Abstract
In three studies, we assessed knowledge, correlates, and effects of the A4 challenge, an expression of the thin ideal from Chinese social media. In Study 1, gender differences in familiarity with the A4 challenge were assessed among 225 women and 151 men. Compared to men, women and female peers from participant social networks were more familiar with and likely to have taken the challenge themselves. In Study 2, body image experiences of women who passed the A4 challenge (N = 45) and average weight peers who did not pass the challenge (N = 75) were assessed. The former group reported fewer weight concerns and less social pressure to lose weight but no group differences were observed with respect to binge-eating, dieting, or other compensatory weight loss behaviors. As such, eating disorder symptoms did not account for the experience of passing the A4 challenge. In Study 3, changes in state body dissatisfaction were assessed among 205 women randomly assigned to view images of (1) thin peers successfully passing the challenge vs. (2) thin or (3) average size controls. The absence of condition differences in post-exposure state body dissatisfaction indicated exposure to A4 challenge portrayals per se did not cause increases in negative appearance self-evaluations for women in general. However, among women who were exposed to A4 challenge images, but not control group women exposure to other images, trait body dissatisfaction predicted increased post-exposure state dissatisfaction, independent of pre-exposure state dissatisfaction. Implications are discussed in relation to effects of exposure to the A4 challenge and conceptualizing the task as a “challenge.”
Highlights
Perceived pressure to be thin and internalization of the thin feminine attractiveness ideal from traditional mass media and social media have been linked to body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms in questionnaire studies of girls and young women in China (e.g., Chen and Jackson, 2012; Jackson and Chen, 2014, 2015)
As predicted, within the subgroup that provided accurate descriptions, women were significantly more likely than men to report having heard about the task on social media, to have personally taken the A4 challenge, and to have reported knowing more female peers who had taken the challenge, though no gender difference was found for estimated number of male peers reported to have taken the challenge (Table 2)
Within-gender analyses indicated the A4 challenge is especially relevant for women with lower body mass index (BMI); compared to their heavier peers, these women were more aware of and more likely to have taken the challenge themselves and reported more women in their social networks had done so
Summary
Perceived pressure to be thin and internalization of the thin feminine attractiveness ideal from traditional mass media and social media have been linked to body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms in questionnaire studies of girls and young women in China (e.g., Chen and Jackson, 2012; Jackson and Chen, 2014, 2015). Chinese Social Media Ultra-Thin Portrayals pronounced based upon self-report data from cross-sectional (Jackson et al, 2016) and longitudinal (Jackson et al, 2020) study designs. Despite such evidence, to date, implications of particular thin ideal depictions from Chinese social media have not evaluated in either correlational studies or experimental research. To date, implications of particular thin ideal depictions from Chinese social media have not evaluated in either correlational studies or experimental research It is not clear if or how experiences with such imagery are related to or change body image in Chinese samples. Questionnaire and experimental methods were adopted to examine correlates and causal effects of contact with the “A4 challenge,” an expression of the thin body ideal that emerged recently from Chinese social media
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