Social media use for body comparison, body image concern and self-esteem

Abstract

Social media is one of the biggest revolutions that the world has witnessed which has transient the society to a great extent. The aim of present study is to explore and compare young males and females on social media use for body comparison, body image and self-esteem. Three scales were employed to measure the variables in the study. Social media use was measured by Motivation to use Social Media for Body Comparison. To assess body image Body Self Image Questionnaire was used. To measure self-esteem Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale was used. A sample of 100 participants were drawn from different colleges and universities of Delhi/NCR region. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the two criterion groups consisting of fifty males and fifty females respectively. Data was analysed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that females tend to use social media more for body comparison and report higher body image concern however males showed lowered self-esteem compared to female counterparts. The study can serve as a future prospect in the field of applied social psychology in order to design intervention regarding social media usage. The study can provide theoretical framework in the field of positive psychology to induce affirmative body image and self perception.