SexyBodyPositive
When Sexualization Does Not Undermine Young Women’s Body Image
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15499286 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniela Di Michele (0000-0002-5613-3369, University of Padua), Francesca Guizzo (0000-0002-0754-3337, University of Surrey, corresponding author), Natale Canale (0000-0002-6032-0490, University of Padua), Fabio Fasoli (0000-0002-8043-1630, University of Surrey), Francesca Carotta (University of Padua), Arianna Pollini (0000-0003-3958-6232, University of Padua), Mara Cadinu (0000-0001-9987-4442, University of Padua) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 991-991 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601 |
| Publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3390/ijerph20020991 |
| PMID | 36673746 |
| OpenAlex | W4313571846 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 79 |
Research suggests that exposure to social networking sites portraying a thin and often sexualized beauty ideal reduces young women's body satisfaction, while exposure to body-positive content improves it. However, it is unclear whether sexualization could impair the beneficial effects of body-positivity messages. Young Italian women were exposed to one of three experimental conditions showing sexualized beauty ideals, sexualized body positivity, or non-sexualized body positivity that appeared either on Instagram (Study 1, N = 356) or TikTok (Study 2, N = 316). Across the two studies, results showed that, regardless of sexualization, exposure to body positivity increased body satisfaction and positive mood compared with pre-exposure measures, while exposure to sexualized beauty ideals reduced it. Participants in the sexualized beauty ideal condition also engaged in upward appearance social comparison whereas body positivity elicited downward comparison. Problematic social networking sites' use moderated the effects of condition on body satisfaction, appearance social comparison, and positive mood, while downward comparison mediated the relation between condition and body satisfaction and positive mood. Our results highlight both beneficial and critical aspects of body positivity that should be taken into consideration when designing body image interventions and policymaking
Aesthetics · Art · Beauty · Developmental psychology · Human physical appearance · Human sexuality · Mood · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Sexualization · Sociology · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Clinical Psychology · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology
Gender and Media Representations
The beauty complex
When perceived partner-objectification contaminates women’s self-esteem
Does body positivity work for men as it does for women? The impact of idealized body and body positive imagery on body satisfaction, drive for thinness, and drive for muscularity
Undressed to succeed? Content analysis of self-objectification of influencers in Spain
Thank You for Sharing
Magic mirror, who is the fairest one of all? testing the mediating effect between short-video social media exposure and appearance anxiety
Exacting beauty
Bones, body parts, and sex appeal
‘Selfie’-objectification
Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram
Highly-visual social media and internalizing symptoms in adolescence
Using heteroskedasticity-consistent standard error estimators in OLS regression
Social media and body image
College students’ social media use and communication network heterogeneity
Selective Self-Presentation and Social Comparison Through Photographs on Social Networking Sites
Body Image and Televised Images of Thinness and Attractiveness
Acceptance of cosmetic surgery
“Exercise to be fit, not skinny”
Are We There Yet? Progress in Depicting Diverse Images of Beauty in Instagram’s Body Positivity Movement
The impact of appearance comparisons made through social media, traditional media, and in person in women’s everyday lives
A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes
The effect of Instagram “likes” on women’s social comparison and body dissatisfaction
Bodypositivity
Social comparison as a predictor of body dissatisfaction
A meta-analytic review of the relationship between social media use and body image disturbance
Idealised media images
Women, not objects
Social media photo activity, internalization, appearance comparison, and body satisfaction
The looking glass selfie
Social Computing and Social Media. Participation, User Experience, Consumer Experience, and Applications of Social Computing
Social networking addiction, attachment style, and validation of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale
Are Feminist Women Protected from Body Image Problems? A Meta-analytic Review of Relevant Research
BoPo on Instagram
Instagram use and young women’s body image concerns and self-objectification
Equal Opportunity Objectification? The Sexualization of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone
Partial, conditional, and moderated moderated mediation
Upward and Downward
The Mediating Role of Appearance Comparisons in the Relationship Between Media Usage and Self-Objectification in Young Women
Sexualizing Media Use and Self-Objectification
Objectification Theory
The Effect of Social Network Site Use on Appearance Investment and Desire for Cosmetic Surgery Among Adolescent Boys and Girls
Shades of Sexualization
Instagram Use and Self-Objectification
Images of Thin and Plus-Size Models Produce Opposite Effects on Women’s Body Image, Body Dissatisfaction, and Anxiety
Media and Sexualization
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body Image Concerns
Towards a Radical Body Positive
The case for body positivity on social media
Strong is the new skinny
Sexualization of Girls
Pinterest or Thinterest
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |