Body Image and Social Media Consumption by Gender and its Link to Disordered Eating in College Students
Location
Auditorium Hallway
Department
Psychology
Abstract
With the rise of social media popularity and usage in recent years it has become more common for individuals to partake in online communication, sharing, and posting daily (Veldhuis et al., 2020). Along with the heightened levels of social media usage, there has also been a prevalence of diagnosed eating disorders among young adults, college aged women being the population who experiences higher ratings of eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and a negatively perceived body image compared to any other population (Rubinsky et al., 2019). Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between social media and body image, as well as body image and its link to the onset of eating disorders. Many studies focus on women as opposed to men, despite the rising number of diagnosed cases of eating disorders found in men (Wei et al., 2020). Low self-esteem and negative body image are risk factors for the onset and diagnosis of disordered eating behaviors (Chua et al., 2020) and are factors influenced by social media usage, regardless of gender. Data will be collected through an online survey using several measurement scales employed in previous studies. These measurement scales include: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), The Body Image Scale, and the Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS-SF). The survey will be taken by approximately 60 NEIU psychology students. The major purpose of the current study is to show whether there is a relationship between social media consumption, perceived body image, and disordered eating behaviors between genders. It is predicted, much like previous studies, that those participants who report higher social media usage will also report a negatively perceived body image. Higher social media usage is also expected to be associated with lower self-esteem. Finally, self-esteem and disordered eating habits are expected to be inversely related. The results from this study are expected to show the negative effects that social media consumption has on body image and eating behaviors.
Faculty Sponsor
Amanda Dykema-Engblade, Northeastern Illinois University
Body Image and Social Media Consumption by Gender and its Link to Disordered Eating in College Students
Auditorium Hallway
With the rise of social media popularity and usage in recent years it has become more common for individuals to partake in online communication, sharing, and posting daily (Veldhuis et al., 2020). Along with the heightened levels of social media usage, there has also been a prevalence of diagnosed eating disorders among young adults, college aged women being the population who experiences higher ratings of eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and a negatively perceived body image compared to any other population (Rubinsky et al., 2019). Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between social media and body image, as well as body image and its link to the onset of eating disorders. Many studies focus on women as opposed to men, despite the rising number of diagnosed cases of eating disorders found in men (Wei et al., 2020). Low self-esteem and negative body image are risk factors for the onset and diagnosis of disordered eating behaviors (Chua et al., 2020) and are factors influenced by social media usage, regardless of gender. Data will be collected through an online survey using several measurement scales employed in previous studies. These measurement scales include: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), The Body Image Scale, and the Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS-SF). The survey will be taken by approximately 60 NEIU psychology students. The major purpose of the current study is to show whether there is a relationship between social media consumption, perceived body image, and disordered eating behaviors between genders. It is predicted, much like previous studies, that those participants who report higher social media usage will also report a negatively perceived body image. Higher social media usage is also expected to be associated with lower self-esteem. Finally, self-esteem and disordered eating habits are expected to be inversely related. The results from this study are expected to show the negative effects that social media consumption has on body image and eating behaviors.