An Analysis of the Effects of Social Media on Someone’s Body

Image: Good or Bad?

Research Proposal

by

Carly Andersen
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Introduction

Within today’s society, the progression of all medias has not been completely positive.
There is a lot within the world of media that has caused people hardship and an emotional
decrease based off other people thriving. But where did this come from? Per business insider,
only 20 years ago 41% of US adults were using the internet. Now, almost 89% of the population
is now on the internet. Through the course of this advancement that the internet experienced, a
new representation of what beauty should be appeared. With this, there came negative effects;
depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, and much more. People spend hours trying to ‘perfect’
their social media pages to make them look ‘aesthetic’, constantly looking through other people’s
pages to see how they are living, and if their lives are better than the ones that they are living.
Social media was designed to improve the lives of people, to be able to share our experiences to
the people you do not see every day, not to try to duplicate other people’s lives.
Although there is research previously done on how social media effects someone’s
mental health, it is important to look past the people who are being effected and look how what
is the cause before it happens. It is not simply social media, there is an underlying cause that is
not being looked at. It is the ideal of what beauty is. Whether it is how a man or women should
look, the ideals that are being put out on social media are unrealistic.
There are a lot of reasons why studying this is important. One of the most important
reasons being over 38,000 Americans lose their lives to suicide a year, although those are not all
because of depression or body image related losses, but they are lives lost. Although there has
been lots of research done on the subject there has not been anything actively done about it.
Researcher and those who participate within these studies acknowledge that it is a problem but
you do not see any movements being done to change the ideals.
This study briefly touches on the uses and gratifications theory based off Elihu Katz
previous research on how we use our media. There is supposed to be a healthy motivation for
why we use our media, however, if we are using media to be like other people, is that healthy?
That is what I seek to find answers to within this study.
More specifically within this research, I want to focus on how the new idea of beauty
brought by social media is effecting people’s mental health. Are they going out of their way to
change the way that that look to look more beautiful? Do they find themselves going on social
media to look at how other people are living their lives? Do people report having sad thoughts
after going on social media? What are the precautions that need to be taken to prevent this?

Rationale

The purpose of this study is to go in deeper to look at how social media has significantly
changed the way that the world views beauty, and based on that, the decrease in people feeling
confident within their bodies. So much has changed because of the dynamic this world we live in
has created. If we go back to the 1960’s the American icons of beauty were Marilyn Monroe, and
Norma Jean. These icons were not the stick thin tall ‘models’ that the media shows these days’
like Gigi Hadid, or Kate Upton. These women are around five foot ten inches, and only a slim
130 pounds. These women, although beautiful, are setting an unrealistic standard of beauty. The
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thing that pops out the most which has changed between the 60’s and now is the innovation of
the internet and media. It is on the constant cycle of becoming better and better. So why is
having more media effecting the way that people see each other?
Due to the fact that there are some previous studies done along the lines of this one, I
believe that through the course of this study I will find that there is a very strong correlation
between the time spent on media and the lack of self-confidence someone has. People are
constantly checking their social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Everything
is beginning to add up. Phones now have features to tell you how much screen time that you are
using for each individual application, this is becoming a worldwide problem.
Looking deeper into the reasons, motivations, etc. on why people keep following this
path of unhealthy beauty based on how the media provides it is important for the future of how
this society works, especially on school campuses. It is not just women effected by this but also
men, we need to have a positive change on this matter in order to save lives, like previously said.

