Social media and body image

Overview

Social media use is associated with poor body image in women and men, but why is that? One of the possible explanations is that social media constantly exposed them to idealised body imagery in social media. In this line of research, we investigate whether social media can be used in a positive way, namely using images as a way to critique idealised body standards. In doing so, we focus on both men and women since the majority of the studies have focused on women only. We are aiming to test whether body-positive and humorous parody imagery can have a positive impact on women and men’s body satisfaction and reduce body image concerns. 

Initial studies on this topic have been funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant