787624

review-article2018
HPQ0010.1177/1359105318787624Journal of Health PsychologyWang et al.

Review Article

Journal of Health Psychology

Selfie posting and self-esteem among

2020, Vol. 25(2) 161­–172
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1359105318787624
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model of positive feedback and journals.sagepub.com/home/hpq

body satisfaction

Yuhui Wang1 , Xingchao Wang2 , Hongli Liu3,

Xiaochun Xie4, Pengcheng Wang1 and Li Lei1

Abstract
This study examined whether selfie-posting was positively associated with women’s self-esteem and whether
this association was mediated by positive feedback and body satisfaction. A sample of 442 Chinese young
adult women completed questionnaires on selfie-posting, positive feedback, body satisfaction, and self-
esteem. Results indicated that selfie-posting was significantly and positively related to women’s self-esteem.
In addition, positive feedback mediated the relation between selfie-posting and women’s self-esteem.
Furthermore, the association between selfie-posting and self-esteem was sequentially mediated through
positive feedback and body satisfaction. Findings from this study provide new insights into the relation
between selfie-posting and self-esteem.

Keywords
body satisfaction, positive feedback, self-esteem, selfie-posting

Introduction
Selfie is defined as “A photograph that one has
taken of oneself, typically one taken with a
smartphone or webcam and shared via social
media” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Nowadays,
taking and posting selfies on social network sites
(SNSs) are very prevalent among young people
(Katz and Crocker, 2015). Due to the pervasive-
ness of this phenomenon, considerable studies
have explored its antecedent factors, such as psy-
chological motivations, personality traits, demo-
graphic variables, and other characteristics (Fox
and Rooney, 2015; Halpern et al., 2016; Kim and
Chock, 2017; Kim et al., 2016; McCain et
al., 2016; Sorokowski et al., 2015; Sung et al.,
2016). However, research that investigates the
psychological consequences of selfie-posting is
scant. As suggested by Kim and Chock (2017), it
would be worthwhile to investigate whether and
how selfie-posting influences people’s percep-
tions of themselves, for example, self-esteem.
1Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China,
China
2School of Educational Science, Shanxi University, China
3Center for Psychological Health Education of College
Students, Shihezi University, China
4School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, China
Corresponding author:
Li Lei, Department of Psychology, Renmin University of
China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District,
Beijing 100872, China.
Email: dr.leili@qq.com
162
Self-esteem is an important component of
mental health (Duchesne et al., 2017; Gillen,
2015) and has a high correlation with subjective
well-being (Lee et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2016).
Thus, it is of theoretical and practical impor-
tance to explore factors that may have effects
on self-esteem. According to the contingencies
of self-worth theory, physical appearance is an
important source of self-esteem (Crocker et al.,
2003). Selfies, which obviously contain lots of
appearance-related information, may have
some influence on self-esteem. More impor-
tantly, this effect may be more evident among
women because they have been socialized to
believe appearance is an important basis for
self-evaluation (Clay et al., 2005; Furnham
et al., 2002). In addition, selfies posted by
women is almost twice as many as that posted
by men (Sorokowska et al., 2016; Sorokowski
et al., 2015). Therefore, it is of significance to
explore whether selfie-posting has an influence
on women’s self-esteem.
However, little is known about the effect of
selfie-posting on women’s self-esteem. To our
knowledge, only two studies investigated the
influence of selfie-posting on self-esteem, but
both of them explored this relation using sam-
ples including men and women (Shin et al.,
2017; Wang et al., 2016). In addition, neither of
them examined the mechanisms underlying this
relation. To fill this gap, this study specifically
focused on women to investigate the influence
of selfie-posting on self-esteem and the mediat-
ing mechanisms underlying this relation.
Selfie-posting and self-esteem
Self-esteem is defined as a person’s overall self-
evaluation of his or her worth (Mehdizadeh,
2010). Previous research suggests that online
self-presentation is beneficial to individuals’
self-esteem (Gonzales and Hancock, 2011;
Toma, 2013; Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). This
can be explained by the hyperpersonal model of
computer-mediated communication (CMC).
According to this model, the affordances of the
