Study suggests a new way to curb social media’s body image toll

(Press-News.org) PULLMAN, Wash. — Reflecting on how fitness posts on social media make them feel may help young women reduce the harmful tendency to compare themselves to idealized influencers and content online.

That’s according to a new study published in Health Communication that explores the impact of “fitspiration”—fitness-themed inspirational content—on young women’s body image, and whether short, daily reflections could lead to meaningful changes in their emotions and self-perception.

Led by Jessica Willoughby, associate professor of communication at Washington State University, the research found that sending young women twice-daily text messages prompting them to reflect on the fitness content they encountered on social media significantly reduced social comparison—one of the key mechanisms previous studies have identified as contributing to poor body image.

“We wanted to see whether calling attention to the content people are viewing impacts how they perceive it and, in turn, how they feel about themselves,” Willoughby said. “Even content meant to be motivational can include unrealistic ideals or objectifying imagery that affect how young women feel about their own bodies.”

For the study, Willoughby and co-author Leticia Couto, an assistant professor at DePaul University and WSU Murrow College of Communication alum, recruited 40 women between the ages of 18 and 24 who reported viewing fitness content at least occasionally. Participants completed a pretest survey, then received two daily surveys for four days asking about the content they saw, how it made them feel and their levels of body appreciation. A follow-up posttest and a set of in-depth interviews with seven participants rounded out the analysis.

The researchers found a significant drop in social comparison after the four-day reflection period. On the other hand, body appreciation scores rose only slightly, contrary to the team’s initial assumptions, and were not statistically significant. Likewise, participants showed no measurable change in their knowledge of traditional media literacy, which assesses a person’s ability to critically analyze message sources and content.

Yet the interviews told a deeper story.

“Our interview participants said the daily surveys made them more aware of how specific types of content—whether body positive, objectifying, or focused on health—made them feel,” Willoughby said. “That awareness led some to take action, like curating their feeds or unfollowing accounts that made them feel worse.”

Overall, Willoughby said the study demonstrates the potential of sending daily reflections via text as a low-cost way to help young women avoid the negative impacts of social comparison when viewing content online.

“It’s really easy to get stuck in passive scrolling,” she said. “But just calling attention to what you’re seeing and how it makes you feel can shift how you engage with content—and that can have lasting effects.”

While the study’s small, localized sample limits its generalizability it nevertheless could lay valuable groundwork for future interventions.

Moving forward, Willoughby’s next step is to develop a more robust version of the reflective approach used in the study, incorporating additional prompts informed by best practices in health communication theory. She also hopes to better understand differences in how individuals perceive sexually objectifying content—especially in the nuanced world of fitness media—and how those perceptions relate to emotional and behavioral outcomes.

“Whether someone views a social post as sexually objectifying or not will vary a lot between a researcher and an 18–24-year-old student,” Willoughby said. “That’s especially true with fitness content, where showing certain body parts can be part of the context. I think it’s important that we better understand how people perceive this kind of content differently and how those perceptions map onto actual effects. And from there, I’d love to develop this into a more fully realized intervention.”

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