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Does Social Media Make Us More Dissatisfied With Our Bodies?



Why do I not like my body?

This is one of the questions that someone with body dissatisfaction could ask themselves. Sometimes it is not the whole body, but those parts of me that... I wish! I wish they were a little thinner, more defined, larger or smaller, somewhat less wrinkled or without these ugly spots!
We know that body dissatisfaction, understood as "a concern that produces discomfort towards some imaginary or extreme defect of  physical appearance "(1), is a risk factor for developing and maintaining an eating disorder(anorexia and bulimia, mainly) (2).

But almost all of us have something in our bodies that we would like to change, not just those who suffer from clinical problems. Why?

People internalise the ideals of beauty that society transmits to us and we compare that with our own appearance. As long the way we perceive ourselves does not fit the ideal of beauty we will be dissatisfied with our bodies (3).

The role of social media.

It is 2019, right? The ideals of beauty are no longer transmitted via paintings in museums or  movies on neighbourhood Cinema. They are now transmitted via social media. In several studies, majority of adolescents admitted that the most important factor in choosing which photos to upload to social media was their good appearance(4) and they said they worried a lot about their physical appearance on social media (5). That is to say: on social media, the physical image matters.

But can we say that the use of social media promotes body dissatisfaction? Or is it just a reflection of dissatisfaction that existed before? A longitudinal study conducted in the Netherlands in 2016 revealed that a higher frequency of social network use predicted an increase in body dissatisfaction among adolescents 18 months later (6).

Another study from 2017 concluded that what was important was not so much the time spent on social media but the way we spend it : body dissatisfaction increases when our platform activity is focused on appearance(7). For example, we know that this dissatisfaction is associated with behaviours such as taking selfies, following accounts centred on the body (7) and exposing oneself to images of acquaintances or celebrities whom we consider attractive (9).

The ideal of beauty, today.

It seems that extreme thinness has not been so fashionable for a few years now. Today, the ideal has more to do with a person who is fit, exercises and is toned, such as a “fitness person”.
Disguised as a seemingly healthy lifestyle lies the new tyranny of beauty. The Fitness movement or #fitspiration has been associated with an increased risk of suffering an eating disorder, as well as objectivation of the female body (11) and the promotion of an ideal of thinness and toning (12).


Is it all lost?

Each body is unique and different. While there is only a single ideal of beauty, it is impossible for all of us to be satisfied with our bodies. Social media has the danger of presenting us a distorted image of reality, but also has the power to show diversity. It is precisely in the social media where the Body Positive movement and #loveyourself movement have arisen, which are characterized by giving visibility to all types of bodies and learning to love oneself as one is. Self-compassion (empathising with one's suffering and self-providing love) is a key component of this movement and ... surprise, surprise: it is associated with body satisfaction (13).



Author: Irene Sánchez Rodenas (Psychologist)




References

1. Raich, R.M., Mora, M., Soler, A., Avila, C., Clos, I. y Zapater L. (1996) Adaptación de un
instrumento de evaluación de la insatisfacción corporal. Clínica y Salud, 7, 51-66.

2. Stice, E., & Shaw, H. E. (2002). Role of body dissatisfaction in the onset and maintenance of
eating pathology: A synthesis of research findings. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53,
985– 993.

3. Thompson, J. K., Heinberg, L. J., Altabe, M., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999). Exacting beauty:
Theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.

4. Siibak, A. (2009). Constructing the self through the photo selection visual impression
management on social networking websites. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial
Research on Cyberspace, 3, 1–9.

5. Ringrose, J. (2011). Are you sexy, flirty or a slut? Exploring ‘‘sexualization’’ and how teen girls
perform/negotiate digital sexual identity on social networking sites. New femininities (pp. 99–
116). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

6. De Vries, D. A., Peter, J., de Graaf, H., y Nikken, P. (2016). 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.

7. Cohen, R., Newton-John, T., y Slater, A. (2017). The relationship between Facebook and
Instagram appearance-focused activities and body image concerns in young women. Body
image, 23, 183-187.

8. Wagner, C. N., Aguirre Alfaro, E., & Bryant, E. M. (2016). The relationship between Instagram
selfies and body image in young adult women. First Monday, 21(9).

9. Brown, Z., y Tiggemann, M. (2016). Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect
on women's mood and body image. Body image, 19, 37-43.

10. Holland, G., y Tiggemann, M. (2017). “Strong beats skinny every time”: Disordered eating
and compulsive exercise in women who post fitspiration on Instagram. International Journal of
Eating Disorders, 50(1), 76-79.

11. Carrotte, E. R., Prichard, I., y Lim, M. S. C. (2017). “Fitspiration” on social media: A content
analysis of gendered images. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(3).

12. Tiggemann, M., & Zaccardo, M. (2016). ‘Strong is the new skinny’: A content analysis of
#fitspiration images on Instagram. Journal of health psychology, 1359105316639436.

13. Slater, A., Varsani, N., & Diedrichs, P. C. (2017). #fitspo or #loveyourself? The impact of
fitspiration and self-compassion Instagram images on women’s body image, self compassion,
and mood. Body image, 22, 87-96.






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