Impact of Instagram Usage on Young Women’s Body Esteem: Mediating Role of Beauty Perception

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of instagram usage on body esteem; whereas beauty perception was taken as a mediator between instagram usage and body esteem in young women. It was hypothesized that instagram usage, beauty perception and body esteem would be positively related. It was further hypothesized that beauty perception would mediate the relationship between instagram usage and body esteem. A sample of 210 young women aged 19-24 years was collected through purposive sampling technique from universities and colleges of Lahore. Instagram Intensity Scale (Trifiro, 2018), Broad Conceptualization of Beauty Scale (Tylka & Iannantuono, 2016) and Body Esteem Scale (Mendelson et al., 2001) were administered. All the scales showed satisfactory reliabilities ranging from .74 to .92. The result of Pearson Product Moment showed that beauty perception had significant positive relationship with body mass index. Mediation through analysis of moment structures revealed that beauty perception did not intervene the relationship between instagram usage and body esteem, implying a direct only non-mediation where instagram usage had direct influence on body esteem. Additionally, one-sample t-test results revealed that there were differences in young women regarding instagram usage, beauty perception, self-worth and body esteem. The findings were discussed in the light of existing literature and Pakistani sociocultural context.