Influence of Social Networking Sites on Internalization of Thin Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Disorders in Female Adolescents

            The association of mass media, body dissatisfaction (BD), and eating disorders (ED) has been a widely studied area in psychology, especially within the realm of female adolescent development. Adolescence is a time of identity exploration and emphasis on how others perceive oneself and this egocentrism is seen in the imaginary audience ideation that is distinctly found in adolescent development. Research has shown that Western culture’s emphasis on the idealized female body through mass media has led to an internalized thin ideal in females that results in BD and risk of developing ED. It is important to modernize this research and consider the current influence of the Internet. With the growing popularity and usage of social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook and Instagram, there is an increasing amount of research attempting to discern the potential effects that social media use has on adolescents. While research shows mixed results in the association of wellbeing and amount of time spent on SNS, more specific interactions with SNS have shown to negatively impact female adolescents’ body satisfaction. In particular, there is a disturbing trend of egocentrism of adolescence as seen in the specific social media behavior of posting selfies, photo investment, and manipulating (editing) photos to reflect an idealized self-image. This paper intends to examine the growing body of work that suggests that posting selfies and manipulating photos negatively affects adolescent females’ body satisfaction through social comparison to peers, external evaluation, and self-objectification, which may lead to an increased risk of ED.

            The internalization of thin ideals has been argued to be one of the pathways towards understanding BD, which seems to increase into and through adolescence, and may lead to the development of ED (Littleton & Ollendick, 2003). Littleton and Ollendick (2003) explored related variables that may place adolescents at risk of developing ED, but particularly interesting for this study are the correlations found between physical changes of puberty, body image dissatisfaction, and exposure to thin ideal in media. Throughout puberty, female adolescents’ bodies increase the fat to muscle ratio, which may cause an increase in BD because of the discrepancy between their body and the idealized thin female body that is presented in the media (Littleton & Ollendick, 2003). It has been hypothesized that ED arise out of an attempt to look closer to the internalized thin ideal (Littleton & Ollendick, 2003). More recent research confirms that BD is more frequent in adolescence, in particular females. A study by Hong et al. (2015), found that adolescence was the peak age for distorted body image, identified by disturbed cognitive perceptions of body, dissatisfied feelings with one’s body, weight control behavior, and was associated with disordered eating behavior, especially amongst adolescents aged 13 – 14 years-old. 

            As hypothesized by Littleton and Ollendick (2003), media has been shown to be associated with a greater probability of BD and increased risk of developing ED, especially for female adolescents. In their study of Brazilian adolescents (both boys and girls) between the ages of 14 and 18-years-old, Uchôa et al. (2019) used scales to assess media influence (Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire-3), body satisfaction (body shape questionnaire), eating attitudes (Eating Attitudes Test-26), and body mass index (BMI) of each participant. The negative influence of media seemed to affect adolescents’ self-image, making them 7 to 8 times more likely to be dissatisfied with their body; BD was the principle predictor of the development of ED (Uchôa et al., 2019). More importantly to this paper, is that girls were found to be more influenced by media and less satisfied with their bodies in comparison to boys, perhaps explaining Uchôa et al.’s (2019) finding that girls were also significantly more at risk of developing an ED. This finding coincides with information from the American Psychiatric Association (as cited in Uchôa et al., 2019) that 90% of adolescents diagnosed with anorexia are female, and 95% of adolescents diagnosed with bulimia are also female. Female adolescents with higher body mass index (BMI) were more strongly associated with risk of developing ED, supporting Uchôa et al.’s (2019) argument that female adolescents may internalize standards of beauty as emphasized in popular media, which may lead to dissatisfaction with their own body when it does not align with the thin ideal. While this study is important in providing a basis of evidence that media negatively affects female adolescents’ body image and may lead to an increase in ED, the influence of media was limited to television, cinema, and magazines, and does not investigate the influence of using social networking sites (SNS) on body image (Uchôa et al., 2019). 