Literature Review
For the first research article that I found relating to my study is, we consider a study
where the researchers Pounders, Kowalczyk, and Stowers look at 15 women aging from 19-30
years old to ask them about their motivations to be on social media and posting ‘selfies’. The
influential ‘selfie’ that they looked at was the one that Ellen DeGeneres posted following the
Academy Awards a couple of years back. One singular photo posted received over 37 million
retweets within a 24-hour period. With this happening it striked an interest to people to see how
many likes or retweets that they could get when posting a photo of themselves. Prior to this
photo there was no word known as ‘selfie’ however now it is within the dictionary. This article
digs in deeper to find out exactly why people feel so inclined to get likes on their selfies. The
researchers broke their questions into two sub categories, being happiness and physical
appearance. Although that was not enough due to the amount that needed to be covered. A lot of
people who post photos of themselves do not leave those photos untouched. So, then adding in
the genuine and non-genuine selfies into the mix. Does someone feel more comfortable posting a
photo of themselves when it is edited? “Findings also revealed that the number of ‘likes’ could
detrimentally impact self-esteem” (Pounders, Kowalczyk, Stowers 2019).
Not only this but the study brought up the idea of Impression Management, this is when
someone takes control of what people see of them. To connect this back to my study, there is this
barrier that people put up when using their medias, they only post things that they think that
people want to see, not for the simple fact that they want to share their lives with others. All 15
of the participants within this study agreed that they had engaged in impression management.
This is very significant; they thoroughly believe that if they are posting photos of themselves on
their medias that people ‘want to see’ that they will receive more ‘likes’ and then feel better
about themselves and their self-esteem. The happier that they look on social media, the more
likes that they will receive, and the ‘happier’ that they will be within their actual lives. This is
clearly not actually what is going to happen. The idea of the selfie and receiving ‘likes’ on it to
make ourselves happy is a very unhealthy slope that we have put ourselves into.
Although this study overall was conducted very well, they did run into some limitations,
this study was strictly women, which obviously, men are affected by this issue as well. Though
the researchers did make note that for their future studies that they were going to include men
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into it as well. We are constantly trying to make sure others see us as we want them to, however
it is getting in the way of some people’s mental health. Their methodology was great for this
specific kind of study, since this is a qualitative study, doing in-depth interviews of this people
and how they feel concerning all of the parts of the study was important. There really is no way
to make sure the people are being completely honest with their answers unless you are face to
face making sure they are completely understanding the questions as well as giving detailed
answers. Giving a survey or something along those lines for this study would not be the most
beneficial.
We ask ourselves daily “where did all of these perfect people come from?” Well that is
the thing, they came from computers that can work magic. They are not real people that look like
that. In Harrison and Hefners study, they go into detail about how the idea of image retouching is
destroying peoples body image, setting unreal standards that adolescents feel the need to follow.
The method for this study was using surveys and experiments. The survey was a brief
questionnaire about their attitudes towards appearance and demographics of people. Then the
experiment was giving the participants ten photographs of one gender, as they flipped through
the photo’s there would be one photo untouched and then the next the photo was retouched to
make the photo look more ‘beautiful’. The participants had ten minutes too look through the
progression on the photos to rate which photo was the more attractive through the least. After
looking through the booklet with the average people within in retouched and not, they handed the
participants a booklet with models within it, strictly retouched but not noticeably. When looking
at the results of the participants, the women showed more of a difference when it came to how
the photos looked. The men did not see much of a difference when the photos were retouched,
whereas the women saw a larger difference between the two photos. What does this say?
“Another explanation may be that adolescents’ perception of photo retouching differ
from those of an older generation, who may be suspicious of image editing because they did not
grow up in a world where retouching was taken for granted in visual media production.”
(Harrison and Hefners 2014). As media developed further and further it is harder and harder to
decipher between retouched and pure.
The biggest limitation that the researchers found when conducting this study, was the
effect size was smaller than they had anticipated. Although the researchers were trying to keep
the photos moderately the same, they believe that they photos looked to similar and that if they
were to perform this study again they would have the photos much more retouched that they had
prior. To end this study Harrison and Hefners wrote “… so there is something to be said for the
value of informing young people that what they see in the media is not always real.” (Harrison
and Hefners 2014).
We often find ourselves scrolling through media or watching the television and news, but
for what? The uses and gratifications theory looks deeper into why we use media the way we do.
In the study that Dhir, Chen, and Chen did, they consider why people are so interested in being
tagged in photos on Facebook. Why are people so hungry to be on other people’s radars? The
researchers state “Understanding why people photo-tag on Facebook in important because it gets
to the heart of what it means to be social online. Social media, such as Facebook, allow people to
observe others, be seen themselves, and express their relationships through social media.” (Dhir,
Chen, and Chen 2017). This goes much deeper below the surface than people see just looking
straight at this problem.
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This study touches on the Uses and Gratifications theory in the way that although the
media was created to inform, it has transformed into this photo sharing, spider web. As the
researchers say “it asks what people do with media, not what media does to people”, as humans
we have this need to be seen, to be heard, to feel important. But at what cost? We are constantly
looking for people’s approval, and photo-tagging is a great example. To be tagged in a photo is
gratification knowing that you have friends, people to be around, and you are out doing things
with those people.
The method within this study was both an open-ended essay, and then following a survey.
With the essay, the researchers simply asked the participants to write things that give them
gratification when it comes to photo-tagging. The second study, was 10 participants total,
including junior and seniors in high school. This was the first survey of the studies, and then the
second survey was 313 adolescents Facebook users that commonly use the photo-tagging
feature. Some of the questions that were asked on the survey were “in which kinds of photos do
