in disordered eating such as obesity, anorexia, and bulimia.​​ ^[12]

Overview of Relevant Literature

In the present media environment, social networking sites accelerate the distribution of bodies considered ideal. A 2021 meta-analysis of more than 20 experimental studies found that exposure of images on social media depicting the ideal appearance cause users to have a moderately negative body image effect. ^[13] Social Networking Sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter all have been evaluated to see their individual and combined effects on female, adolescent users. Notably, the data from the study showed that body dissatisfaction does not predict how much one will use social media. This relationship is crucial to understand the direction of the cause-affect nature of body dissatisfaction and media usage in adolescent girls. This discovery clarifies that social media is not being sought out by people with poor body image. ^[14] Rather, social media causes people to develop body dissatisfaction and poor body image. Additionally, a study from the University of Miami found that maladaptive usage, such as using Facebook to make social comparisons between self and peers and seek negative feedback from peers, were associated with higher than usual body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that social media XX. ^[15]

Conflicting data

While ample accredited and peer reviewed studies have shown that social media has poor effects on the body image of adolescent girls, there are other well researched opinions regarding this issue. To fully understand all the dynamics of the relationship between media and self image, it is important not to overlook the data, even if it is in the minority, that shows possible benefits to adolescent well-being that social media networks make available. For instance, one study published in the journal of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry showed that some adolescents utilize social media to promote their mental health. Additionally, they rationalized this usage by drawing connections to the field of developmental psychology. This field regards the presence of strong peer relationships, social skills, and support networks as vital for averting the onset of mental health conditions and promoting overall well-being. This need for connection, as evidenced by the study, is oftentimes facilitated by social networks and therefore, provides examples of social media positively impacting the psychology of adolescent girls. In fact, during some discussions throughout the study, multiple adolescents disclosed that they use social media as a protective factor quite often. ^[16]

Mitigating Factors of Body Dissatisfaction

Body Positive Imagery

There are ways to combat negative effects of social media usage. One strategy is increasing user’s exposure to body positive imagery. In a study that examined the efficacy of micro interventions on body image, researchers found that small changes like viewing body positive Facebook posts for a few weeks improved participants' body image.^[17] Another factor that can combat undesirable effects on body image are protective factors. Protective factors can include parental support, parental guidance, and self appreciation.^[18] There is also preliminary empirical evidence supporting media literacy being a protective factor for body image but researchers want more exploration to see how social media literacy skills may impact different groups.^[19]

CGI Influencers

LilMiquela Portrait ^[20]

Additionally, the presence of virtual influencers brings up new avenues for social media technology and ethically positive platforms. For instance, a virtually constructed influencer who goes by the name Miquela has an online presence on multiple social networking media apps. She has amassed 3 million Instagram followers under the account @lilmiquela and X. One study from the Chongqing Technology and Business University in Chongqing, China found that the presence of virtual influencers like Miquela mitigated some of the body dissatisfaction that occurs in a parasocial relationship between two humans. Participants enrolled in the study who viewed the virtual influencer’s posts reported significantly lower scores in appearance anxiety than those who viewed real, human influencers.​​ ^[21] Head researcher FengyiDeng concluded that adolescent girls on social media are less negatively impacted by virtual human influencers. This discovery provides new directions for social media technology to explore in terms of limiting the harm perpetuated by comparisons to human influencers who portray their body and life as more realistic than obviously virtually created figures.​​ ^[22] Some speculate that implementation of virtual influencers for marketing will make it possible to ethically expose such media to adolescents. ​^[23]

Positive Mother-Adolescent Relationship

Researchers of a 2019 study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence did not believe that social media is fully responsible for this effect and rather that the environment an adolescent is in has a greater impact on their body satisfaction. This study, which was composed of participants that were students from ages 12 to 19 years old, discovered a pattern where the association between body dissatisfaction and social media use was weaker in participants who reported having a more positive mother adolescent relationship. It should be noted, though, that researchers were not able to fully conclude that positive parental relationships mitigate effects from social media because the observable difference was only present in the mother-adolescent relationship but not the father-adolescent relationship (the study didn’t include any non-binary parental role). ​^[24]

Photoshop

There are other technological factors aside from media platforms themselves that can contribute or prevent harm in the form of negative body image effects. The emergence of photoshop has caused discussion surrounding the ethics of exposing children to photos that perpetuate unattainable beauty standards. A between-subject experiment from the Behavioural Science Institute in the Netherlands repeatedly exposed 14-18 year old girls to either untouched photos or photos manipulated by photoshop. Results revealed that exposure to Instagram photos that had been tampered with led directly to a lower body image.​^[25] Results also showed that the majority of the girls in the study could not tell what photos were manipulated. This pattern raised even more ethical concerns about this age group viewing such content.​^[26] Due to similar types of concerns, not only institutions but entire countries, such as Norway, has been the first to nationally ban undisclosed paid posts that depict photoshopped pictures. Their motive is stated “ to reduce body pressure” among young people, specifically adolescents. ​^[27]

