People live their lives in bodies, and understanding how they experience embodiment is crucial to understanding their quality of life (Pruzinsky & Cash, 2002). Body image refers to people's judgments about their own bodies. However, structural invariance tests demonstrated significant cultural differences in the strength of these mediation effects. "Self-acceptance is not about being content with the status quo, but about being at peace with who you are, while still striving for growth and improvement." - Unknown Male athletes are often seen as embodiments of traditional masculine norms, with their physical strength, aggression, and competitiveness being celebrated and admired. We further postulated that media internalisation would differ, with men in the United Kingdom showing higher internalisation than men from Uganda and Nicaragua. We expected to find significant differences in TV consumption across our three populations due to differences in general media access. We postulated that men’s body appreciation would be higher among Ugandan and Nicaraguan men compared with men in the United Kingdom. To measure participants’ perceived body size, the same perceived body selected was then coded according to its position on the scale (i.e., 1–5) regardless of adiposity or muscularity. If the least muscular body from the muscularity images was selected, this was coded 1, and so on, with the most muscular body coded as 5. As there were no magazines at the time of data collection, and the negatively worded statements caused confusion for our rural Nicaraguan participants, we used a modified version of the scale that did not include those items. Adolescents reported that they were prolific, habitual users of social media, showing preferences for appearance focused platforms; adolescents, especially girls explicitly reported that they felt social media exerted a mostly negative influence on their body image. Although appearance-related behaviors on social media have been suggested as a risk factor for body image (Saiphoo and Vahedi, 2019), little research has investigated ways that adolescents manage challenging social media content or strategies they use to buffer the negative effects of these behaviors. Boys have also been found to perceive social media as a more positive, motivating influence on their body image vs. girls who tend to report that social media exerts more negative effects on their body image (Bell et al., 2019). While social media may generally have an effect on adolescent body image, overall media literacy knowledge may not provide as strong protection for boys and young men compared to girls and young women (Tamplin et al., 2018). “The study provides greater detail on how this relationship may work in men and provides insights into how male social media use may be contributing to negative body image and body-related behaviours.” Take mental health challenges seriously Upper-body strength predicts hunting reputation and reproductive success in Hadza hunter–gatherers. The experience of body dissatisfaction in men. TT, SM, and TO collected the data. This can distort one's perception of what is realistic and attainable, leading to dissatisfaction with their natural appearance.75 Beauty filters, originally used for humor, have had unintended consequences on the psychological health of modern media users.76 The filters have taken beauty standards beyond what is physically possible by altering, manipulating, and tuning photos beyond perfection.77 Increasing with each year, by age 16, 90% of children own a smartphone, making social media more and more immediately available.64 With a higher percentage of adolescents using smartphones, they are able to access virtually unlimited social media content in as little time as it takes to provide their name, email, and age. However, among teenagers, this percentage doubles.49 When comparing American girls and boys, girls have a higher rate of dissatisfaction with their body appearance. Feedback loop—This is the process of social media users’ responses to determine which content gets results and what appears on their media feed.6 Interventions such as CBT therapy are being implemented to help the youth of America adapt to healthy habits of social media use and improve their self-image. Sometimes, self-esteem and body image struggles can become so severe that you may not even want to leave the house. If you feel you have detrimental self-esteem and body image challenges, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Some groups are acting to try to change the way the media unrealistically portrays people, and more people are embracing their natural selves and posting this on social media. Women may be more inclined to use avoidance strategies in response to body image concerns when they possess lower levels of body compassion. The significant association between body compassion and avoidance coping strategy, specifically among women, suggests a gender-specific pattern in the utilization of coping mechanisms. Societal norms and gender expectations regarding masculinity and body image may influence men’s coping strategies in a way that diminishes the association with body functionality appreciation . On the other hand, our research revealed a lack of a significant relationship between functionality appreciation and coping strategies among male participants. Functionality appreciation reflects how individuals value the functional aspects of their bodies, which can be linked to a sense of agency and self-efficacy in managing body-related challenges 68,69. In terms of measurement, 55 distinct BI measures were identified, yet only 12 were used consistently in at least six studies. This geographic skew, combined with a reliance on predominantly White participants (over 70%), highlights the lack of diversity in BI research. Geographically, most studies were concentrated in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States, with limited representation from the Southwest and West. Of the 173 non-validation studies included, the majority relied on convenience samples, with 77 studies recruiting university students and 55 utilizing community samples. This analysis revealed that the research landscape on male BI remains