Selfie-Viewing and Facial Dissatisfaction among Emerging Adults: A Moderated Mediation Model of Appearance Comparisons and Self-Objectification

Jing Yang, Jasmine Fardouly, Yuhui Wang and Wen Shi
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Jing Yang: School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jasmine Fardouly: Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Yuhui Wang: Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Wen Shi: Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: With the visual turn in online communication, selfies have become common on social media. Although selfies as a way of self-representation provide people with more chances to express themselves, the adverse effects selfies could bring to users’ body image need to be treated seriously. This study tested whether selfie-viewing behaviour on social media was related to facial dissatisfaction and whether appearance comparisons played a mediating role. Moreover, the self-objectification was examined as a moderator between selfie-viewing behaviour and facial dissatisfaction via appearance comparisons. Results showed that more selfie-viewing was associated with higher facial dissatisfaction, and this relationship was mediated by appearance comparisons. The study also found that self-objectification moderated the indirect relation between selfie-viewing and facial dissatisfaction via appearance comparisons. Gender differences were also found to affect the mediation model. Our research provides new insights into the interactions between social media use and perception of body image.

Keywords: social media; selfies; appearance comparisons; self-objectification; facial dissatisfaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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