Introduction
In a world increasingly influenced by technology, the ways in which people express and evaluate themselves inevitably adapt to this change. Specifically, social media allows its users to find work-related connections, romantic relationships, and new friends based on common interests (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Not only this, but the creation of a variety of different social media platforms that exist allows users to express themselves in several different ways from text based "tweets" on Twitter to photographs and videos on Instagram. Research emphasizes both the positive and negative impacts of social media on one 's ability to interact with others and display oneself on social media in terms of social capital, or …show more content…
Research by Manago, Ward, Lemm, Reed, and Lauren (2015) asserted that higher levels of investment in Facebook resulted in higher levels of objectified body consciousness -- that is, the more involved users were in Facebook as an integral part of their social lives, the more aware participants were of their physical appearance and the more important physical appearance became in determining self-worth. Additionally, higher levels of objectified body consciousness led to higher levels of body shame, which in turn impacted other aspects of participants ' self-esteem, including creating and asserting boundaries and expressing personal desires (Manago et al., 2015). Two studies conducted by Mabe, Forney, and Keel (2014) further explored on the idea of importance of social media to its users by exploring how Facebook contributed to both consciousness of "eating pathology" (Mabe et al., 2014) and body dissatisfaction. In these two studies, Mabe, Forney, and Keel (2014) found that higher levels of investment and Facebook correlated with disordered eating and thinking and related to higher levels of engagement in actions that focused on appearance and body image; that is, participants with higher levels of eating pathology reported more time spent on Facebook and reported engaging …show more content…
Based on previous research on body shame and influences of social media on perceptions of body, we expected that there will be a positive relationship between investment in social media and body shame -- that is, the more integral social media is in one 's life, the higher levels of body shame. We also expected that the more often one used social media would be associated with higher levels of body shame. As previous research has indicated, while there may be a positive relationship between these two variables individually, we expected that this relationship would be more significant when these two variables were paired together when viewing the relationship to body
In a world increasingly influenced by technology, the ways in which people express and evaluate themselves inevitably adapt to this change. Specifically, social media allows its users to find work-related connections, romantic relationships, and new friends based on common interests (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Not only this, but the creation of a variety of different social media platforms that exist allows users to express themselves in several different ways from text based "tweets" on Twitter to photographs and videos on Instagram. Research emphasizes both the positive and negative impacts of social media on one 's ability to interact with others and display oneself on social media in terms of social capital, or …show more content…
Research by Manago, Ward, Lemm, Reed, and Lauren (2015) asserted that higher levels of investment in Facebook resulted in higher levels of objectified body consciousness -- that is, the more involved users were in Facebook as an integral part of their social lives, the more aware participants were of their physical appearance and the more important physical appearance became in determining self-worth. Additionally, higher levels of objectified body consciousness led to higher levels of body shame, which in turn impacted other aspects of participants ' self-esteem, including creating and asserting boundaries and expressing personal desires (Manago et al., 2015). Two studies conducted by Mabe, Forney, and Keel (2014) further explored on the idea of importance of social media to its users by exploring how Facebook contributed to both consciousness of "eating pathology" (Mabe et al., 2014) and body dissatisfaction. In these two studies, Mabe, Forney, and Keel (2014) found that higher levels of investment and Facebook correlated with disordered eating and thinking and related to higher levels of engagement in actions that focused on appearance and body image; that is, participants with higher levels of eating pathology reported more time spent on Facebook and reported engaging …show more content…
Based on previous research on body shame and influences of social media on perceptions of body, we expected that there will be a positive relationship between investment in social media and body shame -- that is, the more integral social media is in one 's life, the higher levels of body shame. We also expected that the more often one used social media would be associated with higher levels of body shame. As previous research has indicated, while there may be a positive relationship between these two variables individually, we expected that this relationship would be more significant when these two variables were paired together when viewing the relationship to body