Research into the relationship between social networking site use and body image produces conflicting findings. Several studies indicate a positive relationship between social networking site use and body image concerns and dissatisfaction. Many studies examining the relationship between social networking site use and body image focus on women, to the exclusion of men.
The relationship between social media use and body image will be stronger for women than for men.
Literature Review
Different results have been found when investigating the relationship between social networking site use and self-esteem. A meta-analysis that included 36 studies, one of which was Valenzuela et al. 2009) studied the relationship between social media use and participation in civic and political life (Boulianne, 2015). Such studies point to the complexity of the relationship between social network use and depression.
Although research examining the relationship between social media use and behavior problems is limited, there is reason to believe that a link may exist. Other recent studies have focused on the link between social media use and substance use. The research to date helps provide context for understanding the relationship between social networking site use and body image.
Methodology
Daily and Monthly Social Network Site Use
It is assumed that exogenous variables have causal effects on the other variables in the model, even though there are no variables in the model that influence them. Race would have been included as an exogenous control variable, but since the sample was nearly homogeneous and 93.6% of the sample self-identified as white, race was not included as a variable in the analyses. The rationale behind including parental education and BMI as control variables in the models was based on previous research showing that these variables are causally related to social networking site use, internalization of appearance ideals, and body image; Furthermore, these variables (i.e., social network use, internalization, and body image) do not influence parental education level or BMI (Jones, Vigfusdottir, & Lee, 2004; Paeratakul et al., 2002; van den Berg et al. ., 2010).
In the planned Model 1 (see Figure 1), gender appeared before the other variables of interest (i.e., social networking site use, internalization of appearance ideals, and body image) because, as a moderator variable, it was expected to influence other variables. In STATA SEM model 1 (see Figure 2), gender was not represented or included in the same way. There are two approaches that can be used in SEM to include a categorical moderator such as gender in a model: 1) inclusion by one-group analysis, where the moderator is represented by a variable or set of variables in the model (as in planned Model 1) and 2), incorporating it through multiple group analysis, where observations (i.e., outcomes) are separated into groups at each moderator level, rather than the moderator appearing in the model as a variable (Ryu and Cheong, 2017). The STATA SEM 1 model included the endogenous variables of social network site use (variable names in the model: totalmonsnsu, totaldaysnsu), sociocultural.
Based on previous research and theory, use of social network sites was presented as the first endogenous variable(s), before the internalization of appearance ideals and body image variables. Use of social networking sites was included as two variables: one variable represented daily use of social networking sites (ie, totaldaysnsu) and another variable represented monthly use of social networking sites (ie, totalmonsnsu). The way these variables of social networking site use were presented in the model allowed their use to be compared.
Sociocultural internalization of appearance ideals was the next endogenous variable presented, after the use of social networking sites, as previous research showed a link between greater internalization of appearance ideals and more negative body image (Bessenoff & Snow, 2006; Jones et al ., 2004). Body image was presented in the model as a multidimensional latent variable, as separate scores were calculated for the three measured aspects of body esteem, including an individual's overall feelings about his appearance, his satisfaction with his weight, and his beliefs about body evaluations. others. of their body and appearance.
Visually and Non-Visually-Oriented Social Network Site Use
The STATA SEM model included the endogenous variables of social networking site use (model variable names: ztotvissnsu, ztotnonvissnsu), sociocultural internalization of appearance ideals (model variable name: totalsiaqa), and body image (model variable name : body image). The variables were introduced in the same order as in STATA SEM Model 1, with social networking site use being introduced as the first endogenous variables, before the acquisition of appearance ideals and body image variables. Use of social networking sites was included in STATA SEM Model 2 as two variables, with a curved arrow between them to indicate correlation; one variable represented the use of visually oriented social networking sites (ie, ztotvissnsu) and the other represented the use of non-visually oriented social networking sites (ie, ztotnonvissnsu).
The visually oriented social network site usage variable included both the daily and monthly visually oriented. After the social network usage variables, sociocultural internalization of appearance ideals was the next endogenous variable presented. Hypothesis 1 (using Model 1), which states that individuals who endorse greater use of social media will have a more negative body image, was analyzed by looking at the direct paths and total effects from daily use of social networking sites to body image, for both men and women, and the direct paths and total effects from monthly use of social networking sites to body image, for both men and women.
