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The effect of exposure to parodies of thin-ideal images on young women's body image and mood

Slater, Amy; Cole, Natasha; Fardouly, Jasmine

Authors

Amy Slater Amy.Slater@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Centre for Appearance Research

Natasha Cole

Jasmine Fardouly



Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Although social networking services typically promote the thin beauty ideal for women, they also provide an opportunity for users to challenge this dominant ideal in unique and novel ways. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the influence of exposure to humorous, parody images of thin-ideal celebrity Instagram posts on women's body satisfaction and mood compared to exposure to thin-ideal celebrity posts alone. Participants were 102 women aged 18–30 years who were randomly allocated to view either a set of Instagram images of thin-ideal celebrity posts or humorous parody images of the same celebrity posts. Results indicated that acute exposure to parody images led to increased body satisfaction and positive mood (happiness) compared to exposure to the thin-ideal celebrity images alone. No group differences were found on levels of trait appearance comparison or social media literacy, and the findings were not moderated by trait levels of thin-ideal internalisation. The findings provide preliminary support for the use of humorous, parody images for improving body satisfaction and positive mood in young women and add to the small but growing body of research highlighting potentially positive effects of social media.

Citation

Slater, A., Cole, N., & Fardouly, J. (2019). The effect of exposure to parodies of thin-ideal images on young women's body image and mood. Body Image, 29, 82-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.001

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 3, 2019
Online Publication Date Mar 11, 2019
Publication Date Jun 1, 2019
Deposit Date Jun 5, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Body Image
Print ISSN 1740-1445
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Pages 82-89
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.001
Keywords body image, social media, parody, mood, Instagram, humour
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/846033
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.001
Additional Information Additional Information : This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published version is available here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.001.

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