Published on
Updated
Reading 3 mins.
in collaboration with
Sabrina Philippe (Psychologist)
According to a recent study, following people on social networks who promote body positivity and diversity outside the usual beauty criteria would really help to reinforce one’s own self-image. How to choose influencers more carefully…
If you are one of the people who are skeptical of body positivism, these images showing different and real bodies (overweight, small, tall…) but happy, know that there is in these images more than a simple attempt to marketing, but a real interest. In any case, this is the conclusion of an Australian university which studied the impact of body positivism on a daily basis, on young women.
Seeing more diversity plays a role in self-acceptance
Researchers from the School of Psychology, New South Wales subjected 159 young women aged 18 to 25 to following social media pages celebrating different sizes, shapes, colors and body abilities daily for 14 days. Their goal was to see if checking out a few body-positive social media posts could have a positive impact on body satisfaction and body appreciation. According to their observations, at the end of the 2 weeks of experiments, the young women participants actually showed a reduction in body dissatisfaction and had reduced their tendency to compare their appearance with those of others. An improvement in their own body image that appears to have lasted for up to four weeks after viewing the content.
An important reality in the age of social networks
For Dr. Jasmine Fardoul, lead author of the study, the subject is relatively important at a time when we are flooded with so-called perfect models in social networks.
“Body image is a huge issue globally. So we have to try to improve people’s body image, especially through social media, where a lot of people spend their time and are inundated with societal beauty canons from an early age.“.
The messages they can see on social networks are also harmful to their mental health. “Being unhappy with your body is a risk factor for many mental health disorders.” continues Dr. Jasmine Fardouly, targeting in particular anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and even depression. “It puts a lot of pressure on young girls”.
Interestingly, another group of study participants who looked at neutral publications also reported improved body image. Thus, the researchers believe that the problem comes from the images of the canons of beauty since their simple deletion has a positive impact. “Even watching seemingly neutral content on social media appears to be beneficial for body image.“, indicates Dr. Jasmine Fardouly, who pleads for action by social networks: “Platforms could integrate more diversity into their algorithms” she concludes.
Good in your body, good in your head!
“The important thing is to show our humanity”
A statement that Sabrina Philippe, psychologist and member of our Doctissimo expert committee had already exposed in her book All Fake Self! This virtual world that makes us fake (2022)
“Obviously networks have an influence on self-esteem. We only see more beautiful people, happier than us, who always refer us to what we are not, and who remind us that we are never “enough”, in all areas” she analyzes.
However, the psychologist is not totally in agreement with this idea that showing more diversity online would solve the problem of self-image, once and for all.
“Representation is not just physical. An overweight woman can be just as guilty if she demonstrates that she is successful in everything she does. It is not so much the physical representation as the message that needs to evolve. The problem is this message which is obliged to convey something positive on the networks, whereas this is not possible in real life. What is needed, above all, is to show our humanity and our flaws” she diagnoses.