you “like to get tagged?” or “you never want to get tagged by others in?” As expected the results
of those questions, were along the lines of if they looked good in them or not.
An article provided by researchers Fardouly, and Holland focuses more on how when
women see certain things within the media world, how it makes them feel. Does it make them
have a negative look on their body image? Does it change the mood that the women after seeing
the photos?
The method used within the study was an experiment. The participant signed up for the
study online. They were looking that the impressions that were made on others online. Prior to
the study the participants took almost a ‘pre-test’ to see their emotions prior to seeing other
women’s photos. The photos that were provided for the women to look at and ‘compare’
themselves to, were highly attractive women that you commonly find on social media. A few
images were women who were completely clothed, wearing fashionable clothes and a few of the
photos were of women in bathing suits. When digging into those women’s social media,
Instagram specifically, the more comments that they had relating to the photo, the more likes that
they had and the more the women participating within the study envied their media page. To
determine the results, they used a computer based VAS to measure the negative mood and body
dissatisfaction. Throughout the study, both right before they view the image and immediately
after.
Thus, the study came up with there not being a huge impact on women’s body
dissatisfaction. However, they did notice a difference when it came to making a profile, these
women had more of a impression management look on their media pages, like stated within an
earlier study. Some limitations that came with this study, first being that it was conducted online
so there was no way to ensure that the participants looked at the correct or even looked at the
photos that were provided. Another limitation was that the study may not have been completed
within a distraction free environment, causing the study to may be tampered with.
The core trigger of body image issues come with not liking the shape of your body, your
weight, or thinking that you are not proportionate. Although those are not the only reasons why
someone has body image issues, it is important to look to those factors first when experiencing it.
In this study completed by Pallotti, Tubaro, Casilli, and Valente they consider how our personal
networks effect our body image. They looked deeper into if your network size effected the way
you felt about your body. The researchers used data from ANAMIA which is a social network
study of participants to websites on eating disorders. They used a survey that was completed in
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2011-2012, with a total of 284 English speaking and French speaking respondents. This data
was helpful to them because first it talked about those who have recovered or still struggling with
these poor body images, and then also too it talked about the size of their social environment
which is helpful to know, but the researchers stated that the bigger the size of their social
environment, the more people they have to support them. Later in the study, they looked at the
participant’s current height and weight to how they feel about their bodies and then look at the
BMI for their height to see if there is a correlation between those two variables.
The biggest concern for this study was that participants were in different stages of the
disorder, clearly someone further along in the disorder is going to react different to certain
situations than someone who is just starting off to have doubts about their bodies. The result of
this study was that the larger network size is, the more negative it is on someone’s body image,
the more people who follow your online life, the more you are not going to be happy with that
exact life. The more you see other people’s lives the more that you will compare yours to theirs,
which would only make it harder to appreciate your own.
An experiment conducted by researchers Knobloch-Westerwick, Kennard, Westerwick,
Willis, and Gong which took ten days to complete, they attempt to see how the way that each
gender is portrayed within magazines and media effect the way that male, and females look at
themselves. “Gender equality is a widely accepted goal. Change toward achieving this goal,
however, is remarkably slow.” (Knobloch-Westerwick, Kennard, Westerwick, Willis, and Gong
2014). Although my study is not about the inequality of males and females, this research article
is important to include. As previously said, mental illness does no come in genders, men can
experience body image issues, but why in the media are there still stereotypes?
This article touches on the Social Cognitive Theory, these stereotypes that come with
genders through the media is feeding this continual fight for equality. If there were no norms
through the media, people would not be following them. Especially with today, people are
consistently trying to figure out who they are, and with the media only providing two genders to
normalize, the confusion is only greater for those who don’t exactly know which they are yet.
They took a group of female college students for an online experiment, this was n open-
ended questionnaire, they looked through magazines and other advertising, and then completed
the questionnaire, asking about their desires for their future self. All of which were to improve
their looks or to look more feminine. If we are constantly fighting for gender equality, then why
does each gender need to have a certain look to them? The media is creating little robots who all
strive to look and act the same, to be ‘beautiful’.
When considering doing a cross- cultural comparison, you truly need to keep each
cultures norm in mind. Considering the United States, and Korea, our cultures are very different
in the way we view ourselves. In this study, by Lee, Choi, Kim, and Han they compare how
Americans differ from their culture in the way that mental illnesses stem from media use.
The method of this study was a questionnaire, first in the United States and then equally
translated in Korea, to ensure a fair and valid study. The questions were trying measure five
areas, being; social media use, a body image evaluation, a self-esteem scale, a well-being scale,
and a demographic information. The results were that each culture brought their own difficulties
and similarities. When looking at traditional media and body image, there is not and never will
be a positive connection between the two.
“Adolescences is a critical period for psychosocial development and earlier research
showed that girls in this phase are more vulnerable for media influences because they equate
their own bodies with media images. The frequent use of social media networks such as
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Instagram among young girls clearly stresses the importance of studying the effects of
exposure.” (Kleemens, Daalmans, Carbaat, and Anschutz 2016).
Throughout all the research articles that I looked at to fill in the blanks of this study,
everything that I saw pointed to media having a very negative effect on people’s self-esteem. The
media is constantly evolving every day, the more that editing become normalized, the harder it
will be to be ‘perfect’. We live in a world where we being ‘perfect’ is the beauty ideal. In one of
the studies (Harrison and Hefners 2014), talks about how people of an older generation have a
harder time believing that someone is purely them on medias. Although there is not something
that we can do so far, acknowledging the fact that just because you are thin and tall, does not
mean you are the most beautiful person in the room.