Effects of race and ethnicity

Intersectionality theory is often used as a framework when dealing with multiplicative identities like race, ethnicity, and body image. Because this theory acknowledges one’s social position and identity-stemming risk factors, it is a leading approach to ensuring more positive outcomes, especially for those racially or ethnically disenfranchised.​​ ^[28]

Ethnicity’s Studied Effect

In 2019, a study published in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences investigated social media’s influence on body image in Latina adolescents. Latina girls experience intersecting forms of oppression, both racially and on a gendered axis. This particular position has contributed to this demographic's undesirable, preventable health outcomes. Additionally, not much data is available to support Due to their marginalized status, researchers often ignore Latina adolescents and minimize their outcomes. Media portrays beauty ideals that can affect self-body image, eating behaviors, and self-esteem among adolescent Latinas (de Casanova, 2004; Haines, Kleinman, Rifas-Shiman, Field, & Bryn Austin, 2010; Haines & Neumark-Sztainer, 2006). Furthermore, media representations of Latina women, family emphasis on weight, and typical foods eaten may constitute unique risk factors for body dissatisfaction and dysfunctional eating in this group (Edwards George & Franko, 2010). ​​ ^[29]

Race’s Studied Effect

Early research investigating the variations in eating disorder symptoms between Black and White adolescent girls suggests that Black girls tend to go through less body dissatisfaction and disordered eating during adolescence than White women. ^[30] However, one study that attempted to replicate past findings evaluated both body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in a large, multiple college wide, diverse sample. This study found that Black college women report less body dissatisfaction and disordered eating than White women. ^[31] These findings suggest that Black women, in comparison to the rates of white women, may be somewhat protected from experiencing body dissatisfaction and engaging in disordered eating. While many studies choose to evaluate multiple social media platforms at one time, this study chose to individually evaluate both Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. While no use of Instagram or Twitter was associated with body dissatisfaction through the sample, Facebook was found to have uniquely negative effects on both white and Black women. This checks out with the previous finding that white women experience more body dissatisfaction through media use because white women, on average, reported using Facebook much more than Black women. ^[32]

