People spending more time on social media struggle with body image - study finds

A recent study has found that people who spend more time on social media struggle with their body image – and posts by friends and family are more dangerous than those by celebrities, Daily Mail reported. 

Social media applications such as Instagram are often criticized for creating utopian body standards, but a new study suggests our loved ones are more to blame than celebs.

In a series of experiments, participants were asked to report their levels of satisfaction with their appearance whenever they saw other people’s social media posts throughout the day.

Engaging with posts by friends and family is more ‘damaging’ than engaging with content posted by celebs, researchers found.

It’s possible that an alluring body image from a prominent individual is perceived as less obtainable, so we worry about it less than if it were from a friend or relative.

The study, published today in Body Image Journal, was led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University in East Anglia and Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Austria.

Study author Professor Viren Swami said, ‘Image-focused social media platforms provide limitless opportunities for users to make negative comparisons and internalise appearance ideals, which in turn leads to more negative body image outcomes.

He added that their study uncovered that engaging with social media lessens appearance satisfaction regardless of who is posting the content.

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‘Most interestingly, looking at content posted by friends and family had a significantly stronger negative impact on appearance satisfaction compared to content posted by the likes of celebrities and influencers.’