Methodology

For this study, there will be a questionnaire provided within a room for participants to
come and go when the complete the survey. At Illinois State University, we will reserve a room
for 200 students, High school through college, ages 15-22. Participants will be allowed to
partake in the study if they spend at least one hour a day total on their phones using media. The
survey will be conducted in privacy, one survey will be completed on the first day, and then
taken another time at the end of 7 days. Within the period of taking the first survey and the final
survey, the participants will be instructed to spend at least an hour and a half on social media a
day. Looking at other people’s profiles and the ‘explore’ page on medias. this survey should take
no longer than 20 minutes to complete.
Independent variable: The independent variable in this study is the amount of social
media consumed. To measure this, we will ask “During an average week, how often do you find
yourself using your phone for entertainment?” Since the research question is mainly asking
about how the amount of media that is consumed, effects peoples body image based on the new
ideal of beauty in which it provides. There will be a series of questions based on how much
media consumed by the participants.
Dependent variable: The dependent variable is measuring the participants body image
before and after the 7 days of using media for an hour and a half each day. There will be a series
of questions based on how the participant feels about their lives, body, and minds. The questions
will be answered on a scale of one to five, one being strongly disagree and five being strongly
agree, with the statement that the survey is asking. These questions will try to gage how the
participant if feeling about their selves and their body image before comparing themselves to
others via social media.

