Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Body Image
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage

Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women’s

mood and body image
Zoe Brown ∗ , Marika Tiggemann
School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A large body of research has documented that exposure to images of thin fashion models contributes
Received 3 March 2016 to women’s body dissatisfaction. The present study aimed to experimentally investigate the impact of
Received in revised form 19 August 2016 attractive celebrity and peer images on women’s body image. Participants were 138 female undergrad-
Accepted 19 August 2016
uate students who were randomly assigned to view either a set of celebrity images, a set of equally
Available online 3 September 2016
attractive unknown peer images, or a control set of travel images. All images were sourced from public
Instagram profiles. Results showed that exposure to celebrity and peer images increased negative mood
Keywords:
and body dissatisfaction relative to travel images, with no significant difference between celebrity and
Body image
Celebrity
peer images. This effect was mediated by state appearance comparison. In addition, celebrity worship
Peer moderated an increased effect of celebrity images on body dissatisfaction. It was concluded that exposure
Instagram to attractive celebrity and peer images can be detrimental to women’s body image.
Media © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Social comparison

Introduction Celebrities are well known individuals who receive excessive

While there are a number of sociocultural factors that influ-
ence body image, including family and peers (Thompson, Heinberg,
Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999), it has been argued that the most
pervasive and influential are the mass media (Grabe, Ward, &
Hyde, 2008; Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2001; Levine & Murnen,
2009; Thompson et al., 1999; Tiggemann, 2011; Want, 2009).
Women encounter media images of thin and attractive models
and celebrities on a daily basis. Meta-analyses of both experi-
mental and correlational studies have concluded that there is a
consistent and significant small-to-medium negative effect of thin
ideal media exposure on women’s body image (Grabe et al., 2008;
Groesz et al., 2001; Want, 2009). In addition, research has found
that thin ideal media has a similar negative effect on women’s
mood (Bessenoff, 2006; Tiggemann & McGill, 2004; Tiggemann &
Polivy, 2010; Tiggemann, Polivy, & Hargreaves, 2009). However,
the existing experimental research has primarily examined expo-
sure to fashion models in magazines or television commercials.
Although celebrities also feature heavily in contemporary media,
as yet there has been little experimental research examining the
effect of attractive celebrities on women’s mood and body image.
∗ Corresponding author at: School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box
2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia, Australia.
E-mail address: zoe.brown@flinders.edu.au (Z. Brown).
public attention, typically for their involvement in entertainment
or sport. Celebrities are prevalent in all forms of media, from
magazines and television to Facebook and Instagram. It has been
suggested that the constant presentation throughout the media of
thin and attractive female celebrity images, just like fashion mod-
els, reinforces an unachievable thin ideal (Maltby, Giles, Barber,
& McCutcheon, 2005). Supporting this suggestion, a recent trend
in cosmetic surgery sees women requesting specific body parts
of celebrities, for example, Kim Kardashian’s eyes and jawline
(PRNewswire, 2015). A few correlational studies have investigated
some aspects of celebrities and their relationship to body image.
Shorter, Brown, Quinton, and Hinton (2008) found that the discrep-
ancy between participants’ views of their own size and their views
of celebrities’ sizes was positively correlated with disordered eat-
ing. Harrison (1997) similarly found that interpersonal attraction
to thin celebrities, rather than to average or heavy celebrities, was
positively associated with eating disorder symptoms.
However, as yet no studies have experimentally investigated the
effect of celebrity exposure on body image. Rather, experimental
research has predominately examined the effect of fashion models.
Celebrities are different from fashion models because they are not
anonymous figures and their personal lives are widely publicised
in the media. Consequently, people often form strong connections
with celebrities and sometimes begin to imagine having special
relationships with them, a connection referred to as celebrity wor-
ship (Maltby et al., 2005). A small amount of research has found

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.08.007
1740-1445/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
38 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43
a significant relationship between celebrity worship and negative
body image (Maltby et al., 2005; Swami, Taylor, & Carvalho, 2011).
