Impact of Exposure to Images of the Idealised Physique on Body Satisfaction, Dieting Intentions and Mood in Men.
Condition: Body Image
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Every day, people are exposed to huge amounts of media. Research has explored the impact of
      viewing traditional media and advertising (such as television and magazines) on how a person
      thinks and feels about their body (body satisfaction). However, less is known about the
      impact of exposure to social media on body satisfaction. It is important to consider this
      now, given the rise in social media use.

      The rise in social media use has made it easier for people to share images of an 'ideal'
      body, which for men is high muscularity and low body fat. Alongside this rise in the ideal
      body being shared on social media, there is a rise in male eating disorders. Research has
      already demonstrated that showing images of the 'ideal' body decreases body satisfaction.
      However, there has been little research in men and this research uses media from magazines.

      The present study will update research by using images taken from Instagram and by recruiting
      male participants. Participants will be asked to take part in an online survey (shared on
      social media) which measures initial mood, body satisfaction, self-esteem and diet and
      exercise intentions. It will then show participants images of men with different physiques
      (either muscular, overweight, slender or control images of landscapes). The measures will
      then be repeated to see if viewing the images had any impact
    

Detailed description: 
      The present study will seek to replicate findings of previous studies by exposing men to
      images of the idealised male physique and demonstrating increased body dissatisfaction and
      negative affect. However, given the rise of social media and the suggestion that social media
      platforms should be investigated independently, the present study aims to update literature
      by using images from Instagram rather than traditional forms of media. Instagram was chosen
      based on the suggestion that this social media platform may be the most detrimental to body
      image concerns because of its sole focus on photo activity and hence the elevated opportunity
      for social comparison. Additionally, male participants were chosen because to the author's
      knowledge, the experimental studies which have exposed participants to images taken from
      Instagram have only recruited women.

      This study also builds upon previous findings that exposure impacts upon eating disorder and
      muscle dysmorphia symptomatology, by ensuring that the measures used to investigate these
      constructs are more relevant and more valid in men. This is achieved by measuring men's
      intentions to modify their diet and exercise regime to increase muscularity. Dieting and
      exercise intentions are measured, given the limitations in directly monitoring diet and
      exercise through diaries and according to the theory of planned behaviour, intentions
      strongly predicts actual behaviour. Pre and post exposure scores are used to investigate
      whether exposure has an impact on these outcomes.

      Moderating factors such as gym use, pre-existing body and muscle dissatisfaction and social
      media use are controlled for in hope of demonstrating larger effect sizes. The reason for
      this is because the above research suggests that those using social media more often, those
      not attending the gym and those with pre-existing body or muscle dissatisfaction are more at
      risk of body dissatisfaction and other negative effects following exposure to images of the
      idealised physique.

      This study also builds upon research which has provided evidence for the processes underlying
      the relationship between exposure to idealised images and body dissatisfaction. Research
      suggests that social comparison is a mediating factor, however this research either draws
      upon traditional media rather than social media to source images or the research only
      utilises female participants. Therefore, this study combines the use of images taken from
      Instagram with the recruitment of male participants. Additionally, in the hope of providing
      stronger evidence for underlying processes, social comparison is measured directly (instead
      of being inferred). Given the suggestion that people are more likely to socially compare
      themselves to peers rather than models or celebrities, images used in exposure did not
      include models or celebrities.

      Finally, this study will learn from limitations of other studies by dividing their 'average'
      condition into two (skinny and overweight) in addition to maintaining a muscular and control
      group. The purpose of this is to demonstrate the role of upward and downward social
      comparisons to support the social comparison theory as an explanation of the effect.

      The study utilises an experimental design as there is sufficient literature to generate
      hypotheses to be tested. Additionally, an experimental design is a robust and controlled
      method of capturing the acute effects of manipulating an independent variable.

      The study adopts a between subjects design with four conditions. Each participant will
      complete one of four online questionnaires on SurveyMonkey. The four questionnaires are
      identical except for the images contained within them, hence the independent variable is
      image type. Each questionnaire will contain 15 images of either the idealised physique
      (muscular, lean and low body fat), overweight physique, skinny physique or landscapes
      (control images). These images will be selected from a pool of images by an independent panel
      in the target age range in the initial stage of the study.
    

Intervention name(s): Exposure to images
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Exposure to images
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Any men aged 18-34 will be recruited. Students from the University of Leeds will make up a
        large proportion of the sample.
      
Keywords: Body Image; Mood, anxiety, depression; Self-esteem; Body Dysmorphia; Men; Deit; Exercise