constrained by several methodological limitations. Findings highlighted that body shame played an interesting key role, influencing negatively all the body esteem dimensions, thus highlighting that attention needs to be deserved on this feature of OBC regarding males’ experience. Three hierarchical analyses were performed to test the influence of objectified body consciousness and social networking-related experiences (i.e. Instagram intensity use, photo manipulation, selfie feedback investment) on young men’s body esteem with specific reference to the weight, appearance, and attribution features of the Body Esteem Scale. The current cross-sectional study explores the consequences of body-objectification on male body esteem, specifically testing the predictive role of exercising/dietary habits, body-objectification features, and SNS-related practices on male body esteem. Psychological Impact of TV on Body Image and Self-Esteem It may be the case that social media is experienced as a less pressurizing and more motivating space for boys, encouraging them to hold these more positive evaluations of social media. Aligning with these control beliefs, girls tended to report more passive responses to social media such as “putting up” with problematic content. Adolescents were aware of targeted advertising and the fact that their newsfeeds were often propagated with content that they did not necessarily want or chose to see; this limited their perceived control over social media use, especially among girls. However, as found by Burnette et al. (2017), these strategies were considered limited in their effectiveness because of the difficulty in avoiding ubiquitous body-related content on social media. In addition, 37.3% indicated that they watched ‘much’ to ‘very much’ content related to fitness, bodybuilding and supplements. For the remainder, participants were mainly engaged in CrossFit (4.1%), powerlifting (3.6%) or Olympic weightlifting (2.2%), but most of the time these sports were combined with regular strength training in a gym/ recreational bodybuilding (31.7%). The type of training reported by the majority of the participants was regular strength training in a gym/ recreational bodybuilding (44.6%). Discover content Their perceptions are lower than their skills, and this results in them opting out of physical activity because they perceive they are not as competent as their peers 11,20. Gym attendance appears to negatively affect their perception of themselves as does gaining weight 2,18. Actual competence is needed for perceived competence, which is the factor affecting participation in physical activity . Equally disheartening was the cohort of 5th and 6th graders (mean age 10.8 years) who reported experiencing high levels of body dissatisfaction . Poulsen et al. reported on a group of young children 6 to 11 years of age (mean age 8.75 years) who already developed poor physical abilities and self-concept. Individuals with a positive body image are more likely to experience lower levels of anxiety, depression and stress and are better equipped to navigate life’s challenges with resilience and confidence . The indirect effect of body appreciation was mediated by avoidance, while the indirect effect of body compassion was mediated by positive rational acceptance. It is plausible that lower levels of body dissatisfaction may have a more significant impact on self-acceptance than high levels of positive body image, given that these two constructs do not represent opposite ends of the same spectrum but rather are relatively independent . The difference between the total and direct effect cannot be attributed to the mediation effect of body image, since the total effect of image-centric social media use was not statistically significant. For an extensive description of the mediation analyses on social media use, dietary supplements, body image and AAS and SARM use, see Additional file 3. In the context of this paper we report the overall body image scale and the subscale muscularity as descriptive data, and we used the overall body image scale for the mediation analyses. Participants were first asked on 5-point scales how often they look at images depicting gym users (peers or models) or bodybuilders showing their muscles on social media, ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). In this section, we will explore the impact of media representation on individuals’ perceptions of their bodies and self-worth. It is crucial for individuals and society as a whole to continue advocating for responsible media practices and critical consumption of television content. By helping individuals understand and navigate media influences, they can develop resilience and protect their self-esteem. By avoiding stereotype reinforcement and objectification, content creators can contribute to positive self-perception and self-worth among viewers. It is crucial to acknowledge the power that media holds and the responsibility it has in promoting body positivity and inclusivity. The presentation of muscular, lean bodies as being indicative of high status in the media propagates this as an ideal in Western countries and the spread of Western media across the world disseminates this message into non-WEIRD populations. Differences in body ideals can potentially arise due to a change in the size or shape of the bodies an individual is viewing (i.e., a change in their visual diet). By contrast, another study found that in the United Kingdom, Black men had higher drive for muscularity than White men (Swami, 2016). This is consistent with a study which suggested that Black Caribbean men did not have a higher desire for muscularity than an ethnically mixed United States sample (Gray and Frederick, 2012). Thus, the typical male in our society is somewhat brainwashed by advertisers to believe that they will be more respected, admired and rewarded if they maintain a physically fit body that appears both muscular and lean. Sadly, if the media is our guide, then the vast majority of male bodies are not adequate – not thin enough, not “cut” enough and certainly lacking the essential 6 pack abs. The astonishing phenomenon identified by this research was the age at onset of negative body image . In addition