The detrimental effect of exposure to thin idealised media
images on women’s body satisfaction has generally been attributed
to the process of social comparison (Levine & Murnen, 2009;
Want, 2009). Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) argues
that humans have an innate drive to compare themselves with oth-
ers in order to make evaluations about their abilities and opinions,
especially when objective measures do not exist. When compar-
ing their appearance with that of thin and attractive models, most
women will inevitably fall short, resulting in feeling negative about
themselves and their bodies. Indeed, experimental research has
confirmed that the observed negative effect of media exposure
on negative mood and body dissatisfaction is at least partly medi-
ated by social comparison processing (Bessenoff, 2006; Tiggemann
& McGill, 2004; Tiggemann & Polivy, 2010; Tiggemann et al.,
2009).
Social comparison theory also suggests that comparisons will be
most readily made with targets who are perceived as similar to one-
self, as this comparison provides the most information. In support,
research has found that women report comparing more with their
peers than with thin ideal media (Heinberg & Thompson, 1992;
Wheeler & Miyake, 1992) and that these peer comparisons result in
greater thoughts about dieting than comparisons to media (Leahey
& Crowther, 2008). On the other hand, Ridolfi, Myers, Crowther, and
Ciesla (2011) and a meta-analysis by Myers and Crowther (2009)
found that there was no difference between comparison to peers
and thin media images. Some recent studies have also included
celebrities as a comparison category. Strahan, Wilson, Cressman,
and Buote (2006) found women reported that they compared them-
selves to peers when evaluating their social skills but to fashion
models and celebrities when evaluating their appearance. Likewise,
Jones (2001) found that girls reportedly compared more to peers
for height and personality, but equally to celebrities/fashion models
and peers for weight and shape. Strahan et al. (2006) suggest that
women will make comparisons to models or celebrities when they
are confronted with cultural norms of thinness because models and
celebrities set the standard for these norms and women know that
they will be judged against them. To provide further insight into this
issue, the present study included a comparison group of unknown
peers to determine whether the effect of comparison with celebri-
ties differs from comparison with equally attractive peers.
The great majority of research in the field of media and body
image has examined traditional media formats such as television
and magazines. However, the rise of the Internet, in particular
the use of social networking sites, has led researchers to begin to
examine the effect of Internet sites on women’s body image. Cor-
relational research has found that time spent on the Internet, and
more specifically time spent on social networking sites, is positively
correlated with negative mood (Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, &
Halliwell, 2015) and body dissatisfaction (Fardouly & Vartanian,
2015; Tiggemann & Miller, 2010; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013, 2014).
One experimental study has found that women’s preoccupation
with their weight and shape decreased at a lower rate after using
Facebook than after viewing a control website (Mabe, Forney, &
Keel, 2014). Further, a more detailed examination of Facebook use
by Meier and Gray (2014) concluded that it was time spent interac-
ting with the photographic functions of Facebook, rather than total
Facebook time, that was related to body dissatisfaction. Thus, one of
the aims of the present study was to contribute to social media and
body image research by using the photo-based site of Instagram
to source stimulus images. To our knowledge, the only experimen-
tal body image research to use Instagram images (Tiggemann &
Zaccardo, 2015) found that exposure to fitspiration images leads to
increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction in comparison to
travel images.
As of September 2015, Instagram had more than 400 million
active users (Kharpal, 2015). Instagram is a unique social network-
ing site because its prime focus is on sharing images. Research
shows that individuals generally choose to only upload images in
which they look thin and attractive (Manago, Graham, Greenfield,
& Salimkhan, 2008). Instagram users can also edit and filter their
photographs to achieve an “ideal” look, and then share them with
their friends or the public. This creates a new opportunity for users
to be exposed to idealised images of their peers. As Instagram
users on average follow 100–200 people (Statista, 2015), it is likely
that the followed people will include both close friends and peo-
ple they barely know. The participants in Fardouly and Vartanian’s
(2015) study reported that they compared their appearance on
social media more with distant peers than with friends or celebri-
ties. As yet, no studies have experimentally examined the effect of
Instagram images of unknown attractive peers on mood and body
satisfaction.
Although Instagram’s prime focus is on peers, in fact celebrities
hold the top followed accounts (The Telegraph, 2016). Celebrities
use Instagram to share pictures of their personal and professional
lives with their fans. As of May 2016, the top 8 out of 10 most
followed Instagram users were thin, toned, and attractive female
celebrities (Justin Bieber and Cristiano Ronaldo being the only two
men in the top 10, both of whom are also thin and toned). Selena
Gomez has the most followers on Instagram, with more than 79.2
million, followed by Taylor Swift with 77.3 million followers, and
Ariana Grande with 72 million followers (The Telegraph, 2016).
