When adolescents engage with social media content promoting body positivity, does it impact their body-positive behavior offline? This question was the focus of our latest published study.
Adolescents often face challenges related to body image, such as criticism and teasing from friends or family, pressure to conform to body norms within their peer group, and heightened body dissatisfaction. To navigate these challenges, it is crucial to empower adolescents with a supportive and caring approach toward others’ bodies. Adolescents who adopt this prosocial approach can help their friends feel confident in their own bodies and support them when facing negative appearance-related experiences (e.g., not feeling happy about their looks), fostering a safe environment that nurtures a positive body image.
This study explored whether adolescents' engagement with body positivity posts and positive appearance-related comments on social media promotes prosocial reasoning and behaviors related to appearance. Positive appearance comments, such as "You look great!" express appreciation for others' bodies, while body positivity posts showcase diverse appearances and advocate for the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of perceived flaws. The present research utilized three-wave longitudinal data from a sample of 496 adolescents, primarily girls (67.9%), aged 12 to 18.
Adolescents who generally viewed body positivity posts and posted positive appearance comments on social media more frequently reported higher prosocial tendencies regarding others' appearance. While increased engagement with body positivity posts alone did not lead to greater prosocial reasoning or tendencies toward others' bodies, adolescents did demonstrate heightened prosocial reasoning when they posted positive appearance comments more often than usual.
These findings indicate that adolescents who frequently engage with body positivity posts and share positive appearance comments on social media are more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors toward others’ bodies. This insight could benefit peer-led initiatives aimed at fostering positive body image among youth, helping to identify adolescents with strong appearance-related prosocial tendencies who might be eager to share body positivity content within their networks. However, the study did not find that engaging with body positivity posts and positive comments directly promotes a more prosocial approach, suggesting that other key influences—such as supportive family and school environments—may play a more significant role in fostering these behaviors. Given the importance of promoting prosocial attitudes toward others’ bodies during adolescent development, future research should focus on identifying the factors that contribute to these attitudes, as well as developing campaigns and programs to support them.
Kvardova, N., Maes, C., & Vandenbosch, L. (2024). BoPo online, BoPo offline? Engagement with body positivity posts, positive appearance comments on social media, and adolescents’ appearance-related prosocial tendencies. Computers in Human Behavior, 162, 108471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108471
The 10th European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) took place at the end of September in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Many of our team members attended and presented their research. See this page for their full presentations and profiles!
Bias-based cyberaggression, which includes hateful and prejudiced content shared through digital platforms, is a common experience for young internet users. This kind of online behaviour can have harmful effects on both individuals and society as a whole. We conducted a systematic review of research dealing with young people's experiences, risk and protective factors and consequences of bias-based cyberaggression.
