Navigating Beauty Standards on Social Media : Impact of Appearance Activity on Adolescents’ Body Dissatisfaction

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F25%3A00140632" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/25:00140632 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-025-02159-y" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-025-02159-y</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-025-02159-y" target="_blank" >10.1007/s10964-025-02159-y</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Navigating Beauty Standards on Social Media : Impact of Appearance Activity on Adolescents’ Body Dissatisfaction

Original language description

Social media activity focused on physical appearance can heighten body dissatisfaction in adolescents. However, the mechanisms behind this association remain insufficiently examined. This three-wave longitudinal study analyzed data from 2,500 Czech adolescents (aged 11–16, M = 13.4, SD = 1.7, 50% girls) to examine whether the comparison with social media appearance ideals and the internalization of these ideals mediate the association between appearance activity on social media and body dissatisfaction. The bidirectional relationships and the differences between girls and boys were also explored. While significant between-person correlations were found over time, the within-person results showed that heightened appearance activity did not increase body dissatisfaction in subsequent waves. At the within-person level, social media-ideal internalization and appearance comparison did not mediate this connection. Although the heightened internalization of social media ideals predicted more appearance activity and appearance comparisons at the within-person level, these links were not consistent across waves. No significant differences were observed between adolescent girls and boys. This study indicates that appearance activity on social media do not necessarily reinforce adolescents’ body dissatisfaction six months later, providing insights for both research and policy.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50802 - Media and socio-cultural communication

Project

<a href="/en/project/EH22_008%2F0004583" target="_blank" >EH22_008/0004583: Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

ISSN

0047-2891

e-ISSN

1573-6601

Volume of the periodical

54

Issue of the periodical within the volume

8

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

20

Pages from-to

1999-2018

UT code for WoS article

001454196900001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105001688405