The combination of celebrity images with peer images, presented
equally on the same platform, may result in users viewing celebri-
ties more like their peers.
The main aim of the present study was to examine the effect
of celebrity images, compared with equally attractive (unknown)
peer, and control (travel) images, on women’s body image. Travel
images were chosen because they are also a common type of
image posted on Instagram. We predicted that exposure to celebrity
images would result in greater negative mood and body dissatis-
faction compared to exposure to travel images. We also tentatively
predicted that exposure to attractive peer images would result in
greater negative mood and body dissatisfaction compared to expo-
sure to celebrity images. In addition, we expected that the effects
of image type would be mediated by state appearance comparison.
Lastly, we hypothesised that the effect of image type on negative
mood and body dissatisfaction would be moderated by celebrity
worship. Specifically, the effect of exposure to celebrity images was
expected to be greater for participants high on celebrity worship.
Method
Participants
Participants were 138 female undergraduate students from
Flinders University, South Australia. They were aged between 18
and 30 years, with a mean age of 20.10 (SD = 2.61), and were pre-
dominantly Caucasian (77.4%). Their mean body mass index (BMI)
of 22.61 (SD = 4.35) was within the “normal weight” range (Garrow
& Webster, 1984). Participants received course credit for their par-
ticipation.
Design
A between-subjects experimental design was used to inves-
tigate the effect of image type (celebrity, peer, travel) on the
dependent variables of negative mood and body dissatisfac-
tion (after controlling for baseline scores). In addition, state
 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43
appearance comparison was tested as a mediating variable and
celebrity worship was tested as a potential moderating variable.
Materials
Stimulus materials. Three sets of images were constructed for
the study: the celebrity condition contained 15 attractive celebrity
images, the peer condition contained 15 attractive peer images,
and the travel condition contained 15 images of travel destinations.
Each image set consisted of three photographs of five different peo-
ple or places. For the celebrity and peer image sets, the photographs
included only the target individual and ranged from full body shots
to close up shots of the person’s face, as these are common types of
photographs found on Instagram. The women in the celebrity and
peer images were of similar age to the participants and wearing rel-
atively tight or revealing clothing. Five of the travel images included
a person to justify the appearance comparison measures for par-
ticipants in that condition. The people in the travel images were
of similar age to the participants, wearing non-revealing clothing,
and were not the focus of the image.
All the stimulus material photos were taken from public Insta-
gram profiles, but without the Instagram border or associated
comments. The five celebrities (Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift,
Selena Gomez, Rihanna, and Beyoncé) were chosen from the top
10 most followed celebrities on Instagram. The five travel destina-
tions (Australia, England, France, Germany, and Egypt) were found
using the #travel hashtag. The five peers were found on Instagram
using the #selfie hashtag and were chosen to be equally attractive
as the celebrities and to have less than 200 followers (to ensure
that they were not models/celebrities). Images were presented
to participants on an Apple iPad via a slideshow using the Apple
“Photos” application. A title slide with the name of the person or
place appeared for 10 seconds before each set of three images. The
participants viewed each image for 10 seconds.
The stimulus materials were chosen from a pool of 40 celebrity,
40 peer, and 40 travel images. A pilot study was conducted with
five independent female raters from the target age group (M = 22
years, SD = 1.22) to test the attractiveness and thinness of the
celebrity and peer images, to equate the image sets on overall
visual appeal, and to test whether the celebrities and travel destina-
tions were well known. Participants rated attractiveness (1 = very
unattractive, 5 = very attractive), thinness (1 = very heavy, 5 = very
thin), and visual quality (1 = very poor, 5 = excellent) using 5-point
Likert scales. The final five celebrities and the five travel desti-
nations were chosen because the results showed that 100% of
participants knew who/where they were. None (0%) of the partici-
pants recognised the chosen peers. Although the celebrity images
were marginally more attractive (celebrity: M = 4.00, SD = 0.00;
peer: M = 3.92, SD = 0.27) and thin (celebrity: M = 4.08, SD = 0.11;
peer: M = 3.92, SD = 0.36) than the peer images, the differences
were not significant (attractive: t(4) = 0.67, p = .54, d = 0.42; thin:
t(4) = 1.00, p = .37, d = 0.60). Lastly, there were no significant differ-
ences between the rated quality of the travel (M = 3.37, SD = 0.42),
celebrity (M = 3.49, SD = 0.53), and peer images (M = 3.59, SD = 0.45),
F(2, 135) = 2.55, p = .82.
