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Q: What Are The 4 Aspects Of Body Image? - Monarch™

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Talking to teens about body image can be tricky. This video demonstration with actors shows how to start a non-judgmental conversation about body image.

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How Body Image Influences Teens | Seeds of Hope

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Environmental, biological, social, familial and cultural factors can all influence teenagers when it comes to their body images, both positively and negatively.

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Many of us suspect that the beautiful, often highly-edited images of people we see on social media make us feel worse about our own bodies. But what does the research say?

If you mindlessly scroll through Instagram or Facebook whenever you get a few seconds of downtime, you're far from alone. But have you ever wondered how all those images of other people's bodies - whether your friend's holiday snap or a celebrity's gym selfie - could be affecting how you view your own?

Much has been made over the years about how mainstream media presents unrealistic beauty standards in the form of photoshopped celebrities or stick-thin fashion models. Now that influencers fill up our feeds, it's easy to imagine that social media, too, is all bad when it comes to body image.

But the reality is more nuanced, and there may be ways to curate your Instagram feed to make you feel happier in your own skin - or, at least, stop you feeling worse.

You might also like:

● Is social media bad for you? The knowns and unknowns

● Why it pays to declutter your digital life

● How much is 'too much time' on social media?

It's important to note that research into social media and body image is still in its early stages, and most studies are correlational. This means we can't prove whether, for example, Facebook causes someone to have negative feelings about their appearance, or whether people who are concerned about their appearance are more likely to use Facebook.

That being said, using social media does appear to be correlated with body image concerns. A systematic review of 20 papers published in 2016 found that photo-based activities, like scrolling through Instagram or posting pictures of yourself, were a particular problem when it came to negative thoughts about your body.

Photo-based activities online, like scrolling through Instagram, have been correlated with feeling more negatively about your body (Credit: Getty)

But there are many different ways to use social media - are you just consuming what others post, or are you taking, editing and uploading selfies? Are you following close friends and family, or a laundry list of celebrities and influencers?

Research suggests that who we compare ourselves to is key.

"People are comparing their appearance to people in Instagram images, or whatever platform they're on, and they often judge themselves to be worse off," says Jasmine Fardouly, a postdoctoral researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

In a survey of 227 female university students, women reported that they tend to compare their own appearance negatively with their peer group and with celebrities, but not with family members, while browsing Facebook. The comparison group that had the strongest link to body image concerns was distant peers, or acquaintances.

Looking at celebrities made women feel worse about their bodies - but images of acquaintances came with an even stronger link to body image concerns (Credit: Getty)

Fardouly puts this down to the fact that people present a one-sided version of their life online. If you know someone well, you'll know they're only showing the best bits - but if they're an acquaintance, you won't have any other information to go on.

When it comes to the wider circle of influencers and accounts you follow, not all types of content are equal.

Research suggests that "fitspiration" images in particular - which typically feature beautiful people doing exercise, or at least pretending to - might make you harsher on yourself.

Amy Slater, an associate professor at the University of West England, Bristol, published a study in 2017 in which 160 female undergraduates viewed either #fitspo, self compassion quotes, or a mix of both, all sourced from real accounts on Instagram. Those who viewed only #fitspo scored lower on self-compassion, but those who viewed the compassionate quotes (e.g. "You're perfect just the way you are") were nicer to themselves - and felt better about their bodies.

For those who viewed both the #fitspo and the self-compassion quotes, the benefits of the latter appeared to outweigh the negatives of the former.

Looking at self-compassion quotes on social media made people feel better about themselves (Credit: Getty)

Another study published earlier this year involved showing 195 young women either body-positive content from popular accounts like @bodyposipanda, photos showing thin women in bikinis or fitness gear, or neutral images of nature. The researchers found that exposing women to #bodypositive Instagram content appeared to boost their satisfaction with their own bodies.

"Those two things together are starting to build a little bit of a story that there may be some content that actually is useful for body image," says Slater.

But there may be a downside to body-positive images, too: they're still focusing on bodies. The same study found that women who'd seen the body-positive photos still ended up objectifying themselves - measured when, after looking at the images, the participants were asked to write 10 statements about themselves. The more the statements focussed on their appearance rather than their skills or personality, the higher that participant scored on self-objectification.

When study participants viewed body-positive content, they felt better about their own bodies - but there was a catch (Credit: Getty)

That means when someone wrote "I am beautiful" it got lumped in with negative things people said about their bodies. But those people could be taking a broader view of where their beauty comes from, including internal as well as physical attributes, says Slater.

Either way, this fixation with looks is a criticism of the body-positive movement that does seem to hold true. "It is about loving the body, but it is still very much about a focus on appearance," says Fardouly.

When it comes to posting our own pictures on social media, selfies tend to be the focus.

For a study published last year, Jennifer Mills, an associate professor at York University, Toronto, asked female undergraduates to take a selfie on an iPad and upload it to either Facebook or Instagram. One group could only take a single picture and upload it without editing, but the other had a chance to take as many as they wanted and retouch their selfie using an app.

Mills and her colleagues found that all the selfie takers felt less attractive and less confident after posting than when they'd walked into the experiment - even those who'd been allowed to edit their photos to their heart's content. "Even though they can make the end result look 'better', they still are focused on aspects of what they don't like about the way they look," she says.