to their physical benefits, sports should be fun, and the exercises involved in participation should assist in the development of movement skills.Such media portrayals can have a transformative impact on individuals, fostering self-acceptance, cultivating a positive body image, and boosting self-esteem.Besides body image, exercise and nutritional behavior of gym users may also be affected by exposure to fitness-related content on social media, such as images of physically fit peers or fitness influencers performing resistance exercise, promoting dietary supplements, or advocating a ‘bodybuilding lifestyle’ .Previous comparisons of body appreciation within Western contexts have found higher levels of body appreciation and satisfaction among ethnic minority groups which may suggest a degree of cultural “shielding” from mainstream Western ideals (Wildes et al., 2001; Rodgers et al., 2018).This 'reversal movement' has been caused by the presentation of popular socio-cultural media.This dose-response relationship is also validated by several studies that found body dissatisfaction increases with total time spent on SM (83, 84). Girls reported that they consciously avoided undesirable social media posts that invoked appearance comparisons or body image concerns as a way of protecting their body image. Additionally, while studies have investigated ways to protect and promote adolescent body image in general, social media is a unique sociocultural context that may require specific strategies to help improve body image (Perloff, 2014). Popular social media platforms used by adolescents such as Instagram and Snapchat (Pew Research Center, 2018), contain a profusion of idealized body related content, which tend to endorse muscular ideals (characterized by a v-shaped torso, visible abs, large biceps, and low body fat,) and lean/athletic ideals (characterized by a toned body with low body fat,) for men/boys. Sociocultural theories of body image, such as the Tripartite model (Thompson et al., 1999), propose that social media, influences body image perceptions by conveying messages that emphasize the importance of appearance and pressurize the attainment of unrealistic body ideals. Nonetheless, concurring with previous systematic reviews (e.g., Holland and Tiggemann, 2016), a recent meta-analysis of 63 independent samples observed a small, positive, significant relationship between social media use and body image disturbance (Saiphoo and Vahedi, 2019). Studies have often traced gay male body dissatisfaction to various sociocultural elements and phenomena, particularly the media. Research has increasingly noted that gay male adults are more at risk for developing body image dissatisfaction than other male populations. The impact of body emphasizing video games on body image concerns in men and women. Preteen Boys, body image, and eating disorders. Q: What is male body image? Facebook involvement, objectified body consciousness, body shame, and sexual assertiveness in college women and men.Furthermore, according to the present findings, negative body image had a significantly positive relationship with disordered eating in both genders.So, how do you maintain reasonable body images in an era of social media?Exercising/ dietary habits, body surveillance, body shame, and appearance control beliefs remained significant.What is the simplest step to overcoming body image dissatisfaction?As they internalize the belief that they fall short of the idealized image, feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction with their own appearance may arise.Men who undergo aesthetic surgery have been largely overlooked in sociological discussions of the body.While researchers should continue to monitor the trends in this movement, it is clear that youth can benefit from social media posts which celebrate body diversity. This finding underscores the maladaptive nature of avoidance behaviors in addressing body image concerns, as they may hinder individuals from cultivating self-acceptance and experiencing positive psychological wellbeing. Higher body compassion levels, which entail self-acceptance, self-care and kindness towards one’s body, women may prevent women from resorting to avoidance strategies as a means of self-protection in the face of threats to their body image . This could be influenced by societal pressures, cultural norms and internalized beliefs about body image that may lead women to avoid confronting or addressing body-related issues when they do not exhibit self-compassion 73,76. This emphasis on appearance norms and societal ideals of masculinity may shift men’s focus on appearance-enhancing coping strategies rather than functional aspects of body image. We can consciously and unconsciously compare ourselves to the "perfect" images of people we see in magazines, commercials, films, and social media. This study is innovative due to its large sample size, applying the RRT to estimate image and performance-enhancing drug use, including SARM use which can be considered as novel, and relating substance use to the impact of social media, particularly image-centric social media use. Indeed, the present study shows that 65% use the internet and 32% use social media as their primary source of information on dietary supplements. These findings together show the potential influence of social media in young male’s decision making in the context of fitness, nutrition and doping. The effects of exposure to slender and muscular images on male body dissatisfaction.Compassion-focused approaches may be particularly useful for improving adolescent body image on social media, as they can provide individuals with the skills to reframe self-critical thoughts and enhance their resilience to negative body-related messages on social media.Much of the research investigating sociocultural influences on body image has focused on media, likely because in Western contexts where most studies are carried out, mass media are the primary transmitters of societal appearance standards.To this end, the prevalence regarding the use of dietary supplements, AAS, and SARM was assessed in a large cohort of young male gym users in the Netherlands, in combination with data on social media use and body image.As