Instagram influences: An examination of the tripartite influence model of body image among a racially diverse sample of young-adult women

Abstract

A burgeoning research literature documenting the effects of social media, such as Instagram, on women's body image outcomes has thus far examined mostly White samples. Because body image ideals are often situated within racialized appearance expectations, it is important to examine the role of race in the links between social media use and body image. In the present study, we tested (1) the associations between Instagram use and self-image activity (i.e., activities that reflect a preoccupation with how the self is presented on Instagram), and body image outcomes, and (2) the mediating effect of social media internalization of appearance ideals in these links, and (3) we compared these links between four racial identity groups. Our sample included U.S. women who identified as Asian-American (n = 97), Black (n = 101), Latina (n = 98), or White (n = 237). Results suggest that social media internalization of appearance ideals mediated the relations between Instagram use (for Asian-American and Black participants) and self-image activity (for Latina and White participants) and body image outcomes. Social media internalization of appearance ideals also was associated with a desire to be thinner among Asian-American participants, and it was associated with a desire to be curvier among Black participants.