There will be a total of 40 questions on the survey, 36 of them will be broken into three
categories- attitudes, perceptions, and behavior. Each section will contain 12 variables.

Attitudes: A total of 12 variables to measure how the participants attitude towards new
ideal of beauty that social media brings. The questions will be along the following:

When I see tall thin women on social media, I think they are beautiful.
I judge people when they are not a ‘reasonable’ weight.
I see myself in others on social media.
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I heavily focus on my weight and watch what I eat

I look at myself in the mirror to make sure I look ok frequently throughout the day.
I get upset when I see pictures of women that clearly are edited.
I think that I am beautiful.
Some of my role models are Gigi Hadid, and Heidi Klum.
Social media shows a correct view on beauty.
I find myself thinking about how to make myself more like people on social media.
I use social media for entertainment.
My thoughts about myself stem from social media.

Perceptions: A total of 12 variables to measure the participant’s perceptions on what

beauty is. The questions will be along the lines of the following:

Being 5’9” and 120 pounds is beautiful.

Social media portrays beauty correctly.
I am beautiful.
Wearing certain things make me feel more beautiful. (designer bags, clothes, etc.)
Wearing a lot of make-up makes me feel more beautiful than when I am not.
Having a toned and muscular body is important when considering someone’s beauty.
Being 5’0” and 130 pounds is beautiful.
When people look at me in public it is normally a positive thing.
The ‘hour glass shape’ is the most beautiful.
It is important to manage people’s impressions on social media.
I put a filter on all my photos that I post.
Have a tan skin tone is important to me.

Behavior: A total of 12 variables to measure how the participant is feeling before and
after the 7 days of paying attention to media. The questions will be along the following:

I am confident with the way I look.

I would not change something major about my appearance.
I would be open to working our every day if it meant I would be more beautiful.
I feel sad when scrolling through social media.
I feel annoyed with my appearance.
I do not find myself comparing myself to others.
I surround myself with people who encourage me.
I feel comfortable in my own skin.
I frequently tell myself that I am not good enough.
I spend at least an hour a day for ‘me time’.
I love myself.
I do not mind if I am not the best looking in the room.
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References

Dhir, A., Chen, G, & Chen, S. (2017). Why do we tag photographs on facebook? Proposing a
new gratification scale. New media & society 19(4), 502-521. Doi:
10.1177/1461444815611062

Fardouly, J., & Holland, E. (2018). Social media is not real life: The effect of attaching
disclaimer-type lables to idealized social media images on women’s body image and
mood. News media & society 20(11), 4311-4328. Doi: 10.1177/1461444818771083

Fardouly, J., Willburger, B.,& Vartanian, L. (2018) Instagram use and young women’s body
image conecerns and self-objectification.: Testing mediational pathways. New media &
society 20(4), 1380-1395. Doi: 10.1177/1461444817694499

Harrison, K. & Hefner, V. (2014). Virtually perfect: Image retouching and adolescent body
image. Media Psychology 17(2), 134-153. Doi: 10.1080/15213269.2013.770354

Klemmans, M., Daalmans, S., Carbaat, I., & Anschutz, D. (2018). Picture perfect: The direct
effect of manipulated instagram photos on body image in adolescent girls. Media
psychology 21(1), 93-110. Doi: 10.1080/15213269.2016.1257392

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., Kennard, A., Westerwick, A., Willis, L., & Yuan, G. (2014). A crack
in the crystal ball? Prolonged exposure to media portrayals of social roles affect possible
future selves. Communication research, 41(6). Doi: 10.1177/0093650213491113