            It is important to consider the potentially catastrophic influence of SNS in development of ED. In comparison to the non-personalized influences of traditional media, social media presents heightened influence through three sources (media, peers, and family) that may lead to higher internalization of thin ideal (Meier & Gray, 2014; Mingoia, Hutchinson, Wilson, & Gleaves, 2017), as well as specific behaviors of use that promote immediate feedback on one’s photos from other social media users (Mabe, Forney, & Keel, 2014). In a meta-analytic review, Mingoia et al. (2017) compared six studies of 1829 female participants, aged 10 – 43 years-old (with 66% of participants from secondary schools). They compared the studies that measured use of SNS (mostly Facebook) with other studies that measured appearance-related features of SNS such as viewing friends’ photos, number of self-taken photos posted, and time spent viewing comments and profiles of other users (photo investment) (Mingoia et al., 2017). Mingoia et al. (2017) found both general use of SNS and exposure to appearance-related features positively correlated with internalization of a thin ideal, however, the stronger correlation was with the latter. Meier and Gray’s (2014) research further expanded awareness of the specific Facebook features that were associated with BD in adolescent females. Participants completed seven different surveys that determined the individual’s internalization of the thin ideal, tendency to compare appearance to others, weight satisfaction, pursuit of thinness and fear of being fat, self-objectification, total Internet and Facebook use, and Facebook appearance-related exposure (Meier & Gray, 2014). Appearance-related exposure was measured by eight activities of Facebook that involved photos such as updating a profile photo, viewing friends’ photos, commenting on friends’ photos, and tagging/un-tagging oneself in friends’ photos. While Meier and Gray (2014) did not find an association between total Internet or Facebook use, appearance-related exposure on Facebook was positively correlated with internalization of the thin ideal, self-objectification, drive for thinness and BD. Meier and Gray (2014) argued that while their study does not show causation, it may indicate a bidirectional relationship in that adolescents who are less satisfied with their bodies and internalize the thin ideal more, may be more focused on the appearance-related features of Facebook which reinforces their already existing poor body image.  The findings from these two studies indicate that it may be more important to consider how adolescents use SNS and to direct future research to discovering the content that creates the most risk of body distortion (Mingoia et al., 2017). Although this study did not investigate whether SNS use was associated to BD and development of ED,  Mingoia et al. (2017) hypothesized that the effect of SNS on BD may be more detrimental because images of one’s peers may seem more realistic than traditional media advertisements known to be photoshopped, yet many photos of peers can be manipulated to portray idealizations of self through applications and photographic filters. This hypothesis is supported by social comparison theory in which Tiggemann (2014) argued that negative comparisons and BD may arise when females upwardly compare their own appearance with peers’ online photos that have been unknowingly altered. Additionally, adolescence is a time in which social comparisons are highly prominent and SNS provide exponentially more opportunity to view peers’ photos and create comparison to one’s own online content than traditional media, especially in regard to the idealized thin ideal (Perloff, 2014). 

            A study by Mabe et al. (2014), examined Mingoia et al.’s (2017) hypothesis that while the amount of time spent on SNS is an important contributor to developing disordered eating, the interactive nature of SNS that reinforces the thin ideal in women may be just as influential. Mabe et al. (2014) examined the association of using Facebook, a popular SNS, and the disordered eating of participants, as measured by the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) in 962 American female college students. After spending 20 minutes on Facebook, participants in the experimental group completed a survey that assessed how they used Facebook and to what extent their actions heightened awareness of body concerns (Mabe et al., 2014). The interactive nature of Facebook and its appearance-related features were significantly associated with disordered eating, including placing more importance on receiving comments on their status and photos, receiving “likes” on their status, un-tagging unflattering photos, and social comparison of themselves to friends’ online photos (Mabe et al., 2014). Mabe et al. (2014) found a correlation in which the females who had greater disordered eating also placed more meaning on the responses received by the content they posted on their Facebook page. This study shifted emphasis away from total time spent on SNS, towards the specific ways in which SNS are used and the direct impact that these social media specific behaviors may have on the development of ED. 