Social networking site usage. Participants were asked
whether or not they had an Instagram account, how much time
they spent using Instagram per day (less than 10 min, 10–30 min,
31–60 min, 1–2 hrs, over 2 hrs), and how many people/celebrities
they follow on Instagram. Participants also indicated how much
importance they placed on the quality of a photograph (e.g., blur-
riness, composition) when posted by others and by themselves
on two 7-point Likert scales (1 = not important at all, 7 = extremely
important).
39
Negative mood and body dissatisfaction. Following Heinberg
and Thompson (1995), visual analogue scales (VAS) were used
to measure state mood and body dissatisfaction before and after
viewing the images. There were five mood dimensions (anx-
iety, depression, happiness, anger, and confidence) and three
body dissatisfaction dimensions (weight dissatisfaction, appear-
ance dissatisfaction, and facial features dissatisfaction). The facial
component was added as faces are an important aspect of Insta-
gram images. The scales consisted of 100-mm horizontal lines
(0 = none, 100 = very much). Participants were instructed to indicate
how they feel “right now” by placing a mark at the appropriate point
of each line. The scales were measured from the ‘none’ anchor to the
nearest millimetre. The overall scores for negative mood and body
dissatisfaction were calculated by averaging the items related to the
construct (some reverse coded). This produced a scale ranging from
0 (no negative mood/no body dissatisfaction) to 100 (high negative
mood/high body dissatisfaction). Heinberg and Thompson (1995)
showed that VAS are a valid and reliable measure of mood and body
dissatisfaction. In the current study, the internal reliability was high
for both negative mood (˛ = .85) and body dissatisfaction (˛ = .94).
State appearance comparison. The State Appearance Compar-
ison Scale (Tiggemann & McGill, 2004) was used to examine the
amount of appearance comparison participants engaged in. Par-
ticipants were asked to indicate on three 7-point Likert scales
how much they thought about their appearance when viewing
the images (1 = no thought about appearance, 7 = a lot of thought),
and the extent to which they compared their overall appearance
and specific body parts with the people they saw in the images
(1 = no comparison, 7 = a lot of comparison). A total score for state
appearance comparison was calculated by averaging the items.
Items in this scale have been shown to be highly inter-correlated
(r = .71–.82) (Tiggemann & McGill, 2004). In the current sample, the
measure had good internal reliability (˛ = .94).
Celebrity worship. The 17-item version of the Celebrity Atti-
tude Scale (CAS) developed by McCutcheon, Lange, and Houran
(2002) was used to measure participants’ level of celebrity worship.
The scale was adapted for the present study to measure worship of
celebrities in general rather than worship of a specific celebrity.
Using a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), par-
ticipants were asked to indicate their views about celebrities. Items
ranged from a general interest in celebrities to borderline patho-
logical (e.g., “My friends and I like to discuss what celebrities have
done” [Item 2]; “When my favourite celebrity dies I will feel like
dying too” [Item 9]). A total score for celebrity worship was cal-
culated by averaging the items. The CAS has been shown to have
good internal consistency and convergent validity (McCutcheon
et al., 2002). In the current sample, the measure had high internal
reliability (˛ = .91).
Manipulation check. Each set of three images was preceded
by title cards with the name of the person or place. At the end of
the study, participants rated how many celebrities, peers, or places
they had recognised (0–5) and how many of their names they had
heard previously (0–5). Participants were also asked to recall the
five names of the people or places shown in the images. The rea-
soning was that if celebrities were well known, their names should
be better remembered than those of the unknown peers. This recall
task was used as an objective measure of whether the experimental
manipulation was successful.
Demographic information. Participants were asked their age
and ethnicity. Measures of participants’ current weight and height
were also taken to calculate body mass index (BMI).
40 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43

Procedure Table 2
Means (SD) for manipulation check (recognition, heard of name, and correct recall)
by image type.
