Body Image Strategies for Using Social Media

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A wealth of research has shown that using social media is associated with, and can contribute to, a more negative body image (e.g., dissatisfaction with one’s appearance). This is particularly the case when people see idealized appearance-related content, like images of conventionally attractive celebrities (e.g., de Valle et al., 2021). In a new study, my colleagues and I at Maastricht University investigated potential strategies that people could use to protect their body image while using social media.

We drew upon research on people with a positive body image (i.e., people who tend to feel gratitude and respect for their body, regardless of whether it meets conventional body norms). People with a positive body image tend to engage in a process called protective filtering, whereby they ‘filter in’ information that can positively affect their body image (e.g., a compliment from a friend) and ‘filter out’ information that can negatively affect their body image (e.g., appearance-related images on social media; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015; Wood-Barcalow et al., 2010). Another recent study by our lab (Evens et al., 2021) identified the concrete protective filtering strategies that people with a positive body image use when they see appearance-related images on social media. (For more, see my previous blog post).

In the present study, we drew upon this body of research and selected two promising protective filtering strategies—functionality appreciation and personality and values—and investigated whether they could be taught to people who do not yet have a positive body image, and could protect their body image in the face of appearance-related images online.

The Protective Filtering Strategies

The first protective filtering strategy was functionality appreciation, which describes appreciating and respecting the body for what it can do, rather than for how it looks (Alleva et al., 2017). Evens et al. (2021) showed that women with a positive body image reflect on their body functionality when they see appearance-related images online (e.g., “Sure this woman is beautiful, but I appreciate my body for all of the valuable things it can do, and that is more important than how it looks”). Their findings confirm a wider body of research, by our lab and others, showing that functionality appreciation is a key characteristic of positive body image (e.g., Alleva et al., 2021; Swami et al., 2020; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015).

The second protective filtering strategy was personality and values. In the research by Evens et al. (2021), participants described appreciating the personality and values of the women in the appearance-related images. For example, they focused on their positive qualities (e.g., hardworking) and on their contributions to society (e.g., climate activism), which they considered much more important than their appearance. In the present study, we adapted this strategy to have the participants emphasize their own personality and values. We reasoned that this approach would be less likely to spark harmful comparisons (e.g., if participants would perceive the women in the images as ‘more successful’) and would be more applicable in daily life (i.e., as people are unlikely to be familiar with the personality and values of all people in media imagery).

The Study

For our experiment, we recruited 150 women between ages 18 and 35. For this first study into these protective filtering strategies, we focused on young women because negative body image concerns are more prevalent among women, and this age group is one of the most active on Instagram, the platform we used for this study (Perrin & Anderson, 2019; Rodgers et al., 2023).

First, participants completed measures to assess their body image. Then, they completed a writing exercise that familiarized them with their respective protective filtering strategy. Participants were randomized to one of three groups:

1. The functionality appreciation group completed a writing exercise introducing them to the concept of body functionality, and wrote about their different body functions (e.g., bodily senses, creative endeavours) and why those were valuable to them.
2. The personality and values group completed a writing exercise introducing them to personality and values, and wrote about different positive aspects of their personality and values, and why those were important to them.
3. The control (placebo) group completed a writing exercise that was about a neutral topic, unrelated to their body. This last group was necessary to ensure that any effects of the experiment were due to the protective filtering strategies, and not merely due to other aspects of taking part in the research (e.g., completing body-image measures).

After the familarization exercise, all participants completed the same body-image measures again. Then, they were told that they would be exposed to a series of images on Instagram, and that below each Instagram image they would complete a prompt pertaining to their writing exercise. Again, the prompts differed based on the participants’ group.

The functionality appreciation group completed a prompt to emphasize their body functionality (i.e., “One thing I appreciate about what my body can do is…. because…”). The personality and values group completed a prompt about their personality and values (i.e., in alternating order: “One thing I appreciate about my personality is… because…” and “One of my values that I appreciate is… because…”). The control group completed a neutral prompt underneath each image.

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The Instagram images depicted conventionally beautiful women. (The images had been pre-tested in a different sample of women to be reflective of current beauty ideals.) The participants viewed 15 images and completed their respective prompts underneath each one. This lasted approximately 5 minutes. Then, all participants completed the same body-image measures one more time.

Key Findings

The analyses of participants’ scores on the body-image measures across the experiment revealed the following:

1. The protective filtering groups reported a more positive body image both after the familiarization exercise and after the appearance exposure on Instagram, compared to the control group.
2. The functionality appreciation group—but not the personality and values group—reported lower self-objectification both after the familiarization exercise and after the appearance exposure on Instagram, compared to the control group. This means that the participants in the functionality group were less likely to base their overall self-worth on their appearance.
3. Even though the protective filtering groups reported a more positive body image compared to the control group, participants across all groups reported a decrease in positive body image from before to after the appearance exposure on Instagram.

Source: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

The Take-Home Messages

The fact that participants in the protective filtering groups reported a more positive body image after the familiarization exercises and after the appearance exposure shows that these strategies could indeed benefit women’s body image when using Instagram. This supports our prior research (Evens et al., 2021) in which women with a positive body image described using these strategies to protect their body image when using social media. The findings are promising because the respective strategies were learned within a brief experiment and thus could potentially be disseminated on a larger scale. For this, however, more research is needed to determine whether the present effects are replicable and applicable in daily life.

Importantly, the protective filtering strategies were not foolproof, as all participants reported decreases in positive body image as a result of the appearance exposure on Instagram. This, too, aligns with the broader literature on positive body image and protective filtering (e.g., Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015; Wood-Barcalow et al., 2010). It is unrealistic to be “immune” to the effects of appearance-related imagery, especially considering that most people have spent years (if not a lifetime) seeing these types of images and messages. Even people who have established a relatively stable positive body image still experience “good body image days” and “bad body image days,” and this is okay. With respect to the protective filtering strategies, they conferred some benefit compared to nothing at all (as in our control group) and at the end of the experiment, their positive body image was higher compared to the control group. Tentatively, then, we would still recommend that it is worthwhile to pursue these protective filtering strategies.

Last, it was interesting to find that the functionality appreciation group fared more favorably with respect to lower self-objectification as compared to the personality and values group. Theoretically, emphasizing one’s personality and values, and appreciating body functionality, are both important because they can counteract society’s overemphasis on appearance as a determinant of self-worth. But, in the overall effort to improve positive body image, it could be especially important to change one’s perspective toward the body (from appearance to functionality based) specifically.

In an ideal world, we would snap our fingers and change the media landscape to be more conducive to positive body image and well-being. We underscore that systemic change is necessary for wider changes in body image and well-being, but this will take time. Until then, individual-level protective filtering strategies can help people protect their body image when using social media. We look forward to doing more research in this area, and to hopefully seeing the work of other labs as well.