Internet allow users to present themselves
selectively (Walther, 1996). Specifically, users
Journal of Health Psychology 25(2)
usually choose the positive aspects when they
present themselves on SNSs, which may
enhance their awareness of the optimal self
(Bareket-Bojmel et al., 2016). Similarly, selfie-
posting, as a type of selective self-presentation,
may prompt a positive change in self-esteem.
Recently, several interviews suggest that
women regard selfie-posting as a way of selec-
tive self-presentation to help them improve
self-esteem (Chua and Chang, 2016; Porch,
2015; Pounders et al., 2016). Two empirical
studies, to date, explored the influence of selfie-
posting on self-esteem. Shin et al. (2017) sug-
gested that posting selfies gives the participants
a chance to choose the aspects they would like
to emphasize, which in turn positively affect
their self-esteem using an experimental design.
This speculation supports the hyperpersonal
model. However, in a cross-sectional study,
Wang et al. (2016) found that selfie-posting was
not significantly associated with self-esteem. A
possible explanation is the fact that selfies
posted by women in daily life are almost twice
as many as that posted by men (Sorokowska
et al., 2016; Sorokowski et al., 2015). According
to uses and gratification theory, users are active
in their choice of media and engage with certain
technologies to fulfill specific needs (Pittman
and Reich, 2016). Therefore, it can be specu-
lated that for men who have less selfie-posting
behavior, there may be weaker even no relation
between selfie-posting and self-esteem. In
Wang et al.’s (2016) study, however, almost
half of the sample are men, which may lead to a
non-significant relation between selfie-posting
and self-esteem on the whole.
Based on the literature review, this study
specifically focused on women and proposed
that selfie-posting would have a positive asso-
ciation with women’s self-esteem (H1). It is
important to note, however, the mediating
mechanisms underlying this relation remain
largely unknown. Answer to this question is
essential for a better understanding of how post-
ing selfies on SNSs influences women’s self-
esteem. Therefore, the current study forms a
mediation model to explore the possible medi-
ating roles of positive feedback and body
Wang et al.
satisfaction in the relation between selfie-post-
ing and self-esteem.
Positive feedback as a mediator
A possible variable that mediates the associa-
tion between selfie-posting and women’s self-
esteem is positive feedback on selfies, which
refers to receiving “likes” or supportive com-
ments on their selfies from others. According to
the self-esteem theory, one principle of self-
esteem formation is reflected appraisals, which
posits that people’s feelings about themselves
are influenced by their judgments of what oth-
ers think of them (Rosenberg et al., 1989). In
other words, self-esteem, to some degree, is a
product of others’ feedback. Specifically, high
self-esteem is likely a result when one is recog-
nized, accepted, and valued by others (Hong
et al., 2017; Pounders et al., 2016). In fact,
SNSs are perfect platforms for individuals to
obtain positive feedback, which in turn may
improve their self-concepts. This view has been
supported by numerous studies (Liu et al., 2015;
Valkenburg et al., 2006; Yang, 2014), which
show that positive feedback mediates the posi-
tive relation between SNSs use and self-esteem.
Specific to selfie-posting, Wang et al. (2016)
suggest that number of “likes” received on self-
ies may mediate the relation between selfie-
posting and life satisfaction. Although not yet
tested, it is reasonable to expect that positive
feedback would mediate the relation between
selfie-posting and self-esteem. In the following
section, prior research findings would be
reviewed to support this argument.
First, posting selfies would elicit positive
feedback from others. Previous studies show
that feedback on SNSs is predominantly posi-
tive, in particular through supportive comments
and “likes” (Bareket-Bojmel et al., 2016;
Greitemeyer et al., 2014; Valkenburg et al.,
2006). This phenomenon can be explained by
several reasons. The first one comes from the
feature of SNSs. Most SNSs (e.g. WeChat
moments and Qzone in China) only have “like”
button but no “dislike” one under every post,
which gives viewers more opportunities to offer
163
positive feedback. Another explanation is that
viewers are inclined to provide positive feed-
back because of different motivations, such as
managing their impressions (Hong et al., 2017),
gaining social gratification (Gan, 2017), or
maintaining interpersonal relationship (Surma,
2016). In addition, the primary goal people
share content about themselves on SNSs is to
garner positive feedback (Bazarova and Choi,