we have seen, research on the association between positive body image and body image coping strategies is scarce and leaves several issues unresolved.The greater variability in the effect sizes for men across all mental health outcomes likely reflects the complex and diverse nature of male BI, which encompasses at least thinness, muscularity, and other concerns.Though much of the content on social media concerning idealized bodies is directed toward women, men are no longer immune the phenomenon and face increased pressure to ensure their bodies fit societal standards.Because people are exposed to countless media images, media images become the basis for some of these comparisons. The Harmful Effects of Living in Brick Kiln Communities in the South Asia Region It is important for individuals to critically evaluate the messages they receive from TV and media, understanding that beauty comes in many forms and should not be constrained by unattainable standards. As they internalize the belief that they fall short of the idealized image, feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction with their own appearance may arise. The images and messages conveyed through TV programming can create a distorted perception of the norm, leading viewers to compare themselves unfavorably and strive for an unattainable standard. Television presents an array of visually striking individuals who conform to a specific set of physical attributes. Prevalence of Dietary Supplement and Pre-workout Use This can be particularly challenging for individuals already focused on their physical appearance, such as physically active men. The study, led by doctoral researcher Chris Bell, surveyed 224 physically active men aged 18 to 50 in the UK. The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author. Finally, the limited number of body sizes and shapes presented in the MAMS may have meant that participants selected an “approximate” representation of their body ideals. However at the time of data collection, TV viewing was the only source of visual imagery for our Nicaraguan participants – very few had smartphones or regular access to the internet. Literature overall supported mass media pressure as significantly related to men’s worse feelings about their own bodies, with specific reference to body esteem and self–esteem (Barlett et al., 2008), potentially leading to negative outcomes and unhealthy behaviors (e.g., depression, over-exercising) (Blouin & Goldfield, 1995; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2004).If you struggle with your body image, you aren't alone – self-conscious feelings toward our bodies are pervasive in society.Previous studies looking at body size concerns among Black males have also produced mixed findings.His working definition of body image was "the picture of our own body which we form in our mind, that is to say, the way in which the body appears to ourselves" (as quoted in Grogan 2008, p. 3).In line with these findings, previous studies have also documented that perceived health in adolescents can be influenced by physical appearance and body image (36).Medical complaints due to substance use may easily be overlooked in this group of non-professional athletes, particularly as individuals using these drugs emerge as sportive based on appearance, while factually substance use contributed to their muscular physiques.To reach a national representative population of gym users, flyers were distributed via fitness clubs, social media and online fora that were related to fitness, resistance training, nutrition and supplements across the Netherlands.They therefore represent a new and potentially promising alternative for tackling body image concerns in adolescents.The screens we engage with daily project a world of carefully curated appearances, subtly dictating the standards of beauty and desirability. Males were over two times as likely to use Reddit as compared to females (10% of the users were male vs. 3.8% of the users who were female). While the use of HVSM was more likely to result in reports of BII, our data was unable to make an association between HVSM and increased BII. In Hypothesis 2, we hypothesized that the more time spent on SM, the more likely females are to report BII, with males remaining largely unaffected. A greater percentage of females reported using Twitter and Instagram than males, but results were not statistically significant. Unadjusted and adjusted association of gender and endpoints were analyzed using generalized logistic regression models for the entire dataset. Next, the MAMS images were presented on a table in a random order, in two rows of five. Individuals were given the opportunity to take their own body measurements with guidance if they preferred. Firstly, anthropometric measurements were taken, asking participants to remove footwear and any bulky clothing. Nicaraguan participants were offered the choice of participating in English or Spanish. Contributing factors such as comparative culture, social comparison theory, and the impact of influencers are all responsible for the spread of social media’s negative effects. The harmful effects of constant exposure to idealized images, unrealistic beauty standards, and the influence of social media influencersIndividuals who use social media as a platform to interact with an audience by promoting products, sharing information or opinions, and entertaining their audience or followers. 