Seeing images of all body types on social media, not just those that fit beauty stereotypes, is believed to have a positive impact on body image and mental health, a new study confirms. Explanations.
- Body positivism is a social movement that advocates the acceptance of all human bodies, whatever they may be.
- The goal is for everyone to be able to accept themselves as they are.
With social networks, visual solicitations are permanent and can have a negative impact on mental health. Some users – men and women – tend to compare themselves to the numerous body photographs, often reworked to correspond to standards of beauty that are difficult to achieve in reality. This can therefore have a detrimental effect on self-image.
Social media: See images of all body types…
On the other hand, if the use of social networks is moderate and the images circulating there show all types of bodies and morphologies (small, fat, tall, thin, of color, etc.) this could be beneficial for those and especially those who watch them. In any case, this is what researchers say, whose work has been published in the journal Body Image.
To arrive at their results, they asked 159 women between the ages of 18 and 25 to watch posts of different body types daily for a period of 14 days. Thus, they observed that they all had a better image of themselves and that they also tended to compare themselves less to others. These effects were also observed for four weeks after the end of the experiment.
…to improve your body image
“Body image is a huge issue globally, explains Dr. Jasmine Fardouly, one of the authors of the study, in a communicated. 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.“In fact, on average, study participants spent two hours a day on Facebook.
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. In particular anxiety disorders, food, or depression. It puts a lot of pressure on young girls”. Indeed, these stereotypical images present on social networks are visible from adolescence and do not contribute to self-acceptance during this difficult period.
Another group of study participants who viewed 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 incorporate more diversity into their algorithms.”