2014). They can optimize the reactions and
feedback from others by experimenting with
their self-presentation (Ellison et al., 2006;
Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). Taken together, it
is more likely to gain positive feedback when
people post status. Specific to selfie-posting, it
is viewed as an approval-seeking behavior and
the goal women post selfies is to get positive
feedback (Chua and Chang, 2016; Porch, 2015).
Furthermore, most women receive positive
comments and never receive negative ones after
posting selfies (Porch, 2015).
Second, feedback from others can influence
how individuals make sense of their self-con-
cepts (Greitemeyer et al., 2014; Jong and
Drummond, 2016). Prior research shows that
positive feedback could improve SNSs users’
self-esteem (Thomaes et al., 2010; Valkenburg
et al., 2006). Furthermore, more positive
appearance-related feedback is associated with
higher self-esteem among emerging adult
women (Herbozo and Thompson, 2009). As for
selfies, women regard self-esteem as a conse-
quence of the number of “likes” they received
after posting a selfie (Pounders et al., 2016). To
sum up, as selfie-posting usually arouses posi-
tive feedback and positive feedback is a predic-
tor of self-esteem, it is reasonable to assume
that positive feedback may mediate the relation
between selfie-posting and women’s self-
esteem (H2).
Body satisfaction as a mediator
Body satisfaction is defined as individuals’ con-
tentedness with their overall body or with spe-
cific body parts (Peter and Valkenburg, 2014).
According to self-concepts theories, dissatis-
faction in a particular domain will have an
164
impact on global self-esteem (James, 1890),
which indicates that body satisfaction may have
an influence on self-esteem. For instance,
Crocker et al. (2003) propose physical appear-
ance is a source of self-esteem. Furthermore,
women discuss self-esteem in conjunction with
their physical appearance (Pounders et al.,
2016). Therefore, antecedent factors that can
impact body satisfaction may also have indirect
effects on self-esteem. For instance, SNSs use
can predict self-esteem through body satisfac-
tion (Lee et al., 2014). Thus, selfie-posting, as
an important activity on SNSs, may increase
women’s self-esteem via improving their body
satisfaction. Two reasons underlie our argument
for body satisfaction as a mediator.
First, posting selfies may have a positive
influence on individual’s body satisfaction.
Based on the hyperpersonal model (Walther,
1996), selfie-posting provides people with the
ability to selectively present their bodies on
SNSs (Porch, 2015). People can edit their self-
ies and choose the beautiful ones to share on
SNSs (Chae, 2017; Chua and Chang, 2016).
This selective presentation may enhance their
awareness of the optimal self (Bareket-Bojmel
et al., 2016). For instance, posting selfies helps
women positively view and have pride in their
own bodies (Porch, 2015), which are the quali-
ties of positive body image (Avalos et al., 2005).
Furthermore, women with positive body image
usually have greater appearance satisfaction
(Williams et al., 2004; Wood-Barcalow et al.,
2010), although positive body image is not
merely the absence of negative body image and
much more than body satisfaction (Avalos
et al., 2005; Halliwell, 2015; Tylka and Wood-
Barcalow, 2015b; Wood-Barcalow et al., 2010).
Thus, we speculate selfie-posting would be
related to women’s body satisfaction.
Surprisingly, one study found that selfie-post-
ing was not a significant predictor to body satis-
faction (McLean et al., 2015). It is important to
note, however, the sample in McLean et al.’s
(2015) study is relatively small (n = 101) as
acknowledged by themselves which may influ-
ence the results. In contrast, two studies recently
indicate a significant relation between
Journal of Health Psychology 25(2)
selfie-posting and body satisfaction using larger
samples. Specifically, Fox and Vendemia
(2016) find that selfie-posting is positively
related to body image in a large sample
(n = 1,686). Similarly, Ridgway and Clayton
(2016) also find a positive association between
selfie-posting and body satisfaction in their
study (n = 420).
Second, the positive influence of body satis-
faction on women’s self-esteem is confirmed by
many studies. For example, there is a positive
and significant relation between body shape
satisfaction and self-esteem as well as appear-
ance satisfaction and self-esteem among women
(Abell and Richards, 1996; Herbozo and
Thompson, 2006). Furthermore, body dissatis-
faction, which means low level of body satis-
faction, is negatively related to self-esteem
(Herbozo and Thompson, 2006; Van den Berg
et al., 2010). The effect of body satisfaction on
self-esteem is also demonstrated by longitudi-
nal studies (Paxton et al., 2006; Tiggemann,