2We would like to thank the reviewer for highlighting that demand characteristics may have influenced participant responses such that respondents are likely to just go with the theme of the questions, rather than spontaneously come to the conclusion that social media influences them in negative ways. This difficulty in recruiting male participants has been noted in the research in this area, and it may be indicative of male stigma around body image and a reluctance among adolescents to discuss it as a topic (Griffiths et al., 2014; Edcoms and Credos, 2016). Does Men’s Media Use and Internalisation Differ Between Countries? This introductory article to the special Forum “Global TV Images of Female Masculinity in the 2010s” offers a reflection on the concept of “female masculinity” in global media and gender studies. This paper seeks to underline the negotiated character of male identities by demonstrating the means by which lifestyle magazine advertising has caused men to gaze upon images of their own bodies and by outlining the implications of this inversion of the male gaze. The project finds coherence with much previous male objectification research, elaborating upon these with individual episodes including the body and masculinity, media influences that impact the formation of male self-perception, and the complexity of male objectification itself. In the present thesis project, men aged were interviewed to gauge their perspectives on male objectification, masculinity, self-esteem, and body ideals. In our sample, all the participants reported they were regular Instagram users and confirmed the centrality that Instagram has in their day-to-day life and relationships. Indeed, in line with Strelan and Hargreaves (2005a) we assumed that body objectification may be sensibly applied to men. After adding OBCS, body surveillance and body shame appeared to be significant predictors of BES weight and exercising/ dietary habits remained a significant predictor. Moreover, 59.2% of the sample regularly exercise and adopt food restrictions to improve their own bodily appearance. In the second step, we regressed the criterion on objectified body consciousness and, in the third step, on selfie feedback investment, photo manipulation, and Instagram intensity. Comparisons to the flawless depictions of beauty on television can lead individuals to believe that their own worth is determined solely by their physical appearance. It is essential to critically analyze media messages and promote a more balanced representation of achievement and setbacks to foster healthier attitudes and perceptions among viewers. The constant exposure to these negative portrayals can contribute to low self-esteem and a distorted perception of one’s own worth. Television programs often depict success as glamorous, emphasizing material possessions, physical attractiveness, and social status. When individuals are constantly exposed to idealized and unrealistic images of beauty and attractiveness in the media, they may compare themselves to these standards. Overall, comparison and envy are significant factors in understanding the impact of television on body image and self-esteem.Higher body compassion levels, which entail self-acceptance, self-care and kindness towards one’s body, women may prevent women from resorting to avoidance strategies as a means of self-protection in the face of threats to their body image .Particularly in girls, those who participated in skateboarding and rollerblading had an improved sense of self .Men may be socialized to prioritize outward appearances, muscularity and physical prowess as markers of masculinity, which could overshadow the significance of valuing the functional aspects of their bodies in relation to coping behaviors .Table 2 contains the correlation coefficients for image-centric social media use, frequency of social media use, supplement use and body image (total scale and muscularity subscale).We will delve into the power of media in shaping societal ideals and how a lack of body positivity and inclusivity can have detrimental effects on individuals’ well-being and self-esteem.The researchers then quizzed the participants with a questionnaire designed to gauge body image and mood.A study grounded in social comparison theory tested interventions designed to stave off the negative effects of unreal body images by disrupting the process of comparison. Furthermore, Black Creole / Garifuna men were less likely to want to increase general body weight. Importantly, we found that Black Creole/Garifuna and Mestizo men were more likely to want to increase muscularity compared to Black African men. Even if not strictly “Western,” they are influenced by White United States and European cultural identities so people may aspire to more Western appearance standards (Meehan and Katzman, 2001). This continuous preoccupation with appearance leads to some teens opting for steroid use in order to build a desired, although unobtainable, physique.Today, what percent of the male teen population is unhappy with their body image compared to 15% in the early 1990s?Knowledge/information about body ideals did not always appear to change how individuals felt about their body image.The PMS-R consists of 8 items rated on a 5-point-Likert scale, from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always) and evaluates participants’ strategies of photo-editing through photo filter use (e.g., “How often do you adjust the light/darkness of the photo?”), body image manipulation (e.g., “How often do you make yourself look skinnier?”), and facial image manipulation (e.g., “How often do you edit or use apps to smoothen your skin?”).The paper then explains how men can adopt multiple subject positions in their consumption of such advertising and what the implications of this are for the negotiation of male identities.In line, our results show a negative relationship between image-centric social media use and body image in young male gym users.Of the remaining samples, two used a combination of college students and community participants, six used exclusively community participants, and one used a sample of middle school students.Finally, it is worrisome that addiction to the use of AAS is highly prevalent 49, 52, 53, increasing the risk of health consequences in the long term.However, although internalization in these studies significantly predicted men’s drive for muscularity, relationships with actual media exposure were weaker. With the advent of social media, young people can now quickly and easily interact with peers while also gaining greater access to the lives of influencers and other celebrities. In addition to static magazine images, TV and movie depictions of characters have been shown to affect young people’s body image, including that of even the youngest viewers. We draw on studies of male ‘metrosexual’ cosmetic use and men engaged in weight management projects to examine how men account for their investment in appearance practices. Of the 11,248 high school students in