Abstract
ObjectiveThis experimental study investigated the impact of peers on palatable food intake of youngsters within a social media setting. To determine whether this effect was moderated by self-esteem, the present study examined the roles of global explicit self-esteem (ESE), body esteem (BE) and implicit self-esteem (ISE).MethodsParticipants (N = 118; 38.1% boys; M age 11.14±.79) were asked to play a computer game while they believed to interact online with a same-sex normal-weight remote confederate (i.e., instructed peer) who ate either nothing, a small or large amount of candy.ResultsParticipants modeled the candy intake of peers via a social media interaction, but this was qualified by their self-esteem. Participants with higher ISE adjusted their candy intake to that of a peer more closely than those with lower ISE when the confederate ate nothing compared to when eating a modest (β = .26, p = .05) or considerable amount of candy (kcal) (β = .32, p = .001). In contrast, participants with lower BE modeled peer intake more than those with higher BE when eating nothing compared to a considerable amount of candy (kcal) (β = .21, p = .02); ESE did not moderate social modeling behavior. In addition, participants with higher discrepant or “damaged” self-esteem (i.e., high ISE and low ESE) modeled peer intake more when the peer ate nothing or a modest amount compared to a substantial amount of candy (kcal) (β = −.24, p = .004; β = −.26, p<.0001, respectively).ConclusionYoungsters conform to the amount of palatable food eaten by peers through social media interaction. Those with lower body esteem or damaged self-esteem may be more at risk to peer influences on food intake.
Highlights
Computer use has been associated with increased sedentary behavior as well as drink and snack consumption among youngsters, which can contribute to being overweight [1,2]
The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the palatable food intake of a peer had an effect on the food intake of youngsters via social media interaction and whether this influence depended upon ESE, body esteem (BE), implicit self-esteem (ISE) or a discrepancy between ESE and ISE
Randomization and Manipulation Checks Randomization checks were performed to test for differences between the experimental intake conditions in age, sex, hunger, liking of candy, liking of the task, liking of the remote confederate, ESE, ISE, BE
Summary
Computer use has been associated with increased sedentary behavior as well as (soft) drink and snack consumption among youngsters, which can contribute to being overweight [1,2]. Numerous experimental studies have shown by means of ‘‘confederates,’’ who were secretly instructed to choose or eat certain types or amounts of food, that individuals adapt the food intake of peers [5,6,7] This so-called social modeling effect was found regardless of whether the confederates were physically present (i.e., ‘‘remote’’ or ‘‘video’’ confederates) and illustrates the strong influence of others on food consumption [8,9,10,11]. A study among girls showed that they consumed more after seeing a remote (video) confederate eat a large rather than a small amount of palatable food [13] It is unknown whether a remote confederate influences consumption when youngsters engage in an online social interaction
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