2005). Based on the literature reviewed, we
assumed that body satisfaction would mediate
the association between selfie-posting and
women’s self-esteem (H3).
Serial mediation effect of positive
feedback and body satisfaction
As reviewed above, both positive feedback and
body satisfaction may mediate the relation
between selfie-posting and women’s self-
esteem. However, little is known about how the
two mediators work together in this relation.
Some indirect evidence suggests a sequential
mediation model may exist, in which the asso-
ciation between selfie-posting and women’s
self-esteem would be mediated sequentially by
positive feedback and body satisfaction.
Previous research shows that when women
receive “likes” or supportive comments after
posting selfies, they believe they are beautiful
(Porch, 2015). That is, positive feedback on
selfies from others is a positive predictor of
women’s body satisfaction. This argument is
supported by some studies on the relation
between body-related comments and body
Wang et al.
satisfaction (Herbozo and Thompson, 2006;
Mclaren et al., 2004). Thus, positive feedback
on selfies may has a positive influence on wom-
en’s body satisfaction. Furthermore, consider-
ing the relation between selfie-posting and
positive feedback as well as the effect of body
satisfaction on women’s self-esteem mentioned
above, we assumed that the relation between
selfie-posting and women’s self-esteem would
be mediated sequentially through positive feed-
back and body satisfaction (H4).
Method
Participants
The initial sample consisted of 450 female col-
lege students from a university in China who
had experience of posting selfies on SNSs.
Instructors from the university were contacted
to obtain permission to recruit participants from
their classes. Students were voluntary to par-
take in the survey and they received no reward
for the participation. Eight participants failed to
complete the survey fully and were excluded
from the analysis. Ages of the final sample
(n = 442) ranged from 17 to 24, with an average
age of 19.29 years (standard deviation
(SD) = 1.12 years).
Measures
Selfie-posting. Selfie-posting was assessed using
Sung et al.’s (2016) method by asking “How
often would you say that you post selfies on
SNSs?”. Response options ranged from 1 = very
infrequently to 8 = several times a day. Higher
scores indicate higher selfie-posting frequen-
cies. This measure has been successfully used
in previous studies (Fox and Vendemia, 2016;
Kim et al., 2016; Sung et al., 2016).
Positive feedback. Positive feedback on SNSs
posting scale (Liu and Brown, 2014) was modi-
fied to measure how often participants received
positive feedback on selfies they posted on
SNSs. Participants responded to 5 items on
5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree
165
to 5 = strongly agree). A representative item was
“Everytime I post a selfie on SNSs, a lot of
friends would give positive comments, such as
beautiful/handsome.” Items were averaged to
form a scale score with higher score indicating
receiving more positive feedback on the selfies
which the participants posted on SNSs. In this
research, its Cronbach’s α was .82.
Body satisfaction. Body satisfaction was assessed
using Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS), a
subscale of Multidimensional Body-Self Rela-
tions Questionnaire (MBSRQ; Cash, 2000).
BASS includes nine items taping dissatisfac-
tion–satisfaction with discrete aspects of one’s
appearance and overall appearance. The BASS
uses a fully anchored, 5-point response scale
ranging from 1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very
satisfied. Higher scores represent higher levels
of body satisfaction. For this study, the measure
demonstrated good reliability (α = .81).
Self-esteem. Self-esteem was assessed with
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosen-
berg, 1965). Participants responded to 10 items,
using 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from
1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree.
Higher score on RSES indicates higher self-
esteem. For this study, the Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient was .83.
Covariates. Given that body mass index (BMI)
is a risk factor for body dissatisfaction (Stice,
2002) and (different forms of) state updates are
associated with body satisfaction (Smith et al.,
2013) as well as self-esteem (Gonzales and
Hancock, 2011; Toma, 2013), we asked partici-
pants to report their height, weight and fre-
quency of status update on SNSs. BMI was
calculated based on participants’ height and
weight.
Procedure
Ethical approval was gained from the first
author’s University Ethics Committee.
Instructors from the university were contacted
to obtain permission to conduct a survey in their
166 Journal of Health Psychology 25(2)

Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations for main study variables.

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Age 19.29 1.12 1
2. BMI 20.12 2.10 .02 1
3. Status update 3.46 2.01 –.17** –.06 1
4. Selfie-posting 1.86 1.36 –.01 –.04 .40** 1
5. Positive feedback 3.40 0.68 .07 –.15** .14** .23** 1
6. Body satisfaction 3.02 0.61 –.01 –.26** .06 .14** .28** 1
7. Self-esteem 2.79 0.40 –.06 –.09 .05 .14* .22** .44** 1

BMI: body mass index; SD: standard deviation.

*p < .05; **p < .01.

classes. We asked students whether they had
posted selfies on SNSs before and only students
who had this experience participated in our sur-
vey. Informed consent was obtained from par-
ticipants. The first author (Y.W.) of this article
distributed the questionnaires to all the partici-
pants with the help of the instructors in the
classroom. All participants received instruc-
tions and were told that their privacy would be
protected and they were free to withdraw from
the study at any time. The anonymity of the
study was emphasized before data collection.
Participants completed the self-report question-
naires in a quiet classroom. It took about 10 min
to complete all the questionnaires.
Results
Preliminary analyses and descriptive
data
Means, SDs, and zero-order correlations for all
study variables are presented in Table 1. Ages
of the participants ranged from 17 to 24 years
and the mean age was 19.29 years old
(SD = 1.12 years). On average, BMI of the par-
ticipants was 20.12 (SD = 2.10), ranging from
14.88 to 30.33. Regarding the frequency of sta-
tus update, the average score was 3.46
(SD = 2.01). Correlation analyses indicated that
BMI was significantly associated with body
satisfaction and self-esteem and status update
had a significant relation to selfie-posting and
positive feedback. Therefore, we included these
two variables as covariates in following media-
tion analyses.
Bivariate correlations among the key varia-
bles showed that selfie-posting, positive feed-
back, and body satisfaction were significantly
and positively correlated with self-esteem. In
addition, selfie-posting, positive feedback, and
body satisfaction were significantly correlated
with each other positively. Therefore, H1 was
supported.
Testing for mediation effect
Model 6 of the PROCESS macro (Hayes,
2013) was adopted to test the mediating roles
of positive feedback and body satisfaction. As
Table 2 illustrates, selfie-posting was signifi-
cantly associated with self-esteem, b = .12,
p < .05 (total effect, Model 1). Results also
showed that selfie-posting significantly posi-
tively predicted positive feedback, b = .20,
p < .001 (Model 2). Shown in Model 3, posi-
tive feedback positively predicted body satis-
faction significantly (b = .22, p < .001), whereas
the direct effect of selfie-posting on body sat-
isfaction was not significant (b = .09, p > .05).
Furthermore, positive feedback (b = .09,
p < .05) and body satisfaction (b = .40, p < .001)
positively predicted self-esteem significantly,
while the direct effect of selfie-posting on self-
esteem was not significant, b = .05, p > .05
(Model 4).
For the indirect effect, 95 percent bootstrap
confidence intervals (CIs) without “zero”
Wang et al. 167

Table 2. Multiple regression analyses of the mediation effect.

predictors Model 1 (SE) Model 2 (PF) Model 3 (BS) Model 4 (SE)

b t b t b t b t
BMI –.08 –1.71 –.14** –3.03 –.22*** –5.06 .04 0.80
SU .01 0.15 .06 1.25 .01 0.14 –.01 0.05
SP .12* 2.57 .20*** 4.17 .09 1.88 .05 1.19
PF .22*** 4.82 .09* 2.03
BS .40*** 8.67
R2 .03** .08*** .14*** .20***
F 3.86 12.65 17.51 21.13

SP: selfie-posting; BMI: body mass index; SU: status update; PF: positive feedback; BS: body satisfaction; SE: self-esteem.
Criteria are in the parentheses.
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Figure 1. The mediation effects of positive feedback and body satisfaction in the relation between selfie-
posting and self-esteem. Path values are the path coefficients (standard errors; *p < .05, ***p < .001).