Caddo Parish at the time of the survey, 5,070 respondents aged 14–19 years old, with a median age of 16, completed the survey.Young male gym users are often highly motivated to reach their fitness goals, mostly an increase in muscle mass and strength in combination with a decrease in fat mass.Adolescents were aware of targeted advertising and the fact that their newsfeeds were often propagated with content that they did not necessarily want or chose to see; this limited their perceived control over social media use, especially among girls.Therefore, exposure to images of idealized male bodies had statistically a significant negative impact on men’s body satisfaction and self-evaluations (see Blond, 2008 for a review).While muscle dysmorphia is a psychiatric disorder , body image only indicates the extent to which people were satisfied with their physical appearance.This suggests that men often benchmark their bodies against others, influencing their satisfaction.Despite these limitations, the current study highlights the role that body-objectification has in young men’s lives and body-esteem validation, thus confirming that the objectification theory can adequately explain how media imagery is internalized by men and may negatively affect their body image. Interestingly enough, Cusumano and Thompson found that these three items vary independently; that is, it is possible to be aware of media images without internalizing them. Some of the difference in reactions to media images has to do with people's individual traits. For one thing, people are not affected equally by exposure to media images. The age-related continuum of data, viewed across the years of childhood, portrays a greater picture and provides more specific information regarding the temporal nature of interventions than each article alone. There were many articles supporting overweight children with excessive weight being a factor in their continuation or involvement in physical activity. Articles were excluded if there was only an abstract available, the paper was a review, or the paper did not address physical activity and sports attrition or drop out. The acquisition and gradual mastery of these skills lead to the development of physical literacy. Country Comparisons of Main Variables It’s also important not to over-simplify this issue for males, as the relationship a person has with their body is complex, personal and influenced by many things.Societal norms often impose different standards for men and women regarding body image and self-acceptance .Societal standards and norms have a documented influence on selfconcept, and the current study investigates explicitly which influences hold the greatest magnitude during the development of one's self-perception.Not surprisingly, the core dimensions of OBC (i.e. body shame and surveillance) persist in their negative influence on body esteem, specifically regarding the appearance, thus strengthening the interrelation between body-objectification (the body as an object to be put on show and looked at) and individuals’ feelings about how to appear.Research shows a correlation between higher social media usage and lower self-esteem.Men in the United Kingdom had a significantly more muscular ideal body than Ugandan men who showed the lowest desire for a muscular body. (2024) Changes in the prevalence of muscular, but not thin, bodies bias young men’s judgments about body size. If we can influence people’s body judgments like this in just a few minutes, imagine what the long-term influence of media stereotypes must be. Recall that the men first selected the body image that fit themselves. As women see more thin female examples, they tend to judge the normal-weight females as overweight. The question was whether this would influence the participants’ judgments, leading them to judge more of the normal-range images as overweight. Body Positive and Inclusive Media Representation Adolescents in this sample did exhibit aspects of protective filtering (as observed by Burnette et al., 2017), in that they were critical of the extreme natures of body ideals and attempted to psychologically distance from and reduce comparisons with these ideals. Passive and avoidance strategies were most commonly used but were limited in terms of perceived effectiveness, while active and acceptance strategies were considered effective but were least commonly employed, especially by girls. Female 19 “The more you look at the photo you’re like ‘God I hate it’ you see things that other people wouldn’t see and you’re like ‘I hate everything about it’.” Ceasing to judge others and oneself was also mentioned by a few participants, however, it was acknowledged that this was difficult to achieve. In summary, addressing bullying and body shaming is essential in understanding the impact of television on body image and self-esteem. The constant exposure to these unrealistic body images perpetuates a culture of judgment and comparison, leading to the normalization of body shaming. The prevalence of bullying and body shaming can be attributed, to a certain extent, to the portrayal of ‘ideal’ bodies in the media. The media plays a significant role in contributing to eating disorders by promoting unrealistic body standards. People who use social media may be constantly exposed to the success and lifestyles of others. However, it can also provide a sense of community and social support when used mindfully, which may help promote positive effects on self-esteem. We employed well-established, validated self-report questionnaires to measure drive for muscularity, body satisfaction, media belief, and the influence of family and peers. The study also has several key strengths relating to the methodologies used to assess the perceptual and attitudinal components of men’s body image. The presentation of lean muscular bodies in the media as a high status, aspirational ideal might thus induce a drive for muscularity. In five images the bodies increase in adiposity and represent a range of WCR ratios between 0.85 and 1.01, and five images increase in muscularity and represent WCR ratios between 0.65 and 0.80. The bodies were created in Daz Studio 3D figure modeling software1 using the Genesis 2 male model and the