In one experiment, women felt worse about themselves after posting a selfie online - even if they'd retouched it (Credit: Getty)

Some of the participants wanted to know if anyone had liked their photo before deciding how they felt about having posted it, although looking at interactions wasn't part of the study.

"There's this rollercoaster of feeling anxious and then getting reassurance from other people that you look good," says Mills. "But that probably doesn't last forever, and then you take another selfie."

In previous work published in 2017, researchers found that spending a lot of time perfecting selfies could be a sign that someone is struggling with body dissatisfaction.

Still, some big holes remain in the research on social media and body image.

Most of the work so far has focused on young women, as traditionally they have been the age group most affected by body image concerns. But research including men is starting to show they're not immune. For example, a study found that men who reported looking at male #fitspo content more frequently said they compared their own appearance to others more often and cared about having muscles more.

Men who look at #fitspo content more frequently cared more about their own muscles (Credit: Getty)

Longer term research is also an important next step, because lab experiments can only provide a snapshot of any possible effects. "We don't really know whether over time [social media] has a cumulative effect on people or not," says Fardouly.

So, for now, how should you curate your own social media feeds if you don't want to come away feeling bad about your body?

Mills has one takeaway that should work for everyone: put down your phone.

"Take a break and engage in other activities that have nothing to do with appearance and comparing yourself to other people," she says.

The best advice? Put down your phone (Credit: Getty)

The next best thing would be to think critically about who you follow - and, if you find yourself facing an endless stream of appearance-focussed photos next time you scroll, add some nature or travel into the mix.

After all, giving up social media altogether is probably too big of an ask for most people - especially while the long term effects of using it are still unclear. But finding inspiring landscapes, delicious food, and cute dogs to fill your Instagram feed might just help you remember there's more to life than what you look like.

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Many of us suspect that the beautiful, often highly-edited images of people we see on social media make us feel worse about our own bodies. But what does the research say?

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Our Body Image and Social Media: Live Life Unfiltered | Keisha & Teagan Simpson Simpson | TEDxOttawa

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Many women in the United States are unhappy with how their body looks. But new research suggests that a single bout of physical exercise can make us feel stronger, thinner, and happier overall with our bodies.

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A new study explores the impact of a single 30-minute exercise session on body image.

A Gender and Body Image study from 2013 reports that only of adult U.S. women over the age of 45 are satisfied with the appearance of their body. Body image dissatisfaction is a major risk factor for eating disorders and other types of unhealthy behavior.

Body image dissatisfaction is thought to mainly affect women, but some have shown that "normative discontent" - that is, the idea that people are not happy with how their bodies look as a result of societal beauty norms - affects both men and women to a comparable extent.

A new study carried out by researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Okanagan, Canada, looks into the potential of physical activity to improve body image.

Specifically, Kathleen Martin Ginis, a professor in UBC Okanagan's School of Health and Exercise Sciences, together with her graduate student Lauren Salci, set out to investigate the effect of a single 30-minute bout of exercise on women's bodily self-perception.

The findings were published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

"Women, in general, have a tendency to feel negatively about their bodies," says Prof. Ginis. "This is a concern because poor body image can have harmful implications for a woman's psychological and physical health including increased risk for low self-esteem, depression, and for eating disorders."

Prof. Ginis and Salci compared the physical self-perceptions and body images of women who exercised moderately for 30 minutes, with those who sat down and read.

They recruited 60 young women of university age (19 years on average) who already had body image concerns and who engaged in physical activity regularly.

These women were randomly assigned to do either 30 minutes of "moderate-to-vigorous" exercise, or engage in quiet reading while sitting.

The researchers evaluated the women's " state body image," which is how one feels about one's body at a specific moment in time.

They also assessed the women's "physical self-efficacy," meaning how they felt about their general fitness, physical functioning, and ability to perform specific tasks. Finally, researchers evaluated the participants' physical self-perception and affect.
The women who worked out improved their body image significantly, compared with those who did not exercise. The effect was almost immediate and lasted for a minimum of 20 minutes after exercise.
The affect and physical self-efficacy did not change significantly - instead, it was the self-perceptions of body fat and strength that improved considerably after the exercise.

In other words, the positive effect did not seem to depend on a change in mood; rather, it was due to the women seeing themselves as " stronger and thinner."

The authors note that their study has important practical implications, as Prof. Ginis emphasizes the fact that exercise interventions are an effective way to boost psychological well-being.

"We all have those days when we don't feel great about our bodies. This study [...] shows one way to feel better is to get going and exercise. The effects can be immediate."

Prof. Kathleen Martin Ginis

She concludes, "We think that the feelings of strength and empowerment women achieve post exercise, stimulate an improved internal dialogue. This, in turn, should generate positive thoughts and feelings about their bodies which may replace the all too common negative ones."

Learn how an hour of resistance training per week may cut risk of metabolic syndrome.

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Many women in the United States are unhappy with how their body looks. But new research suggests that a single bout of physical exercise can make us feel stronger, thinner, and happier overall with our bodies. A Gender and Body Image study from 2013 reports that only of adult U.S.