Social Media Effects on Adolescents’ Body Image

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Abstract

Adolescents are heavy users of social networking sites. Studies indicate that exposure to media ads influences teenagers’ body satisfaction and dietary habits. The purpose of the proposed research is to investigate the effect of social media on the body image of adolescents. This paper describes the methods and procedures that will be used in sample selection, data collection, and assessment of the study’s variables.

Research Question

The study will involve one central research question, namely, is social media affecting body image in adolescents? Although online networking sites are popular among adolescents, the effect of one social media on their body image and self-esteem is not well understood (Vries, Peter, Nikken & Graaf, 2014). By examining social media depictions of ideal body figures, the study aims to elucidate how social media use shapes body image perceptions among adolescents.

Hypotheses

The research hypothesizes that heavy use of social media causes physical appearance dissatisfaction and poor self-image among teenagers. The second hypothesis is that high social media activity promotes the internalization of socialized appearances and body figures. The null hypothesis is that social networking sites have no influence on teenage self-image attitudes.

Sample Size

The study will use a sample of 30 participants drawn from a middle school. Since data collection will primarily involve questionnaires, this sample size is sufficient for achieving data saturation while eliminating redundancy (Warren & Karner, 2005).

Additionally, the sample size is large enough to capture the variability within the target population (adolescents) at minimal costs. In selecting the sample, the study will use the following inclusion criteria: students who are aged between 13 and 18, frequent social media users (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others), both male and female subjects, and participants drawn from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The sample will need to be diverse in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and grade level to enhance its representativeness of the parent population.

Sampling Technique

The study will use snowball-sampling technique to select participants. According to Camic, Rhodes, and Yardley (2003), this approach will help identify “cases of interest” or a hidden population that is information-rich (p. 14). Additionally, snowballing will protect the confidentiality and privacy of the respondents because recruited participants will identify potential cases of interest in the study (referrals). In this study, the diverse sample of 30 participants generalizes to the adolescent (13-18 years) student population. This demographic includes teenage boys and girls who are heavy users of social media networks.

Study Variables

The study will measure body image satisfaction and correlate it with social media use among the respondents. The key variables will include weight satisfaction, preference for thin figures (girls) and muscular shapes (boys), physical self-concept, and internalized body ideals. It will also measure aspects of user activity on social media such as exposure/frequency, status updates, comments/feedback, and photo uploads and tags.

Operational Definitions of the Variables

Weight satisfaction is a measure of how participants perceive their body weight. McCabe and Ricciardelli (2001) establish that females tend to adopt weight loss methods, while males use weight-gaining interventions to build muscles. The weight satisfaction measure will determine whether weight dissatisfaction causes adolescents to use body change strategies.
Body figure preference is the pursuit of ‘idealized’ body shapes.
Physical self-concept describes how one feels about his or her attractiveness and appearance.
Internalized body ideals describe the degree to which the participants pursue the ‘perfect’ body type portrayed in social media.
Social media exposure is the total time a user spends in online networking sites in a day. It entails activities such as the status updates made by a user, the type and amount of information shared with friends, and the feedback/comments and photo uploads/tags made or received by a respondent.

Measurement of the Variables

The researcher will use the Body-Esteem Scale (BES) developed by Mendelson, Mendelson, and White (2001) to measure how each participant feels about his or her weight. This validated scale is specifically designed to measure adolescent weight satisfaction based on five Likert scale options. Lower scores suggest body weight dissatisfaction.

The measurement of body figure preference will involve the eating disorder inventory that evaluates a person’s drive for thin figures (Garner, Olmsted & Polivy, 1983). The subjects’ responses will be ranked using a Likert scale. This instrument measures eating disorders, which indicate the fear of gaining weight. Thus, it is a reliable method for assessing body figure preference.

The assessment of the subject’s physical self-concept will involve the self-objectification questionnaire that ranks ten physical characteristics in terms of their effect on a person’s self-concept (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998). It is a validated self-objectification measure that relates physical attractiveness to individual health perceptions to determine a person’s level of emphasis on appearance.

The socio-cultural internalization questionnaire will be used to measure the degree to which the subjects have internalized the ‘ideal’ body types depicted in social media. This instrument was designed using normative data drawn from three different nations (Keery et al., 2004). This makes it a reliable psychometric tool for measuring internalized values and attitudes.