After obtaining ethics approval from the institutional review
committee, participants were recruited for a study entitled “Insta- Image type
gram Study: People and Places”. Participants were randomly Celebrity Peer Travel
assigned to one of three experimental conditions (celebrities, peers,
Recognition 4.26 (1.54) 0.24 (0.60) 3.69 (1.29)
or travel), subject to equal numbers (n = 46) in each experimen- Heard of name 4.71 (1.04) 0.30 (0.59) 4.44 (1.08)
tal condition. Participants were tested individually or in small Correct recall 4.63 (0.97) 0.98 (0.88) 4.13 (0.98)
groups of two or three, and testing sessions lasted approximately
30 minutes. After reading the Letter of Introduction, Information
Sheet, and signing the consent form, participants completed the Table 2 also shows that at the end of the study participants who
social networking use questions and pre-exposure measures of viewed celebrity images recalled almost all of the names of the five
mood and body dissatisfaction. Participants were then provided celebrities (M = 4.63, SD = 0.97), in contrast to those who viewed
with an iPad and told that they would be watching a slideshow peer images, who recalled less than one of the names of five peers
of typical images from Instagram. As each photo appeared, par- (M = 0.98, SD = 0.88). A t-test confirmed that celebrity names were
ticipants were asked to rate the quality of the photo using a significantly better recalled than peer names, t(89) = 18.62, p < .001,
5-point scale (1 = very poor quality to 5 = very good quality). This d = 3.94. Thus, on all three measures, the experimental manipula-
was to ensure that participants attended to the images. In all condi- tion was judged as successful.
tions, participants viewed 15 images for 10 seconds each. Following
exposure to the Instagram images, participants completed post- Instagram Usage
exposure measures of mood and body dissatisfaction, as well as
measures of state appearance comparison and celebrity worship. The majority of participants reported that they had an
Finally, participants completed a manipulation check and then their account on Instagram (86.2%). Their median use of Instagram was
height and weight were measured. 10–30 minutes per day. They reported following a median number
of 100–200 people on Instagram, of which the median number of
Results celebrities was 5–10.

Characteristics of the Sample
The three experimental image conditions were compared to
determine if there were any differences in initial baseline char-
acteristics. As can be seen in Table 1, there were no significant
differences between groups on the demographic variables of age,
F(2, 134) = 0.68, p = .51, 2p = .01, or BMI, F(2, 126) = 0.63, p = .53,
2p = .01. Nor was there any significant difference on initial nega-
tive mood, F(2, 135) = 0.11, p = .90, 2p = .13, or body dissatisfaction,
F(2, 135) = 0.72, p = .49, 2p = .01. Thus, random allocation of partici-
pants to the three image groups was deemed successful. Table 1 also
shows that the groups did not differ significantly on celebrity wor-
ship, F(2, 135) = 0.66, p = .52, 2p = .01. This indicates that celebrity
worship was not affected by the experimental manipulation.
Manipulation Check
Table 2 shows that participants who viewed celebrity images
recognised and had heard of more than four of the five celebrities.
In contrast, peer condition participants recognised and had heard
of less than one of the five peers shown. Independent samples t-
tests confirmed that the celebrities were recognised, t(90) = 16.73,
p < .001, d = 3.44, and had been heard of significantly more than the
peers, t(89) = 24.98, p < .001, d = 5.22.
Table 1
Means (SD) for age, BMI, initial negative mood, initial body dissatisfaction, and
celebrity worship by image type.
Effect of Image Type on Negative Mood and Body
Dissatisfaction
In order to determine whether there were significant group
differences on negative mood and body dissatisfaction, ANCOVAs
with two orthogonal planned comparisons were performed using
the Lmatrix subcommand. For each ANCOVA, pre-exposure scores
were entered as the covariate to control for individual differences.
The first orthogonal planned comparison compared the combined
celebrity and peer group against the travel group [contrast: +1
+1 −2]. The second orthogonal planned comparison compared the
celebrity and peer image groups [contrast: +1 −1 0].
Table 3 shows the adjusted means (controlling for pre-
exposure scores) for negative mood and body dissatisfaction. The
first planned comparison showed that participants who viewed
celebrity and peer images experienced significantly greater neg-
ative mood, F(1, 134) = 10.76, p < .001, 2p = .08, and greater body
dissatisfaction, F(1, 134) = 5.90, p = .02, 2p = .04, than partici-
pants who viewed travel images. The second planned comparison
showed that there was no significant difference between the
celebrity and peer images on negative mood, F(1, 134) = 0.61, p = .44,
d = 0.08, or body dissatisfaction, F(1, 134) = 0.01, p = .94, d < 0.01.
