Publication Date

Summer 2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Gregory Feist; Christine Ma-Kellams; Erin Woodhead

Abstract

Over the past decade, the use of photo-based social media sites has seen an exponential increase. Although these sites can be beneficial for connecting with others, the editing and modification of images posted to social media has also produced adverse effects on some who use them. The aim of the present study was to assess whether partaking in a full-body photo-editing task would have a significant effect on weight dissatisfaction, appearance dissatisfaction and body confidence, compared to a control condition. Female college participants were first asked about their general Instagram use, and then were given a baseline Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to measure for appearance dissatisfaction, weight dissatisfaction and body confidence. Participants were then randomly assigned into two experimental groups: editing a full-body image of themselves (experimental) and not editing (control). After the experimental condition, participants in both the control and experimental condition were given another VAS measuring for differences in overall weight dissatisfaction, appearance dissatisfaction and body confidence. Lastly, participants were given the Selfie-Photo Manipulation and Investment scales to assess how they edit their self-photos outside of the lab session. Results indicated that while there was not a statistically significant difference in means between the control and experimental groups, there was still a small effect found as a result of the photo-editing task for both weight and appearance dissatisfaction, compared to the control condition.

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