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Images of “ideal” bodies and faces may contribute to eating disorders in women
The researchers said the filters allowed performance to be improved to unrealistic levels.
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Women can have their mental health negatively affected by just 90 seconds of watching social media influencers showing off their bodies, according to a study.
Images of toned legs, flat stomachs, full lips and blemish-free faces have an almost instantaneous (and detrimental) effect on viewers’ own body image.
It has long been known that images of “ideal” bodies and faces can make women feel worse about themselves and contribute to psychological and eating disorders.
But the researchers tried to find out if this also applied to exposure to short TikTok and Instagram videos.
“Content about ideal appearance can pressure women to have a certain look that is unrealistic or completely unattainable,” said Dr. Jasmine Fardouly, lead author of the study.
Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are among the most influential people on social media in the world, with 364 million and 380 million followers on Instagram respectively and millions more on TikTok.
It has long been known that images of “ideal” bodies and faces can make women feel worse about themselves and contribute to psychological and eating disorders.
Images of toned legs, flat stomachs, full lips and blemish-free faces have an almost instantaneous (and detrimental) effect on viewers’ own body image.
“We know this starts early, with girls as young as six reporting unhappiness with their bodies, wanting to look thinner, and even dieting to lose weight.”
Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are among the most influential people on social media in the world, with 364 million and 380 million followers on Instagram respectively and millions more on TikTok.
The team from the University of New South Wales in Australia showed 211 women between the ages of 17 and 28 selected images and videos from the Instagram and TikTok accounts of female social media influencers. They were then surveyed about their mood and their own body image.
The team found that women compared their bodies to women in the “ideal appearance” content and invariably found themselves less attractive. Dr Fardouly added: “The total exposure time was only one and a half minutes, and we found that was long enough to have harmful effects.”
The researchers said another problem is that technological filters allow social media users to enhance their characteristics to unrealistic levels, leaving their audience “more likely to engage in negative social comparisons.”