In addition, the paths and total effects from non-visually oriented use of social networking sites, for both men and women, were analyzed for comparative purposes. The fourth hypothesis (using Model 1), which states that the relationship between social networking site use and body image will be stronger for women, was analyzed by comparing the direct paths (for both men and women) and total effects from monthly social networking sites use for body image and from daily use of social networking sites for body image. The fifth hypothesis (using Model 1) states that the relationship between social networking site use and body image will be stronger for those who endorse a higher degree of internalization of appearance ideals.
This was analyzed by examining the indirect effects of both monthly use of social networking sites and daily use of social networking sites on body image through internalization of appearance ideals, as it was these indirect effects that indicated whether internalization acted as a mediator of the social network relationship . website use and body image. In addition, the direct paths and total effects from daily use of social networking sites to body image, monthly use of social networking sites to body image, daily use of social networking sites to internalization of appearance ideals, monthly.
Results
These suggestions added a path between visually oriented use of social networking sites and the attribution subscale of the BESAA for men and a path between sociocultural internalization of appearance ideals (SIAQ-A) and the attribution subscale of the BESAA for women. One of these models looked at daily and monthly use of social networking sites (such as Model 1) and the other looked at visual and non-visually oriented use of social networking sites (such as Model 2). When looking at the new model for visually and non-visually oriented use of social networking sites, the findings followed a similar pattern.
For women, there were no significant direct effects of daily social networking site use (variable name in model: totaldaysnsu) on body image, nor were there significant direct effects of monthly social networking site use (variable name in model: totalmonsnsu) on body image . (direct paths: daily β = .08, p = .51, monthly β = - .02, p = .87). However, among men, there was a significant direct effect of visually oriented use of social networking sites on body image (direct path: β = .25, p = .04). For comparative purposes, the paths from non-visually oriented use of social networking sites (variable name in model: ztotnonvissnsu) to body image were analyzed.
Overall, these results indicated that women did not have a statistically stronger relationship between social media use and body image than men. This hypothesis was tested by examining the indirect effects of daily use of social networking sites and monthly use of social networking sites on body image through the acquisition of appearance ideals. While the indirect effects of daily use of social networking sites and monthly use of social networking sites on body image through.
Since there was no significant indirect effect of social networking site use on body image through the internalization of appearance ideals for women (indirect effects: daily β = -.01, p = .93, monthly β = -.00, p = .98), hypothesis 5 was not supported. There were no significant indirect effects of social networking site use on body image through the internalization of male appearance ideals (indirect effects: daily β = 0.12, p = 0.29, monthly β = -0.21, p = 0.09) .
Discussion
This study showed that neither daily nor monthly use of social networks was directly related to the body image of young men and women. As previously mentioned, male participants who endorsed a more visually oriented social networking site actually use. It is not yet known whether the male participants who reported more frequent use of visually oriented social networking sites already had a better body image or whether the use of visually oriented websites improved their body image.
Hypothesis four lacked support based on the results, as no significant gender differences were found regarding the relationship between social networking site use and body image. Limitations regarding the social network use measures and how social network site use was conceptualized in this study have already been discussed. Hypothesis five was also not supported by the data, as internalization did not mediate the relationship between social networking site use and body image as predicted.
Internalization was not found to be a statistically significant mediating variable in the relationship between social networking site use and body image. This study, specifically, could be redone with a more reliable and valid measure of social networking site use. The results of factor analysis indicated that the daily social network website use measure had slightly stronger statistics than the monthly social network.
Slater, 2013), and 2) a positive relationship between visually oriented use of social networking sites and body image concerns and dissatisfaction (Cohen et al., 2017; McLean et al., 2015; Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015). This study examined the relationship between use of social networking sites and body image, while accounting for gender and sociocultural internalization of appearance ideals, and included parental education level (a measure of SES) and BMI as controls. The results did not support an association between social networking site use and body image in the hypothesized manner; The use of social networking sites was found to significantly relate to body image only for male participants, with male.
Visual = Visually oriented social network use; Nonvis = Non-visually oriented social network use; Internalization = internalization of appearance ideals; *p < .05, **p.