Genesis 2 body morphs. The scale consists of ten computer-generated but realistic images of an ethnically non-White male that vary only by their degree of adiposity or muscularity with all other features remaining identical. The present study will determine whether the men in our three populations show differences in their ideal male body. As previously discussed, few studies have investigated men’s body image in non-WEIRD populations. Media images can contribute to the formation of idealized images. Objectified Body Consciousness Viewing one's body from the perspective of others. This can have emotional and cognitive aspects and may be related to the appraisal of height, weight, size, attractiveness, and other aspects related to appearance and function. Having the perfect body is linked to buying things, and corporations are constantly finding new areas of the human body to improve. Differences in how various instruments assess aspects of BI can lead to inconsistencies across studies, with some measures varying in reliability and validity. These distinctions matter because drive-for-thinness scales map directly onto the AN/BN diagnostic criteria (e.g., fear of weight gain), whereas drive-for-muscularity instruments assess the core pathology of muscle dysmorphia (e.g., compulsive weight training). These portrayals reinforce societal preferences for dense, muscular bodies, which have become the dominant ideal for men . As the ED prevalence among men has grown, scholarly attention has increasingly turned toward male BI concerns. Over decades, this ideal has evolved to incorporate a toned, ultra-fit aesthetic, further reinforcing BI concerns among the women exposed to such imagery 22,23. Results showed that Ugandan men had the least desire for muscularity relative to men in the United Kingdom. For each question, participants selected answers that ranged from ‘Never’ to ‘Very often’, and each answer had a score value from 1 to 5. This included how often they browsed their newsfeed and content from their friends, celebrities or influencers.” It instantly connects people with content and networks, enabling users to actively engage with posts or to passively browse at their leisure. It should be noted that the meta-analysis’ conclusions are constrained by the literature on which they are based, which as mentioned, has its limitations (i.e., demand characteristics, single-responder bias, common method variance, lack of preregistration, and the fact that many studies report simple bivariate correlations). We believe that by following the science, we can create an empathetic and respectful world in which our kids can grow up healthy, smart, and kind. How a weight-loss trend on TikTok might encourage eating disorders. An exploration of ‘fitspiration’ content on YouTube and its impacts on consumers. Giving youth the opportunity to become equipped with the knowledge to navigate and evaluate the content they are seeing online can empower them and protect their mental health. This can be difficult to navigate for those who have existing low body esteem or find themselves more likely to compare themselves to others. College-aged women were less likely to internalize the thin-ideal from images posted to Instagram the more they believed the images were edited (Vendemia & DeAndrea, 2018). When an adolescent’s favorite television character is thinner, research indicates that they are more likely to compare themselves to that character, which can directly affect their body image (Te’eni-Harari & Eyal, 2015). When asked to identify a princess from a set of images, girls aged 5-6 chose significantly thinner adult figures than 3-4 year olds (Hayes & Tantleff-Dunn, 2010). As of July 2023, there were 5.19 billion internet users worldwide, which amounted to 64.6% of the global population.61 Of this total, 4.88 billion, or 59.9% of the world's population, were social media users.62 Additionally, from 2015 to 2019, the number of 12-year-olds who owned a smartphone increased from 41% to 69%.63 To put this into perspective, in 2015, in a classroom of 30 kids, 12 would have their own cell phone.White girls—even those who acknowledge the unreality of such images—still aspire to look like the images and believe that others will judge them based on this media ideal (Milkie, 1999).While they are essential tools in mitigating the impact of television on body image and self-esteem, they are not foolproof.VSCO has not previously featured in body image research and is worthy of further research attention because it represents a platform that may contain protective features for body image, namely the lack of hierarchical popularity structures or feedback indices.Consistent with the present findings, both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have reported significant relationships between body image and moderate and intense activities in adolescents (6, 7, 22).In the context of this paper we report the overall body image scale and the subscale muscularity as descriptive data, and we used the overall body image scale for the mediation analyses.This trend may reinforce misleading messages that promote physical exercising to attain an attractive rather than a healthy body (Deighton-Smith & Bell, 2018; Fatt et al., 2019), thus inspiring men to shed weight and promoting eating disorders and/or excessive exercising (Alberga et al., 2018; Lewis & Arbuthnott, 2012). But as the series progressed, images of thin males became far more frequent. For this study, the researchers recruited 164 young men to evaluate line drawings of various masculine physiques, varying on two dimensions, leanness and muscularity. Previous research has found that women focus primarily on weight when judging the attractiveness of other women’s bodies and their own. Many women struggle with body-image issues because they see their physiques as being so far off from what they think they should be. The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board and LSU Health Shreveport. We selected PsycINFO as our sole database because it is the most comprehensive index of peer-reviewed journals in psychology and eating-disorder research. We speculate that the inconsistent associations between BI concerns and mental health outcomes