In support of our prediction, the results showed that in com-
parison to travel images, participants exposed to celebrity images
reported greater negative mood and body dissatisfaction. In con-
trast to our prediction, however, there was no difference between
celebrity and peer images on negative mood and body dissatisfac-
tion.

Image type Table 3

Means (SD) for negative mood, body dissatisfaction, and state appearance compar-
Celebrity Peer Travel
ison by image type.
Demographic
Age 19.72 (2.43) 20.18 (2.61) 20.33 (2.80) Image type
BMI 22.00 (3.62) 22.71 (4.53) 23.05 (4.78) Celebrity Peer Travel
Initial measures
Negative mood 27.22 (12.76) 26.30 (14.56) 27.55 (11.98) Negative mooda 28.11 (0.96) 29.18 (0.96) 24.80 (0.96)
Body dissatisfaction 48.41 (24.43) 42.85 (22.89) 43.84 (23.87) Body dissatisfactiona 45.76 (1.62) 45.94 (1.62) 41.04 (1.62)
Trait measures State appearance comparison 3.88 (1.79) 4.09 (1.72) 1.89 (1.84)
Celebrity worship 2.15 (0.62) 2.31 (0.67) 2.19 (0.73) a
Note. Adjusted means (SE).
 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43
The Role of State Appearance Comparison as a Mediator
It was predicted that state appearance comparison would
mediate the effect of image type on negative mood and body dis-
satisfaction. Table 3 shows that participants who viewed celebrity
and peer images engaged in more appearance comparison than
participants who viewed travel images, t(135) = 7.42, p < .001,
d = 1.28, with no difference between celebrity and peer condi-
tions, t(135) = 0.67, p = .51, d = 0.12. Across groups, state appearance
comparison was itself significantly correlated with post-exposure
negative mood (r = .24, p < .001) and post-exposure body dissatis-
faction (r = .44, p < .001).
The potential mediating role of state appearance comparison
was tested using the Preacher and Hayes’ (2008) PROCESS method.
This method is a bootstrapping non-parametric approach that
allows more confident conclusions to be made regarding the signif-
icance of the direct and indirect effects. In this approach, effects are
deemed significant if the 95% confidence interval does not include
zero. For this analysis, indirect effects were computed for each of
5000 bootstrapped samples. Using the PROCESS method, media-
tion is established if the indirect effect of the independent variable
on the dependent variable via the mediator is significant. If the
direct pathway is non-significant after controlling for the media-
tor, this shows that the mediator significantly explains the effect of
the independent variable on the dependent variable. Because the
independent variable of image condition had three levels (celebrity,
peer, and travel), dummy coding needed to be used. Two dummy
variables (celebrity: 1, 0, 0; peer: 0, 1, 0) were computed with travel
as the reference group. The two dummy variables were entered
as independent variables, pre-exposure scores were added as a
covariate and state appearance comparison was the mediator.
Fig. 1(a) shows that the pathways between both image types
and appearance comparison were significant, as was the pathway
between appearance comparison and negative mood. The indirect
effect between celebrity images and negative mood via appearance
comparison was found to be significant, B = 2.20, ˇ = .10, SE = 0.11,
CI [0.93, 3.95], as was the indirect effect between peer images and
negative mood, B = 2.45, ˇ = .11, SE = 0.81, CI [1.12, 4.37]. Neither of
the remaining direct effects of celebrity or peer images on negative
Fig. 1. Standardised regression coefficients for the effect of images on (a) negative
mood and (b) body dissatisfaction as mediated by state appearance comparison.
Note. The standardised regression coefficient in parentheses is the direct effect not
controlling for the mediator; *p < .05.
41
mood was significant (celebrity: B = 1.12, ˇ = .04, SE = 1.48, CI [−1.81,
4.04]; peer: B = 1.92, ˇ = .07, SE = 1.52, CI [−1.08, 4.93]). Therefore,
state appearance comparison mediated the effect of image type on
negative mood.
Fig. 1(b) shows the same pattern of results for body dissatisfac-
tion. The indirect effects between both celebrity images, B = 4.19,
ˇ = .08, SE = 1.21, CI [2.29, 7.17] and peer images, B = 4.99, ˇ = .10,
SE = 1.27, CI [2.79, 7.82], on body dissatisfaction via appearance
comparison were significant. Neither of the direct effects were
significant (celebrity: B = 0.53, ˇ = .01, SE = 2.49, CI [−4.39, 5.46];
peer: B = −0.08, ˇ < −.01, SE = 2.60, CI [−5.22, 5.05]). Therefore, state
appearance comparison mediated the effect of image type on body
dissatisfaction.
