’-objecti fi cation : The role of sel fi es in self-objecti fi cation and disordered eating in young women

Existing research demonstrates a relationship between social networking site (SNS) use and body-related concerns and disordered eating amongst females. Preliminary evidence indicates that SNS photo activities (e.g., taking and sharing ‘selfies’) may play a particularly important role. The present study aimed to use self-objectification as a framework to examine the relationship between SNS photo activities and body-related and eating concerns in a population of young women. Participants were 259 young women (age 18e29; M 1⁄4 22.97, SD 1⁄4 3.25) who completed self-report questionnaires of SNS use and bodyrelated and disordered eating concerns. Results showed that SNS ‘selfie’ activities, rather than general SNS usage, were associated with body-related and eating concerns. Specifically, greater investment in ‘selfie’ activities was associated with increased body dissatisfaction and bulimia symptomatology, even after accounting for known risk factors such as thin-ideal internalisation and body mass index (BMI). Moreover, self-objectification was found to moderate the relationship between photo investment and bulimia symptomatology. These findings indicate that active engagement with SNS photo activities, rather than general SNS use, shows an association with body-related and eating concerns. Interventions targeting specific SNS photo activities may be an effective avenue for the prevention and management of body-related concerns and disordered eating in young women. Crown Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. ‘Selfie’-objectification: the role of selfies in selfobjectification and eating disturbances in young women Social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook and Instagram, are internet-based sites that enable users to create personal profiles and share, view, comment and ‘like’ peer-generated content (Perloff, 2014). Importantly, SNS have become more popular than traditional media formats (i.e., television, magazines) among young women (Bair, Kelly, Serdar, & Mazzeo, 2012) with 90% of young adults (ages 18e29) reported to be active SNS users (Perrin et al., 2015). The unique combination of peer influences and media depictions of idealised female bodies inherent to the SNS environment provide ample opportunity for women to internalize the “thin-ideal” (i.e., thin-ideal internalisation) and scrutinise their own appearance based on these perceived norms. Such processes typically lead to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (Rodgers, Chabrol, & Paxton, 2011). In support, recent research has found a significant relationship between SNS use and thin-ideal internalisation, self-objectification, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder behaviours in teenage girls (Tiggemann & Miller, 2010; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013; Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012) and undergraduate women (Cohen & Blaszczynski, 2015; Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, & Halliwell, 2015; Mabe, Forney, & Keel, 2014). However, most research to date has focused on SNS usage in general, operationalised by time spent using SNS. Unlike traditional media consumers, SNS users are both passive recipients of content as well as ‘active’ content creators (Perloff, 2014). Therefore, further research is needed to investigate the impacts of active usergenerated engagement and the specific SNS activities that are most relevant for body image and eating concerns (Prieler & Choi, 2014). Specifically, SNS ‘selfie’ behaviours may play an important role in body image issues and disordered eating. According to Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), women's daily encounters with sexually objectifying experiences, for example exposure to media depictions of female bodies and interpersonal * Corresponding author. E-mail address: amy.slater@uwe.ac. uk (A. Slater).