could be a function of the types of BI measures used in the studies. These authors reported that although many studies found that BI concerns correlated positively with depression and anxiety, these effects did not replicate in about one-fourth of the studies. You can learn to improve your self-esteem and body image and start feeling good about who you are, the way you are. If you struggle with your body image, you aren't alone – self-conscious feelings toward our bodies are pervasive in society. The media may play a significant role in our body image and how we feel about ourselves. Although the social media measures were based on previous research and scales revealed acceptable to good reliability, future research should further develop and validate scales to capture social media use. Consequently, our findings pertain to self-perceptions of social media use, which inevitably adds bias, such as contingency of awareness of one’s social media habits and social desirability. Constant exposure to idealized and often unrealistic body images of models on social mediaSocial media is broadly defined as media accessed through personal electronic devices to interact with others online. For their high-school-aged peers, roughly 40% of screen time is spent on social media.70 This means that younger audiences are more likely to spend their screen time browsing social media which exposes them to more edited content and increases the volume of social media time that contributes to poor body image. For example, in China, where the number of social network users is the highest in the world,52 about 12% of Chinese girls and young women were affected by the pressure of the ideal "thin" and were affected by eating disorders.53 In India as well (the second-ranked country in social network users), body image dissatisfaction was reported among 77.6% of girls.54 Or not, and found that the participants who spent more time on their smartphones had a higher distorted perception of their body and inappropriate weight control behavior.36 An even stronger correlation between time spent and body image issues was found among those whose primary purpose for using their phone was for social media. In one such study, researchers recruited over 1,300 individuals to discover social media's effects on body image and the desire to be thin. Furthermore, although this scale demonstrated internal consistency and validity in measuring feedback investment among Instagram users in our as well in other samples (Butkowski et al., 2019; Lee & Sung, 2016), a more consistent and large measure for social comparison could well have been used. However, the measure here used was specifically limited to what participants declared about the importance they attribute to the others’ feedback on Instagram, and biases due to self-report measures are well-known. In our sample, Instagram intensity use significantly and positively predicted BES attribution. In a mixed sample of Australian teenagers, Hughes and Gullone observed that avoidance predicted bulimic, depressive and anxiety symptoms and drive for thinness; positive rational acceptance predicted depressive symptoms only, while appearance fixing predicted drive for thinness only. Appearance fixing consists of making changes and corrections in one’s outward appearance to try to camouflage or mask physical features perceived as inadequate . Our project is a scoping review of previously published, de-identified research and does not involve new data collection or engagement with human participants. Our project is a scoping review of previously published, de-identified research and does not involve new data collection, engagement with human participants, or secondary analysis of raw data; it does not meet the federal or institutional criteria for “human subjects research”. Previous findings in other countries have frequently documented the relationship between screen time and body dissatisfaction in youth (24, 25); however, body image and screen time have been addressed as an outcome and an independent variable, respectively. The final models are depicted in Figure 2A and B for boys and girls, and standardized estimations are noted above each path. The fit indices of the proposed model were investigated and reported in boys and girls separately. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual model of the relationships among body image, lifestyle factors, BMI, and HRQoL. And yet, we’re led to believe that it’s a personal failure on our part if we can’t live up to the standards of beauty that the media present to us. Psychologists have been pointing out for decades now that standards of beauty portrayed in the media are unrealistic. Since you live in the 21st century, you probably find the lean, muscular man and the slender, athletic woman more attractive than the rather pudgy bodies of the last century. This heterogeneity may partly reflect the sampling variability—several of the male-only and mixed-gender studies had relatively small Ns, which can inflate correlation estimates. Overall, the average effect sizes of the relationships of BI with depression, anxiety, and self-esteem were stronger for women compared to men but highly heterogeneous for both genders. We therefore recommend that future reviews explore these finer-grained taxonomies to deepen the understanding of body-image-related constructs in male populations. Alternative classifications that integrate constructs such as thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification alongside thinness and muscularity orientations may yield additional insights into men’s body-image concerns. These often automatically close the social media app after 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or whatever time limit you choose. You can install apps that set limits on your phone for your chosen social media apps. If you have to, you can uninstall social media apps for a while so that it’s not as easy to check them. Give yourself time away so you aren't constantly exposed to content that might impact your body image. A theory of social comparison processes. A systematic review of the drive for muscularity research area. Using an interactive 3D program to create the ideal body for you and your partner.