            One of the most important behaviors associated with SNS that has shown to be a contributor to BD and development of ED, is social comparison (Tiggemann, 2014; Mingoia et al., 2017; Perloff, 2014). Researchers Kleemans, Daalmans, Carbaat, and Anschütz (2018) conducted a study that examined whether manipulated Instagram photos of peers negatively affect adolescent girls’ body image and whether those adolescent girls with a higher social comparison tendency are more vulnerable to negative body image. A group of 144 Dutch adolescent girls aged 14 – 18 years-old were shown 10 self-taken photos of girls of a similar age and ethnicity to promote social comparison (Kleemans et al., 2018). Participants were divided into two groups – those who were shown original photos and those who were shown manipulated photos (Kleemans et al., 2018). Kleemans et al. (2018) manipulated the photos via filters available on Instagram to create a more idealized body by reshaping for slimmer features, removing blemishes and wrinkles, and improving overall photo quality. Body image of participants was measured by the Body Image State Scale in which girls indicated their feelings of attractiveness in a variety of areas, and the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure was used to measure girls’ social comparison tendency (Kleemans et al., 2018). The group of female adolescents that were shown manipulated selfies had higher BD than those shown non-manipulated selfies, especially for girls who had a higher tendency to make social comparisons (Kleemans et al., 2018). Furthermore, many of the adolescent girls were unable to detect the retouching and reshaping used on the manipulated photos, suggesting that outside of the research study, adolescents may compare their own self-image to a false reality (Kleemans et al., 2018). Although effects from this study were short-term, Kleemans et al. (2018) argued that these results paint a troublesome future if frequent exposure to manipulated photos provokes similar or even heightened amounts of BD over longer periods of time. Past studies have shown that association of thin ideal in traditional mass media has negative consequences on BD in adolescent girls (Littleton & Ollendick, 2003; Uchôa et al., 2019) and further research is exposing that even comparisons to similar “ordinary” social media users and peers may have worrisome effects (Ferguson, Winegard, & Winegard, 2011). 

            Social comparison theory’s influence is examined further by Ferguson et al. (2011), who suggest that evolution guides peer influence on BD in females. In their literary review, they discussed that adolescents can be influenced actively through their peers’ explicit communication and comparisons, but more importantly in regard to social media, adolescents can be passively influenced by their peers provoking internal body comparisons (Geary, 2010; as cited in Ferguson et al., 2011). Throughout a variety of studies, peer influences have been shown to exert more influence than media, which Ferguson et al. (2011) contended may be explained because physical attractiveness is an important quality in same-sex peer competition, and competition with peers is psychologically different and more relevant to a person’s value than perceived competition with a media model. What is worrisome, is that internal comparison of attractiveness and thin ideal between peers is a constant and ever-present reality (Ferguson et al., 2011) thanks to increasing use and popularity of SNS and the availability of 24/7 content via handheld devices. 

            Coinciding with Ferguson et al.’s (2011) suggestion that peer competition highly influences BD, an important recent trend in social media is the use of selfies – photos taken of oneself via a handheld device – often posted to SNS which may create ever-present competition when viewing peers’ selfies or photos. This is especially important for adolescents, as they differ significantly from young adults and adults, particularly in females, in their selfie-related behavior (Dhir, Pallesen, Torsheim, & Andreassen, 2016). A recent study examined the differences in selfie-taking, posting, and photo-editing behavior between adolescents and adults, and found that female adolescents are more active in taking and posting selfies, as well as using filters to manipulate the photo (Dhir et al., 2016).  Dhir et al. (2016) argued that selfie-related behavior of female adolescents is a way to develop their identity, through self-presentation of appearing attractive to outside observers. This trend of selfies towards female self-objectification – viewing oneself through the lens of an observer and evaluating based on appearance – is believed by Zheng, Ni, and Luo (2019) to have a damaging effect on mental health, which may be an especially great threat to females. Their research looked specifically at SNS as a platform for female adolescents to present themselves in an ideal fashion through the posting of selfies (Zheng et al., 2019). Because of the adolescent phenomenon of imaginary audience, an assumption that other people are constantly thinking about oneself, SNS may encourage adolescents to focus more on their appearance in a self-objectifying manner. Zheng et al. (2019) used the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (SOQ) to measure whether self-objectification was appearance or competence based, and the New Imaginary Audience Scale (NIAS) to measure the degree to which participants believed others think about them. They compared these results to the selfie-posting frequency of 963 female Chinese adolescents, ranging from 12 – 18 years-old, and found that both selfie-posting and imaginary audience were positively associated with self-objectification, and that self-objectification from selfie-posting was stronger for those participants with higher levels of imaginary audience ideation (Zheng, 2019). This study by Zheng et al. (2019) provides insight into the potential negative impacts of selfie-posting, not just overall SNS use, that may increase the risk of self-objectification for females, especially those with higher levels of imaginary audience ideation. 