References

1. ↑ [ de Valle, M. K., Gallego-García, M., Williamson, P., & Wade, T. D. (2021). Social media, body image, and the question of causation: Meta-analyses of experimental and longitudinal evidence. Body Image, 39, 276–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.10.001]
2. ↑ [ Borzekowski, D., & Bayer, A. (2005). Body image and media use among adolescents. Adolescent Medicine Clinics, 16(2), 289–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.admecli.2005.02.010
3. ↑ [ Prinstein, M. J., Nesi, J., & Telzer, E. H. (2020). Commentary: An updated agenda for the study of Digital Media Use and Adolescent Development – Future Directions following Odgers & Jensen (2020). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(3), 349–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13219
4. ↑ [Bucchianeri, M. M., Arikian, A. J., Hannan, P. J., Eisenberg, M. E., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2013). Body dissatisfaction from adolescence to young adulthood: Findings from a 10-year longitudinal study. Body Image, 10(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.09.001
5. ↑ [ de Vries, D. A., Vossen, H. G., & van der Kolk – van der Boom, P. (2018). Social media and body dissatisfaction: Investigating the attenuating role of positive parent–adolescent relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(3), 527–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0956-9
6. ↑ [ Prinstein, M. J., Nesi, J., & Telzer, E. H. (2020). Commentary: An updated agenda for the study of Digital Media Use and Adolescent Development – Future Directions following Odgers & Jensen (2020). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(3), 349–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13219
7. ↑ [ Prinstein, M. J., Nesi, J., & Telzer, E. H. (2020). Commentary: An updated agenda for the study of Digital Media Use and Adolescent Development – Future Directions following Odgers & Jensen (2020). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(3), 349–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13219
8. ↑ [Kolk, S. M., & Rakic, P. (2021). Development of prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology, 47(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01137-9
9. ↑ [ Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction—a review of the psychological literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(9), 3528–3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528
10. ↑ [ Howard, L. M., Heron, K. E., MacIntyre, R. I., Myers, T. A., & Everhart, R. S. (2017). Is use of social networking sites associated with Young Women’s body dissatisfaction and disordered eating? A look at black–white racial differences. Body Image, 23, 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.08.008
11. ↑ [Lee, B., & Childs, M. L. (2019). Ideal beauty standards: A preliminary analysis of ethnicity and skin tone features. https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.8298
12. ↑ [ Borzekowski, D., & Bayer, A. (2005). Body image and media use among adolescents. Adolescent Medicine Clinics, 16(2), 289–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.admecli.2005.02.010
13. ↑ [ de Valle, M. K., Gallego-García, M., Williamson, P., & Wade, T. D. (2021). Social media, body image, and the question of causation: Meta-analyses of experimental and longitudinal evidence. Body Image, 39, 276–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.10.001
14. ↑ [ de Vries, D. A., Peter, J., de Graaf, H., & Nikken, P. (2015). Adolescents’ social network site use, peer appearance-related feedback, and body dissatisfaction: Testing a mediation model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(1), 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0266-4
15. ↑ [ Smith, A. R., Hames, J. L., & Joiner, T. E. (2013). Status update: Maladaptive facebook usage predicts increases in body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 149(1-3), 235–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.032
16. ↑ [O’Reilly, M., Dogra, N., Whiteman, N., Hughes, J., Eruyar, S., & Reilly, P. (2018). Is social media bad for Mental Health and Wellbeing? exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23(4), 601–613. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104518775154
17. ↑ [Sukamto, M., Hamidah, H., & Fajrianthi, F. (2019). “Can i look like her?”: Body image of adolescent girls who use social media. Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia, 23(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.7454/hubs.asia.1120519
18. ↑ [Sukamto, M., Hamidah, H., & Fajrianthi, F. (2019). “Can i look like her?”: Body image of adolescent girls who use social media. Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia, 23(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.7454/hubs.asia.1120519
19. ↑ [ Paxton, S. J., McLean, S. A., & Rodgers, R. F. (2022). “My critical filter buffers your app filter”: Social Media Literacy as a protective factor for Body Image. Body Image, 40, 158–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.12.009
20. ↑ [LilMiquela, May 1, 2018, Wired Magazine Miranda Katz, online screenshot, retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/lil-miquela-digital-humans/ Feb 9, 2023
21. ↑ [ Deng, F., & Jiang, X. (2023). Effects of human versus virtual human influencers on the appearance anxiety of social media users. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 71, 103233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103233
22. ↑ [ Kleemans, M., Daalmans, S., Carbaat, I., & Anschütz, D. (2016). Picture perfect: The direct effect of manipulated Instagram photos on body image in adolescent girls. Media Psychology, 21(1), 93–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2016.1257392
23. ↑ [Deng, F., & Jiang, X. (2023). Effects of human versus virtual human influencers on the appearance anxiety of social media users. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 71, 103233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103233
24. ↑ [ de Vries, D. A., Vossen, H. G., & van der Kolk – van der Boom, P. (2018). Social media and body dissatisfaction: Investigating the attenuating role of positive parent–adolescent relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(3), 527–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0956-9
25. ↑ [ Kleemans, M., Daalmans, S., Carbaat, I., & Anschütz, D. (2016). Picture perfect: The direct effect of manipulated Instagram photos on body image in adolescent girls. Media Psychology, 21(1), 93–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2016.1257392
26. ↑ [ de Valle, M. K., Gallego-García, M., Williamson, P., & Wade, T. D. (2021). Social media, body image, and the question of causation: Meta-analyses of experimental and longitudinal evidence. Body Image, 39, 276–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.10.001
27. ↑ [ Grant, K. (2021, July 6). Influencers react to Norway photo edit law: 'welcome honesty' or a 'shortcut'? BBC News. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-57721080
28. ↑ [Dhamoon, R. K. (2010). Considerations on mainstreaming intersectionality. Political Research Quarterly, 64(1), 230–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912910379227
29. ↑ [ Opara, I., & Santos, N. (2019). A conceptual framework exploring social media, eating disorders, and body dissatisfaction among latina adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(3), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986319860844
30. ↑ [ Cook, D. (n.d.). Beholding the beauty of Self: The psychological integration of the Afrocentric-self among African-American females socialized in a eurocentric aesthetic. https://doi.org/10.22371/07.2006.04
31. ↑ [ Howard, L. M., Heron, K. E., MacIntyre, R. I., Myers, T. A., & Everhart, R. S. (2017). Is use of social networking sites associated with Young Women’s body dissatisfaction and disordered eating? A look at black–white racial differences. Body Image, 23, 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.08.008
32. ↑ [ Howard, L. M., Heron, K. E., MacIntyre, R. I., Myers, T. A., & Everhart, R. S. (2017). Is use of social networking sites associated with Young Women’s body dissatisfaction and disordered eating? A look at black–white racial differences. Body Image, 23, 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.08.008