indicates the significant mediation effect. It Discussion

showed that the total indirect effect was 0.07
and significant (CI = (0.02, 0.12)), and the ratio
of indirect effect to total effect was 56.9 per-
cent. Specifically, selfie-posting significantly
predicted self-esteem via positive feedback
(CI = (0.001, 0.05)); the standardized indirect
effect was 0.02 and the ratio of indirect effect to
total effect was 14.7 percent. Also, selfie-post-
ing significantly predicted self-esteem via the
positive feedback and body satisfaction succes-
sively (CI = (0.01, 0.03)); the standardized indi-
rect effect was 0.02 and the ratio of indirect
effect to total effect was 14.1 percent. No sig-
nificant mediation effect was found of body sat-
isfaction in the relation between selfie-posting
and self-esteem (CI = (–0.01, 0.08)). Taken
together, H2 and H4 were supported, but H3
was not (Figure 1).
Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that
selfie-posting was positively related to women’s
self-esteem. This finding is congruent with the
hyperpersonal model (Walther, 1996), as well as
previous studies that find online self-presenta-
tion has a positive effect on individuals’ self-
esteem (Gonzales and Hancock, 2011; Toma,
2013; Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). Our study
extends the existing research in SNSs use field
and supports the hyperpersonal model by exam-
ining the influence of a new and pervasive phe-
nomenon (i.e. selfie-posting) on self-esteem.
That is, when people attempt to share their self-
ies on SNSs, it is easy for them to selectively
self-present themselves in the selfies (Chua and
Chang, 2016; Fox and Vendemia, 2016), which
in turn would positively affect their self-esteem
168
(Shin et al., 2017). In addition, this study is the
first that specifically focuses on women to
explore this relation. Women have been social-
ized to believe that appearance is an important
basis for self-evaluation (Clay et al., 2005;
Furnham et al., 2002). Therefore, when women
post selfies which usually contain positive body-
related information due to selective self-presen-
tation, they have pride in their own body and
positively evaluate themselves (Porch, 2015),
which in turn enhances their self-esteem.
In line with our hypothesis, positive feed-
back mediated the relation between selfie-post-
ing and self-esteem. This finding is consistent
with previous research which finds positive
feedback mediates the relation between SNSs
use and self-concept (Liu et al., 2015;
Valkenburg et al., 2006; Yang, 2014). It is
important to note, unlike those prior studies, our
study first focuses on a more specific SNSs
activity to examine the mediating role of posi-
tive feedback. Our finding indicates that women
who post selfies usually receive positive feed-
back, which in turn is beneficial to their self-
esteem. First, the path from selfie-posting to
positive feedback parallels previous research
which shows feedback received on SNSs is pre-
dominantly positive (Valkenburg et al., 2006).
This phenomenon can be explained from two
aspects. From the perspective of viewers, they
usually give positive feedback to the status
updated by friends for different motivations.
For example, they regarded giving “likes” as a
strategy of impression management which
could help them leave a good impression to
their friends based on the theory of impression
management (Hong et al., 2017). The other
explanation comes from posters. People are
quite able to learn how to optimize their self-
presentation by means of a process of trial and
error, and, by doing so, to optimize the feed-
back they received (Ellison et al., 2006;
Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). Second, the path
from positive feedback to self-esteem provides
supports to the principle of reflected appraisals,
which holds that people’s feelings about them-
selves are strongly influenced by others’
appraisals (Rosenberg et al., 1989). That is, for
Journal of Health Psychology 25(2)
selfie-posters, others’ positive feedback on their
selfies is viewed as social acceptance and rec-
ognition, which could improve their self-esteem
(Hong et al., 2017).
Although the mediating effect of body satis-
faction was not supported, the results showed
that the association between selfie-posting and
self-esteem was sequentially mediated through
positive feedback and body satisfaction, which
is consistent with our hypothesis. That is,
women are more likely to receive positive feed-
back when posting selfies, which in turn can
contribute to increase in body satisfaction and
further enhance their self-esteem. This serial
mediating model advances our understanding
of how selfie-posting is associated with wom-
en’s self-esteem. First, positive feedback on
selfies can increase women’s body satisfaction.
That is, when women receive “likes” or sup-
portive comments on selfies, they have positive
self-evaluation about their bodies (Porch,
2015). Furthermore, women with positive body
image would have higher body satisfaction
(Avalos et al., 2005; Tylka and Wood-Barcalow,
2015a; Wood-Barcalow et al., 2010). This find-
ing is consistent with previous studies showing
positive appearance-related feedback is associ-