Moderation by Celebrity Worship
It was predicted that celebrity worship would moderate the
effect of image type. Significant relationships were found between
celebrity worship and pre-exposure dissatisfaction (r = .23, p = .01),
and state appearance comparison (r = .23, p = .01). To test whether
celebrity worship moderated the effect of image type, Preacher and
Hayes’ (2008) PROCESS method was again used. As recommended
by Aiken and West (1991), celebrity worship was centred. Dummy
coding was again used for image type, with the travel condition
as the reference group. The two dummy variables were entered
as independent variables, pre-exposure scores were added as a
covariate and celebrity worship was the moderator. Two product
terms were created by the PROCESS macro to represent interactions
between the image types and celebrity worship. A significant inter-
action is found when the product term explains additional variance
above the main effects.
The results showed that the interaction between celebrity wor-
ship and image type did not explain significant additional variance
2
in negative mood (celebrity: Rchange = .01, Fchange (1, 131) = 2.43,
2
p = .12; peer: Rchange = .01, Fchange (1, 131) < 0.01, p = .97). How-
ever, the interaction did explain significant additional variance in
2
body dissatisfaction for celebrity images (Rchange = .01, Fchange (1,
2
132) = 4.98, p = .03), but not peer images (Rchange < .01, Fchange (1,
132) = 0.01, p = .94). Therefore, the effect of celebrity images on body
dissatisfaction was moderated by celebrity worship.
To determine the nature of the interaction, the results were
graphed (see Fig. 2). Following the recommendation of Aiken and
West (1991), low celebrity worship was calculated as one standard
deviation below the centred mean and high celebrity worship was
one standard deviation above the centred mean. Fig. 2 shows that
for participants who viewed travel images, celebrity worship lev-
els made little difference to their body dissatisfaction. However,
Fig. 2. The effect of image type on body dissatisfaction moderated by celebrity
worship.
42 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43
for participants who viewed celebrity images, celebrity worship
levels were positively associated with body dissatisfaction. Put dif-
ferently, for participants low on celebrity worship, image type had
little effect on their body dissatisfaction. But for participants high
on celebrity worship, image type made a large difference to their
body dissatisfaction; in particular, celebrity images had the greatest
effect.
Discussion
The present study adds to our knowledge of the effect of
attractive celebrity and peer images on women’s body image and
also contributes to current understandings of social comparison
processing and of celebrity worship. Importantly, it extends mass
media research into Instagram, a visually based social media plat-
form with little current research. First, as predicted, exposure to
Instagram images of attractive celebrities led to greater negative
mood and body dissatisfaction than exposure to travel images.
The same effect was found for attractive peer images. Second, the
effect of image type on negative mood and body dissatisfaction was
mediated by appearance comparison processing. Third, celebrity
worship was found to moderate the effect of exposure to celebrity
images on women’s body dissatisfaction.
The previous research on celebrity media has been primarily
correlational in nature (Harrison, 1997; Shorter et al., 2008). To the
best of our knowledge, the present study represents the first exper-
imental examination of the effect of exposure to celebrity images
on women’s body image. The findings establish that acute exposure
to thin and attractive female celebrity images has an immediate
negative effect on women’s mood and body image. Interestingly,
exposure to images of thin and attractive unknown peers had a
similar detrimental impact. This finding is consistent with the find-
ings from in vivo peer studies which also show negative effects
on women’s body dissatisfaction (Krones, Stice, Batres, & Orjada,
2005; Trottier, Polivy, & Herman, 2007; Wasilenko, Kulik, & Wanic,
2007). While celebrity stories and images are common content of
traditional media such as women’s magazines, peer images are
not. However, contemporary women are likely to be exposed to
an increasing number of attractive peer images with the rise of
the Internet, particularly social networking sites. Many of these
attractive peers are likely to be unknown, in contrast to previous
research with known peers (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Wheeler
& Miyake, 1992). The present study’s use of the social networking
site of Instagram afforded the opportunity to test the effect of both
celebrity and unknown peer images on the same platform. For both,
the observed effect sizes (small to medium) are consistent with
meta-analytic findings from media research using fashion model
images as stimuli (Grabe et al., 2008; Groesz et al., 2001; Want,
2009). These results suggest that exposure to thin ideal images
may have a similar negative effect on body satisfaction, regardless
of the context or whose body is featured. Future research might
explicitly investigate this suggestion. It is also important to note
that although individual effects may be small, many women are
exposed to attractive celebrity, peer, and fashion images on a daily
basis. While Instagram feeds may vary between users, our findings
show that participants followed 100–200 people, including 5–10
celebrities on Instagram. It is certainly possible that there will be
a larger cumulative detrimental impact of viewing these types of
images frequently.