Kowalczyk, C., Pounders, K., & Stower, K. (2019). Insight into motivation of selfie postings:
Impression management and self-esteem. European journal of marketing, 50(9/10),
1879-1892. Doi: 10.1108/EJM-07-2015-0502

Lee, H., Choi, J., Kim, J., & Han, H. (2014). Social media use, body image, and psychological
well-being: A cross-cultural comparison of korea and the united states. Journal of health
communication, 19(12), 1343-1358. Doi: 10.1080/10810730.2014.904022

Pallotti, F., Tubaro, P., Cassilli, A., & Valente, T. (2018). “You see yourself like in a mirror”:
The effects of internet-mediated personal networks on body image and eating disorders.
Health Communications 33(9), 1166-1176. Doi: 10.1080/10410236.2017.1339371

Simpson, C., & Mazzeo, S. (2017) Skinny is not enough: A content analysis of fitspiration on
pintrest. Health communication, 32(5), 560-567. Doi: 10.1080/10410236.2016.1140273
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Questionnaire
This questionnaire is to collect data about the way that people think of themselves prior to
comparing themselves to others. Please answer honestly to your best ability. This shall
remain anonymous. If you do not feel comfortable answering any of the following
questions, please try to, otherwise leave that question thank. Thank you in advance for
your participation!

1. How old are you?

______________

2. What grade are you in? (please circle)

a. High school

i. Freshman

ii. Sophomore

iii. Junior

iv. Senior

b. College

i. Freshman

ii. Sophomore

iii. Junior

iv. Senior

3. What is your ethnicity?

_______________________

4. Do you have history of mental illness of any kind? (please circle)

a. Yes b. No

5. Are you currently in a relationship?

a. Yes b. No
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The next set of questions will be on a scale of 1-5. Please answer the statements to how you feel.

6. When I see tall thin women on social media, I think they are beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral   Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                  Agree

7. I judge people when they are not a ‘reasonable’ weight.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral   Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                  Agree

8. I see myself in others on social media.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

9. I heavily focus on my weight and watch what I eat

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

10. I look at myself in the mirror to make sure I look ok frequently throughout the day.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

11. I get upset when I see pictures of women that clearly are edited.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

12. I think that I am beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

13. Some of my role models are Gigi Hadid, and Heidi Klum.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree
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14. Social media shows a correct view on beauty.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

15. I find myself thinking about how to make myself more like people on social media.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

16. I use social media for entertainment.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

17. My thoughts about myself stem from social media.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

18. Being 5’9” and 120 pounds is beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

19. Social media portrays beauty correctly.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

20. I am beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

21. Wearing certain things make me feel more beautiful. (designer bags, clothes, etc.)

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree
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22. Wearing a lot of make-up makes me feel more beautiful than when I am not.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

23. Having a toned and muscular body is important when considering someone’s beauty.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

24. Being 5’0” and 130 pounds is beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

25. When people look at me in public it is normally a positive thing.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

26. The ‘hour glass shape’ is the most beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

27. It is important to manage people’s impressions on social media.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree
28. I put a filter on all my photos that I post.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

29. Have a tan skin tone is important to me.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

 14

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly

Disagree                                                                     Agree

30. I am confident with the way I look.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

31. I would not change something major about my appearance.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

32. I would be open to working our every day if it meant I would be more beautiful.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

33. I feel sad when scrolling through social media.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

34. I feel annoyed with my appearance.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

35. I do not find myself comparing myself to others.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree
36. I surround myself with people who encourage me.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree
 15

37. I feel comfortable in my own skin.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

38. I frequently tell myself that I am not good enough.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

39. I spend at least an hour a day for ‘me time’.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

40. I love myself.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

41. I do not mind if I am not the best looking in the room.

___1___       ___2___        ___3___      ___4___         ___5___

Strongly        Disagree       Neutral        Agree             Strongly
Disagree                                                                     Agree

Thank you for completing the survey!