ated with body satisfaction (Herbozo and
Thompson, 2006; Mclaren et al., 2004). Second,
the significant role of body satisfaction on
women’s self-esteem is noteworthy. This find-
ing can be explained by the contingencies of
self-worth theory that proposes physical appear-
ance is a source of self-esteem (Crocker et al.,
2003). Women have been socialized to internal-
ize an observer’s view of their own bodies as
objects to be evaluated according to objectifica-
tion theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997).
They focus on observable body attributes (i.e.
physical appearance) and believe that appear-
ance is an important basis for self-evaluation
(Clay et al., 2005; Furnham et al., 2002). As a
result, women’s self-esteem is influenced by
their body satisfaction. To sum up, this inte-
grated sequential mediation model offers new
insights into the literature and provides a more
comprehensive process account for how selfie-
posting is associated with self-esteem.
Wang et al.
Several limitations should be addressed. First,
sample in this study was limited to female col-
lege students. This limits our ability to generalize
findings to other female groups, such as adoles-
cent girls and older women. Also, although
selfie-posting is not as prevalent among men as it
is among women, it is of interest to explore this
phenomenon among males and test the role of
gender in the proposed model. Future studies
should extend to more diverse samples, includ-
ing females from early adolescence to adulthood
and males. Second, the data were collected only
through self-report measures, and it might affect
the results of this study. It seems likely that indi-
viduals with high self-esteem may be more
inclined to attend to positive feedback, which
may account for the correlation between these
two variables. Furthermore, self-report fre-
quency of selfie-posting may miss other useful
information in the selfies. Future studies could
combine users’ self-reported measure and con-
tent analyses by viewing their accounts to meas-
ure selfie-posting and feedback from others.
Finally, our findings were based on cross-sec-
tional data, which limit our ability to draw a
causal conclusion. Although the tested model
provides one possible combination of the rela-
tionships, it is also plausible that receiving more
positive feedback would predict the frequency of
selfie-posting based on social learning theory.
Also, it seems likely that women with high body
satisfaction may post more selfies and individu-
als with high self-esteem may report more posi-
tive feedback. Therefore, longitudinal designs
are needed to examine causal or bi-directional
relationships between these variables.
Despite limitations, this study has both theo-
retical and practical implications. From a theo-
retical perspective, the results offer additional
evidence to the relation between selfie-posting
and women’s self-esteem, which enriches the
literature in SNSs field and provides support to
hyperpersonal model. It also provides an empir-
ical framework through testing the mediating
effects of positive feedback and body satisfac-
tion. These results can shed light on the under-
lying mechanism between selfie-posting and
self-esteem. From a practical perspective, our
169
findings can help to improve individuals’ self-
esteem. Given the positive influence of selfie-
posting on self-esteem, individuals can increase
their self-esteem by posting selfies temperately.
Moreover, insofar as positive feedback is a
mediator in the relation between selfie-posting
and self-esteem, more positive response should
be given when our friends post their selfies,
which in turn may increase their self-esteem.
Conclusion
Using a Chinese female college student sample,
this study examined the direct and indirect rela-
tion between selfie-posting and self-esteem.
Results supported the positive association
between selfie-posting and self-esteem and the
mediating effect of positive feedback in the rela-
tion, while the mediating role of body satisfaction
was not supported. In addition, the association
between selfie-posting and self-esteem was
sequentially mediated through positive feedback
and body satisfaction. Findings of this study pro-
vide us with a better understanding of how selfie-
posting influence self-esteem, which is conducive
to improving people’s self-esteem. And it is also
possible for there to be flow-on effects that
enhance mental health as well as well-being.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of inter-
est with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following
financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: The present study was sup-
ported by the Key Research Institute in Humanities
and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education
(Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin
Normal University) (14JJD190005) and the Key
Project of Social Science Fund of Beijing, China
(15SHA005).
ORCID iDs
Yuhui Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7216-
0287
170
Xingchao Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-44
72-189X
Pengcheng Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
0241-1888
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