The finding that the effect of image type was mediated by state
appearance comparison extends previous research using fashion
magazine advertisements (Bessenoff, 2006; Tiggemann & Polivy,
2010; Tiggemann et al., 2009) to celebrity and unknown peer
images. It also shows that women do compare to both celebri-
ties and peers when assessing appearance, consistent with some
reports (Jones, 2001; Strahan et al., 2006). However, the finding
that participants compared their appearance similarly to celebri-
ties as to peers runs counter to the logic of social comparison theory
(Festinger, 1954), which would predict greater comparison with
similar targets, in this case, peers. Perhaps attractive images, no
matter what their source, set the standard against which women
will be judged (Strahan et al., 2006). Relatedly, more complex
accounts of social comparison suggest that while women make
frequent comparisons (Leahey & Crowther, 2008; Ridolfi et al.,
2011), they are often unintentional and automatic (Gilbert, Giesler,
& Morris, 1995; Want, 2009). Women may only consider the rel-
evance or appropriateness of such comparisons after they have
already been made. In addition, participants may have compared
similarly to celebrity and peer images because Instagram presents
both on an equal platform. Instagram allows celebrities to post pic-
tures about their private daily lives, which may make viewers feel
more personally connected to them.
The finding of a significant correlation between celebrity wor-
ship and pre-exposure body dissatisfaction supports a small
amount of previous research (Maltby et al., 2005; Swami et al.,
2011). However, the finding that celebrity worship moderated
the effect of exposure to celebrity images on body dissatisfaction
is novel. Specifically, women who had higher levels of celebrity
worship felt more dissatisfied after viewing celebrity images than
women with lower levels of celebrity worship. Thus, celebrity wor-
ship may be conceptualised as an additional vulnerability factor
for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Most likely, women
high on celebrity worship consider celebrities to be both impor-
tant and self-relevant, and thus may feel more dissatisfied when
they themselves are not as attractive. In contrast, women low on
celebrity worship likely consider the lives and bodies of celebrities
as not relevant to them.
The results of the current study have important practical impli-
cations. The findings suggest that women might be advised to limit
their exposure to celebrity and peer images. However, because of
their abundance on social networking sites, this would present
a daunting challenge. Rather, the findings suggest that women
should be educated about the potential dangers of exposure to
celebrity and peer images. Whereas celebrity images and fashion
model images have generally been recognised as problematic, lit-
tle research or thinking has addressed the effect of peer images.
Indeed, the recent increased access and exposure to multiple peer
images afforded by social networking sites may constitute a sig-
nificant shift in the media landscape. Accordingly, media literacy
programmes, which have shown some success in combatting neg-
ative body image (Levine & Murnen, 2009; Wilksch et al., 2014),
need to be expanded to include both celebrity and peer media on
the Internet and elsewhere.
As with all studies, the present findings should be interpreted
in the context of some limitations. First, the sample consisted of
primarily white Australian university students. Thus, the findings
may not generalise to other groups of women. Second, the study
took place in a laboratory setting. Therefore, participants may have
attended to the images differently from the way they would inter-
act with images in a more naturalistic environment. However, real
Instagram images were presented on an ecologically valid format
(iPad). Third, the results may be subject to some demand effects
and further research might use a stronger cover story. Fourth,
although the celebrity and peer images were equated on attractive-
ness and thinness, it might be argued that the level of attractiveness
portrayed does not accurately represent the non-celebrity peer
population. However, the peer images were pictures of real people
taken from public Instagram accounts. Such attractive peer images
are not uncommon due to the editing features of Instagram and
other social networking sites, which allow people to post idealised
pictures of themselves online.
 Z. Brown, M. Tiggemann / Body Image 19 (2016) 37–43 43

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