            Other researchers have examined the associations between BD and posting selfies on SNS, as well as whether altering photos to fit idealized beauty standards is associated to the development of ED (McLean, Paxton, Wertheim, & Masters, 2015). McLean et al. (2015) assessed questionnaires from 101 female grade seven students (approximately 13 years-old) in Melbourne Australia. The study used questionnaires to understand participants activity on social media platforms through self-reports of amounts of media exposure (hours per day outside of school), generic social media uses, and photo activities (self-photo manipulation, selfie posting, selfie sharing, selfie taking frequency, and selfie investment), whereas body-related and eating concerns were explored through participants’ answers on questionnaires of body dissatisfaction, overvaluation of body and weight, dietary restraint, and internalization of the thin ideal (McLean et al., 2015). On average, participants spent just under five hours per day on five different SNS and over half of the participants took selfies at least weekly. Similar to past research, overall media exposure in McLean et al.’s (2015) study had no association to body concerns, but there was a positive association that participants who were more active in self-photo activities and manipulating selfies to be posted on SNS, had higher levels of BD and eating concerns. Especially of concern were participants that frequently manipulated photos of themselves before posting to SNS as they had higher investment in their photos, but also experienced significantly higher body-related and eating concerns. Results from this study coincide with other studies that have found overall time or exposure to media and SNS shows less (or even no) influence on BD than the particular behaviors and uses of the SNS (Meier & Gray, 2014; Mingoia et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2019). Interpretations of the study by McLean et al. (2015) suggest that there may be a bi-directional relationship in which adolescents who have body-related and eating concerns engage with photo activities of manipulation and investment which further amplifies their BD, a finding reciprocated in Meier and Grey’s (2014) study.  Perloff’s (2014) uses and gratifications model attempts to explain this finding in that vulnerable individuals receive gratifications from social media, and then use SNS specifically to seek gratification in the form of reassurance and validation. They may obsessively check their photos and selfies on SNS to see if other people have liked or commented on their photos, and may compare their selfies to less attractive peers’ photos to validate their value and worth.

            Many of the studies on influence of media and SNS on BD and development of ED resulted in correlation of data but could not find definitive causation. However, it is still an important avenue of research to explore the behaviors of adolescents who are at risk for developing eating disorders and help in creating intervention and prevention programs. Gaining more knowledge of the relation between eating disorder maintenance and specific social media behavior may help to improve current treatments of eating disorders. This was the purpose behind Lonergan et al.’s (2020) study to investigate how different groups of clinical eating disorders may differ by their associated social media behavior. Lonergan et al. (2020) focused their study on Australian high school participants and used questionnaires to measure avoidance of posting selfies to social media, photo investment (effort of choosing a photo and monitoring elicited responses), photo manipulation, investment in others’ selfies (time spent examining peers’ photos, likes and comments), as well as eating disorder diagnoses. Each of the photo-based social media behaviors were associated with more risk of developing one or more ED, consistent with past research that has found a correlation between appearance or photo-based behavior and BD (Meier & Gray, 2014; Mingoia et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2019).  The findings from Lonergan et al.’s (2020) study extended past studies of photo-manipulation and investment to include specific eating disorder symptomology of bulimia and anorexia nervosa in females. 