The measurement of social media exposure will involve a questionnaire designed by the researcher to assess the subjects’ use of social networking sites. It will contain yes/no items that measure each respondent’s online activity in terms of photo sharing, feedback sent or received, status updates, profile interests, and sites visited. A pilot testing will be done prior to the actual study to validate the questionnaire (Patton, 2001).

Data Collection Technique

In this study, data collection will involve the survey method. Survey questionnaires will be used to measure the variables related to body image and social media use among the respondents.

Research Design

The study will use a quantitative research design. A quantitative method is appropriate when the purpose of a study is to establish the cause/effect relationship between an independent variable (social media) and a dependent one (body image) (Creswell, 1998). This approach will be used to determine how social media use affects adolescents’ body image.

Procedure

The researcher will recruit 30 participants from a middle school in VA State after gaining the approval of the school’s administration and the relevant institutional review board. Online newsletters will be placed on the school’s website requesting students to sign up for the study. Sampling will involve the snowballing technique. Interested participants below 18 years will be required to obtain parental consent. Informed consent will be sought from those who have attained 18 years. Data collection will involve survey questionnaires to measure the independent variable (use of social networking sites) and the dependent variable (body image). The survey will be administered after class hours in a lecture room and will take about 30 minutes.

Potential Ethical Issues

One of the major ethical issues relevant to this study is the protection of the privacy of personal information. To protect their privacy, the participants will be identified using codes. The other ethical issue relates to informed consent requirements. Parents will sign consent forms on behalf of minors to permit them to participate in this study.

Literature Review

This topic is very important to me because I have adolescents in my house who constantly use social media. I decided to research the potential causes of using social media and the effects on their body image. There is a lot of harm in this world, and if I can avoid any to their self-esteem, then I feel I have done well.

While writing the following research paper, a great number of different sources were used. Having understood the great importance of social research, the decision to conduct our own investigation was made. The book by Warren, C., and Karner, T Discovering Qualitative Methods: Field Research, Interviews, and Analysis served as the basis for the work because the main peculiarities of qualitative research and its applications are outlined there.

One more work, Qualitative Research in Psychology: Expanding Perspectives in Methodology and Design by Camic, P., Rhodes, E. and Yardley, L also describes the main peculiarities of conducting research in psychology. It was used to create credible and scholarly work in which results can be trusted. The book Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions by J. Creswell always severs to the same purpose.

It describes different approaches to qualitative inquiry and how 5 different forms of studies can be conducted. Patton, M., in his work Qualitative evaluation and research methods also supplies readers with information about the main peculiarities of qualitative researches and main regularities, which should be necessarily observed. Main patterns, which were described in the book, were taken into account and used in the following work. The next work used in the research is written by Garner, D., Olmsted, M. and Polivy, J and is called Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Eating Disorder Inventory for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia.. It investigates the cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia peculiar for normal-weight women. It shows the main peculiarities of people who were affected by the wrong conceptualization of beauty and their body.

The issue of the great importance of social norms and influence which they have on people is investigated in the article The Sociocultural Internalization of Appearance Questionnaire—Adolescents (SIAQ—A): Psychometric Analysis and Normative Data for Three Countries by Keery, H et al.. It investigates six female samples from different countries to prove the idea of the great level of internalization of appearance. Similar issue investigates the work Parent, Peer, and Media Influences on Body Image and Strategies to both Increase and Decrease Body Size among Adolescent Boys and Girls by McCabe, M., and Ricciardelli, L. Its main aim is to determine the nature of body image peculiar for adolescents and the factors which influence its formation.

The term Body Esteem is very important for our research that is why the work by Mendelson, B., Mendelson, M. and White, D. Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults was taken into account. It researches peculiarities of the appearance and formation of the BE and main aspects of its development. To analyze the peculiarities of disorders connected with eating the work by Noll, S. and Fredrickson, B A Mediational Model Linking Self-objectification, Body Shame, and Disordered Eating was taken into account.

It suggests some research and statistics support the idea that the emotion of body shape influences the food habits of adolescents. Moreover, the article underlines mutual dependence between the feeling of body shame and investment in appearance. This issue is also investigated in the article The Effect of Social Network Site Use on Appearance Investment and Desire for Cosmetic Surgery Among Adolescent Boys and Girls by Vries et al.. It states the fact that communication in networks and difference in behavior peculiar for boys and girls lead to appearance of different ideals. Moreover, the dependence between social network site use and investment in appearance is made.

