Adolescents ’ Body Shame and Social Networking Sites: The Mediating Effect of Body Image Control in Photos

AbstractAdolescents ’ social networking site (SNS) use has dramatically grown in the past few years and has increasingly become focused on pictures and visual self-presentation. Attention directed toward online physical appearance appears to trigger some body-related behaviors (e.g., body image monitoring) which pote ntially are related to self-objectification and problematic SNS use. Indeed, the use of social media platforms (including the active creation of content and peer interactions) provides a highly accessible medium for socializing with self-objectification. The present study evaluated the previously un explored predictive role of body shame on SNS use, testing the mediating effect of body image control in photos on SNS. A total of 693 Italian adolescents (45% male;Mage = 16 years, range = 13–19 years) participated in the study. Results only partially confirmed the direct effect of body shame on problematic SNS use. However, body shame strongly predicted body image control in SNS photos, leading indirectly to both male and female adolescents’ problema tic social media use. The study demonstrated novel findings in the field of self-objectification research and contributes toward the ongoing debate on possible predictors of problematic SNS use.
Source: Sex Roles - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research