Psychology behind why Social Media negatively influences body image
The explosion of social media sites over the past few decades have redefined not only how we interact with others, but also the relationships we have with ourselves and food. While there are definite benefits to using social media, such as staying connected, there are also numerous harms for its users.
Never before have people had such ease of access to images of thin and toned bodies, the latest skin care advertisements, fad diets and the promises of weight loss. What was once on the cover of magazines, throughout the glossy pages or plastered across billboards is now constantly in the palm of our hand. There are even Apps that allow you to edit and airbrush your own pictures to create that perfect highlight reel; take away the cellulite, flatten your stomach and slim the face. At times, it seems we are encouraged and, in fact, rewarded when we “look the part” but what does this mean for us?
What is Body Image - what does it mean?
Body Image is our perception of our physical self which encompasses:
Perceptual body image or how we perceive our body
Affective body image or how we feel about our body
Cognitive body image or how we think about our body
Behavioural body image or how we behave as a result of our body image
It is important to note that body image does not refer to how we actually look rather it is the representation that we hold in our minds of our physical appearance which can be positive, negative or neutral. It also includes beliefs, memories, assumptions and generalisations we make about our body. Individuals with body image difficulties may have a particularly negative or biased view of aspects of their appearance or their whole appearance. This negative view can lead to pre-occupation over their appearance, and high levels of distress and worry.
Impact of Social Media on Body Image
Research has shown a link between spending time on social media platforms, particularly those with image based content, and greater body image concerns and disordered eating behaviours amongst young men and women. As well as the amount of time spent on social media, the type of content we consume plays a role. A lot of images of social media are curated with people tending to only present the best version of themselves or only post attractive photos.
Social Media provides us with a distorted perception of reality
Viewing these attractive and sometimes heavily edited or filtered photos of celebrities or friends and reading the appearance related comments, has the potential to distort our own sense of body image. Users frequently compare themselves to images and can be influenced and experience body shame due to the constant exposure to the flawless images they see. Particular body types are idealised and we evaluate ourselves as not measuring up to what is often accepted as the social norm. Our thinking patterns are taken over and we may focus more on imagined flaws in our physical appearance. Additionally, we may begin to feel as if we are not good enough, or meet societies standards compared to the people we see on social media. It is important to acknowledge that body image does not reflect reality and so appearance comparisons can contribute to a distorted perception.
Social Media contributing to disordered eating and behaviours
Social media trends such as “fitspiration” which was designed to motivate people towards a healthier lifestyle by eating healthily and exercising could also increase body dissatisfaction, particularly when comparing ourselves to thin, toned bodies in images, leading to negative impacts on overall self-esteem and our sense of self-worth. More alarmingly, the “thinspiration” trend is used to reference someone or something to motivate people to maintain a very low body weight. Unfortunately, negative self-evaluations and body dissatisfaction can at times lead to disordered eating, in an attempt to reach our idealised body. Disordered eating is when we start to restrict food intake, cut out whole food groups, start to have irregular eating patterns, and engage in over exercising.
If you find the above is starting to become of concern for you, reaching out to your friends or family may be helpful, or perhaps looking at resources and online support groups through websites such as The Butterfly Foundation. You may also wish to access the support of a psychologist with a special interest in body image or eating concerns, and they could help you with some of the strategies below.
6 simple Strategies to prevent Social Media impacting on your Body Image
Looking at the social media pages you follow, and Identifying triggering vs inspiring content: One of the first helpful steps is to unfollow pages/people that you find triggering or encourage comparisons. It can be helpful to trial this over a couple of days or weeks at first and monitor thoughts, feelings and attitudes and see if you feel less anxious, and become less critical of yourself/body.
Increasing social media literacy; This involves becoming aware of how social media posts do not always reflect reality – eg. Photoshopped photos.
Limit time spent on social media sites if possible.
Identifying negative thoughts: Help you to identify negative body related thoughts and beliefs, and work on actively challenging these.
Taking a non-judgemental stance: Experience your body without judgement and internalising social pressures. This means celebrating our individuality rather than integrating attitudes, values, standards and the opinions of others into our own sense of self judging ourselves as less worthy based on societies standards.
Develop greater self-worth: It can be helpful to start to shift our focus from our physical appearance to our personality, values, relationships and abilities.
Final words
The curated images we consume, the messages they communicate about social norms and our own perception of our body can lead us to believe that looking a certain way or weighing a certain amount, will help us feel more worthy or happier in ourselves. However, this is not always the case and striving for this ideal can actually increase stress, anxiety and unhappiness.
If you, or someone you know, is experiencing some of the above difficulties with Body Image and would be interested in finding out more, please contact us as we would be more than happy to help!