Results Section

In the course of the study, the statistical tests such as the Tukey’s Honestly Significance Difference Test should be used. The reason for employing the test in question is predetermined by the necessity to demonstrate the correlation between the body image of adolescents and the one that is suggested to the latter as the ideal one with the help of various media tools. It is essential that the above-mentioned research tool helps draw the line between the effects of exposure to certain sets of factors in different groups. In other words, the instrument in question will help measure the rates of dependency on the body image promoted by modern media among two groups of adolescents. The first group will be subjected to the influence of a certain type of media, whereas the other one will be exposed to the influence of an entirely different type.

Results

The effects of media on shaping the body image of adolescents are quite drastic. The research is bound to show that the body image promoted by media is perceived as positive in most cases, which prompts adolescents to the immediate comparison between the ideal body image and their body characteristics. It is expected that the study will prove that in case the results do not coincide with the ones that are promoted by modern media as the acceptable ones, young people attempt at shaping their look.

The specified phenomenon can explain the popularity of plastic surgery among young people as the tool for altering their appearance so that they could resemble the ideal image foisted on them by the popular media. It is assumed that the test results will demonstrate the dependency of young people on the opinions promoted to them by modern media. More importantly, both groups are likely to display a similar tendency to copy the images suggested to them as the ideal ones.

Internal and External Validity

Among the key factors, which may affect the supposed results of the study and, therefore, jeopardize the veracity of the research outcomes, the individual characteristics of each member of the groups and their convictions deserve to be mentioned. It would be naïve to assume that each of the participants will be fully open to new ideas and experiments with their image. In case the ideas, which are foisted onto them by the modern media, are not compatible with their own vision of the world, the adolescents are most likely to dismiss these ideas, and the body image suggested without considering either as a possible part of their life philosophy.

As far as the external validity is concerned, the external validity elements such as the specific setting, the unique ideas, which the participants were introduced to, and the above-mentioned individual characteristics of the research members can be viewed as the impediments to the objectivity of the study. What will ostensibly affect the two groups of people mentioned above may have no tangible effect on other individuals.

Implications

Although the research to be carried out may not reinvent adolescent psychology as it is, it will still provide rather interesting results in terms of the effects, which media has on young people. The traditional myth concerning the vulnerability of adolescents may finally be subverted, and new areas for research may be opened. The study in question is bound to provide a basis for the further study of the means for young people to resist the obtrusive body image concept, which modern media promotes to them.

References

Argosy Online University (2015) Module 2&3 Readings. Web.

Camic, P., Rhodes, E., & Yardley, L. (2003). Qualitative Research in Psychology: Expanding Perspectives in Methodology and Design. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks: CA. Sage Publications, Inc.

Garner, D., Olmsted, M., & Polivy, J. (1983). Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Eating Disorder Inventory for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 25–34.

Keery, H., Shroff, H., Thompson, J., Wertheim, E., & Smolak, L. (2004). The Sociocultural Internalization of Appearance Questionnaire—Adolescents (SIAQ—A): Psychometric Analysis and Normative Data for Three Countries. Eating & Weight Disorders, 9, 56–61.

McCabe, M., & Ricciardelli, L. (2001). Parent, Peer, and Media Influences on Body Image and Strategies to both Increase and Decrease Body Size among Adolescent Boys and Girls. Adolescence, 36(142), 225-40.

Mendelson, B., Mendelson, M., & White, D. (2001). Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults. Journal Personality Assessment, 76, 90–106.

Patton, M. Q. (2001). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Noll, S., & Fredrickson, B. (1998). A Mediational Model Linking Self-objectification, Body Shame, and Disordered Eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 623–636.

Vries, D., Peter, J., Nikken, P., & Graaf, H. (2014). The Effect of Social Network Site Use on Appearance Investment and Desire for Cosmetic Surgery Among Adolescent Boys and Girls. Sex Role, 71(9), 283-295.

Warren, C., & Karner, T. (2005). Discovering Qualitative Methods: Field Research, Interviews, and Analysis. Los Angeles: Roxbury.

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