Relationships between social media exposure & levels of body dissatisfaction Helen Nguyen and Andrea L. Paiva, Ph.D. Introduction Demographic differences ❖ Much research has been done to investigate relationships between mass media, body image and eating disorders ❖ Conventional mass media includes television, magazines, advertisements on television, movies, and music videos ❖ Body dissatisfaction is a major risk factor of eating disorders [1] ❖ Social media is a new form of media that emerged 10 years ago. This form of media contributes to the thinness ideal through pro-eating disorder websites, presentation of images that promote thinness (thinspiration, thinspo, and pro-ana), and countless advertisements that display thinness ❖ Social media gives users more opportunities for appearance- based peer comparison ❖ Studies have found that people who use Facebook more were less satisfied with their appearance [2] and report more disordered eating [3] ❖ The aim of the current study was to investigate relationships between social media exposure and levels of body dissatisfaction through analysis of results from a self report survey Hypotheses Demographics: age, gender, race, Greek organization membership, relationship status EDI- 4 questions were selected from the Body Dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). The questions were asked using a rating scale of 1 (Always)- 6 (Never). Reverse scoring was used during analysis when necessary. Ex. I think my stomach is too big BIA- The Body Image Assessment (BIA) is comprised of nine silhouette figures which range from thin to obese body shapes. The assessment was chosen to demonstrate correlations between selected measures and silhouettes. SATAQ- 10 questions were selected from the Social Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale (SATAQ) and revised in order to focus on social media. The questions were asked using a rating scale of 0 (Definitely Disagree) – 4 (Definitely Agree). Reverse scoring was used during analysis when necessary. Ex. I’ve felt pressured from Instagram to look attractive 1. More time spent on social media is related to more body dissatisfaction 2. Participants who spend more time on social media are more likely to choose a smaller body frame on the Body Image Assessment scale 3. Age is a reliable predictor of body dissatisfaction where the older the person, the more likely they are dissatisfied with their body 4. Different forms of social media assert different influences on the user Results Body dissatisfaction Social media use ❖ Everyone in the sample used at least one form of social media on a daily basis, with the average amount of time spent on social media being minutes per day (over 4 hours per day!) ❖ The majority of participants stated that their ideal body shape is smaller than the average body shape which corresponds to silhouette #5. ❖ Female- 86.8% chose below avg. ❖ Male- 65.2% chose below avg. ❖ 45.9% of participants reported not being satisfied with the appearance of their body. Social media use and body dissatisfaction Overall satisfaction with appearance EDI items ❖ There was a significant positive correlation between minutes of social media use and more often feeling that their stomach and hips were too big (e.g., as minutes went up, more often thought that stomach and hips were too big). r =.140,p <.01 and r =.118, p <.05, respectively. ❖ There was a negative correlation between minutes of social media use and being satisfied with your body shape (e.g., as minutes went up, satisfaction goes down) r = -.142, p <.01. ❖ There was no correlation between minutes of social media use and perception of thigh size. Gender Age Discussion Measures ❖ Participants who spent more total time on social media per day also reported being dissatisfied with the appearance of their body F(1,395)= 9.34, p<.01 ❖ In addition, participants who spent more time spent on Facebook, F(1,394)= 11.59, p<.01, Tumblr, F(1,392)=4.59, p<.05, and Pinterest, F(1,392)= 4.10, p<.05 also reported being dissatisfied with the appearance of their body. ❖ On average, females spend more time on social media than males EXCEPT for YouTube. Asterisks show significance in time spent on different forms of social media between males and females. Instagram-F(1,391)=7.33,p<.01 Tumblr-F(1,391)=10.59,p<.01 Pinterest-F(1,391)=14.86,p<.01 Total-F(1,391)=4.31,p<.05 ❖ More females than males think their stomach and hips are too big Stomach- 2 (5)=57.2,p<.001 Hips- 2 (5)=51.97,p<.001 ❖ More males than females think their thighs are the perfect size and are satisfied with the shape of their bodies Thighs: 2 (5)=28.06,p<.001 Body shape: 2 (5)=43.53,p<.001 ❖ Only 25.3% of females reported they were satisfied with the shape of their body The purpose of the study was to discover relationships between exposure to social media and body dissatisfaction. The population size was large, P=403, with representation from different races, White, Asian, Latino, and African American. Therefore this population shows moderate external validity. Hypothesis #1- The data of this study supported the hypothesis that more time spent on social media is related to more body dissatisfaction. A one way ANOVA was performed and the difference between mean total time spent on social media for participants stating they were satisfied with their appearance was statistically different from those stating they were not satisfied, F(1,395)= 9.34, p<.01. Hypothesis #2- The results did not support this hypothesis. Significant differences were not found between minutes of social media use per day and choice of silhouette from the BIA. Ideal body shape may be a function of society rather than social media use. Majority of the 403 participants chose body shape #4 or under (81.5%). Hypothesis #3- The results showed that mean age was statistically different between participants who were satisfied with the appearance of their body and those who were not, F(1,397)= 4.49, P<.05. Older participants are likely to have been exposed to social media for a longer total amount of time than younger participants, which can be an explanation for the greater rate of body dissatisfaction. Future studies should include a wider range of age in the participant population in order to see whether this hypothesis holds true. The age range of this study was very small, only 4 years (18-24 yrs). Hypothesis #4- Through analysis of selected SATAQ items, this hypothesis was supported. A positive correlation between minutes of social media use and feeling pressured to look attractive was found to be significant for Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram, but not for Twitter. This shows that different forms of social media have different influences on the user. An explanation is that Twitter posts are more text-focused rather than picture-focused which hinders the opportunity for appearance based peer comparison. Future studies can utilize other relatable diagnostic tools such as the Eating Attitudes Test 26 (EAT- 26) and the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA) Participants who stated they were not satisfied with the appearance of their body were slightly older (20.01 years of age) than those who were satisfied with the appearance of their body (19.69 years of age), F(1,397)= 4.49, P<.05 SATAQ items  There was a positive correlation between minutes of social media use and more often feeling pressured to look attractive across all forms of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter) except for Twitter; however there was only statistically significant data for the following: Facebook: r =.126, p<.05 Instagram: r =.269, p<.001 Tumblr: r =.220, p< participants recruited through introductory Psychology classes and other informal recruitment methods ❖ 75.9% female (n=305), 24.1% male (n=98) ❖ 70.5% White, 11.4% Asian, 7.6% Hispanic, 4.0% African American ❖ 24.7% member of a Greek organization ❖ 45.3% currently in a relationship ❖ Average age=19.83, range =18-24 Participants References 1. Field, A. E., Javaras, K. M., Aneja, P., Kitos, N., Camargo, C. A., Taylor, C. B., & Laird, N. M. (2008). Family, peer, and media predictors of becoming eating disordered. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 162(6), 574–579. doi: /archpedi Stronge, S., Greaves, L. M., Milojev, P., West-Newman, T., Barlow, F. K., & Sibley, C. G. (2015). Facebook is linked to body dissatisfaction: Comparing users and non-users. Sex Roles, 73(5-6), 200–213. doi: /s 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. doi: /eat Acknowledgment The success and completion of this project is owed to the cooperation, dedication, and time of my project mentor, Dr. Andrea Paiva. I could not have accomplished this project without her exceptional expertise and advice. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to her and also to all the participants of the study, who were an essential part of this project.