            While the general amount of time spent interacting with social networking sites has found mixed results on influencing body dissatisfaction, specific social media behaviors of taking selfies, investment in photos (including appearance-related features of SNS), and manipulation of selfies, all contribute to an association of BD in female adolescents, and many may contribute to the development of ED or disorder eating symptoms. It is important to note that the effort and investment that goes into one’s selfie may suggest high levels of internalization of the thin ideal or BD. Female adolescents who are already low in self-esteem or high in appearance-based self-worth may be more at risk of using social media in a damaging way. While it is still a challenge for researchers to find causation in these studies, there are still correlations in these studies that specific social media behaviors may be more problematic than others and it is worth investigating further, especially due to the prevalence and use of SNS in adolescence, a time of exploring identity. Future research should continue to examine specific social media-related behaviours and their association to BD and ED. The results of these studies may give parents and teachers pathways to talk to adolescents about the dangers of over evaluating selfies, manipulating photos and investing in photo and appearance-related aspects of social media, and the prevalence of manipulated photos amongst “normal” people on SNS. Adolescents may need more guidance of how to use and interact SNS to improve self-worth in a healthy, non-toxic way, and to understand the negative impacts that constant social comparison of their own appearance and their peers’ photos. These are just small suggestions of how to use this data, but ultimately there is a bigger issue of how much are we allowing social media and SNS to control our lives and our behavior, and what can be done about it in regards to policy of safe usage of SNS from the companies themselves.

References

Dhir, A., Pallesen, S., Torsheim, T., & Andreassen, C. S. (2016). Do age and gender differences exist in self-related behaviours? Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 549-555.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.053

Ferguson, C. J., Winegard, B., & Winegard, B. M. (2011). Who is the fairest one of all? How       evolution guides peer and media influences on female body dissatisfaction. Review of General Psychology, 15(1), 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022607

Hong, S. C., Jung, Y. E., Kim, M. D., Lee, C. I., Hyun, M. Y., Bahk, W. M., Yoon, B. H., & Lee, K. H. (2015). Prevalence of distorted body image in young Koreans and its association with age, sex, body weight status, and disordered eating behaviors. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 11, 1043–1049. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S82504

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 

Littleton, H. L., & Ollendick, T. (2003). Negative body image and disordered eating behavior in children and adolescents what places youth at risk and how can these problems be   prevented? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, 51-66. Retrieved from  http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=91c65bbb-c536-4e29-b771-   18dae769b443%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=RN1    26430220&db=edsbl

Lonergan, A. R., Bussey, K., Fardouly, J., Griffiths, S., Murray, S. B., Hay, P., … Mitchison, D. (2020). Protect me from my selfie: Examining the association between photo-based social   media behaviors and self-reported eating disorders in adolescence. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53(5), 755-766. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23256 

Mabe, A. G., Forney, K. J., & Keel, P. K. (2014). Do you “like” my photo? Facebook use maintains eating disorder risk. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47(5), 516-523.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22254 

McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., Wertheim, E. H., & Masters, J. (2015). Photoshopping the selfie:     Self photo editing and photo investment are associated with body dissatisfaction in  adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(8), 1132-1140.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22449 

Meier EP, Gray J. (2014) Facebook photo activity associated with body image disturbance in adolescent girls. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(4), 199-206.   https://10.1089/cyber.2013.0305

Mingoia, J., Hutchinson, A. D., Wilson, C., & Gleaves, D. H. (2017). The relationship between   social networking site use and the internalization of a thin ideal in females: A meta-analytic review. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1351.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01351

Perloff, R. M. (2014). Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical            perspectives and an agenda for research. Sex Roles, 71(11-12), 363-377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6 

Tiggemann, M. (2013). The status of media effects on body image research: commentary on        articles in the theme issue on body image and media. Media Psychology, 17(2), 127-133.   https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2014.891822

Uchôa, F., Uchôa, N. M., Daniele, T., Lustosa, R. P., Garrido, N. D., Deana, N. F., Aranha, Á., & Alves, N. (2019). Influence of the mass media and body dissatisfaction on the risk in adolescents of developing eating disorders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(9), 1508.          https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091508

Zheng, D., Ni, X., & Luo, Y. (2019). Selfie posting on social networking sites and female adolescents’ self-objectification: The moderating role of imaginary audience ideation. Sex Roles, 80(5/6), 325-331.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0937-1