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Social comparisons on social media: online
appearance-related activity and body dissatisfaction in
adolescent girls
M. Scully, L. Swords* and E. Nixon
School of Psychology and Trinity Research in Childhood Centre, Trinity College Dublin
Introduction: Adolescents’engagement with online social networking platforms is advancing at an exponential rate and research is
needed to investigate any impact on young users’mental health. This study examined appearance-related activity (e.g. looking at
photos of friends) on social media and body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls.
Methods: Self-report measures of online appearance-related activity, social comparisons to female target groups, internalization of
the thin ideal, body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem were administered to 210 girls (mean age =15.16 years).
Results: Body dissatisfaction was significantly related to (i) time spent engaged in social comparisons and (ii) upward social
comparisons with various female targets while online. Evaluating oneself less favorably than the target group of close friends
was most strongly associated with poorer body image appraisals. Serial multiple mediation analysis revealed that even after con-
trolling for age and self-esteem, time spent engaged in social comparisons significantly mediated the relationship between online
appearance-related activity and body dissatisfaction. This association was then further partially mediated by internalization of the
thin ideal, which significantly mediated the relationship between time engaged in social comparisons and body dissatisfaction.
Discussion: Results are discussed in terms of online social media platforms representing an additional appearance culture envi-
ronment for adolescent girls. The effects of this on the mental health of vulnerable users and how future research should investigate
protective factors that may buffer young girls from the adverse effects of social media are considered.
Received 07 January 2020; Revised 31 July 2020; Accepted 07 August 2020
Key words: Adolescence, appearance-related activity, body dissatisfaction, social comparison, social media.
Introduction
Sociocultural models of body dissatisfaction emphasize
the role of the media in the onset, development, and
maintenance of negative evaluative body image
(Thompson et al. 1999). While extensive research has
examined the effect of more traditional forms of media,
like magazines and TV (e.g. Grabe et al.2008), less
research has investigated how newer forms of media
such as Internet-based social networking sites (SNSs)
are impacting upon users’appraisals of their body size
and shape (Holland & Tiggemann, 2016). Fewer studies
still have investigated this with a focus on adolescent
girls, a group more likely to engage in excessive online
social networking (e.g. Kelly et al. 2019) and report more
negative body image evaluations in comparison with
male peers (e.g. Jones, 2004; Lawler & Nixon, 2011;
Dooley et al. 2019). Given that body dissatisfaction
has been linked with a range of adverse outcomes,
including the onset of eating disorders (e.g. Stice &
Shaw, 2002), low self-esteem, increased negative affect
(Stice & Bearman, 2001), and significant emotional dis-
tress (Johnson & Wardle, 2005), examining factors that
contribute to lower levels of body satisfaction in this
vulnerable group is of critical importance for psycho-
logical research in order to improve targeted preven-
tion and early intervention endeavors.
Recent years have witnessed the proliferation and
increasing popularity of online social media and net-
working sites like Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram.
Mobile devices provide convenient access to the
Internet to the extent that a recent US report stated that
45% of adolescents claim they are online ‘almost con-
stantly’(Pew Research Centre, 2018). Considering these
rates of exposure, it is imperative to investigate how
this new form of media may be contributing to the body
image appraisals of adolescent users.
Adolescence is a time when identity is being forged.
Physical appearance is highly valued to the extent that
it is the most important predictor of adolescents’overall
self-worth (Harter, 2006). Thinness, for girls, is deemed
an advantageous attribute for peer acceptance in a
developmental period where the peer group gains sig-
nificant saliency and group acceptance is highly impor-
tant (Oliver & Thelen, 1996). Indeed, sociocultural
models also highlight how peers play an important role
in identifying and reinforcing appearance ideals and
beauty standards (Thompson et al. 1999). Engagement
*Address for correspondence: Lorraine Swords, School of
Psychology, Trinity College Dublin (Email: swordsl@tcd.ie)
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, page 1 of 12. © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The College of
Psychiatrists of Ireland ORIGINAL RESEARCH
doi:10.1017/ipm.2020.93
in peer appearance conversations and receipt of peer
appearance criticism are common everyday inter-
actions among adolescents in many Western cultures
(e.g. Jones et al. 2004; Carey et al. 2010; Lawler &
Nixon, 2011; Webb et al. 2014; Kierans & Swords,
2016; Trekels & Eggermont, 2017). In Ireland, adoles-
cents have reported being influenced by the appearance
values and behaviors of their peers (Kierans & Swords,
2016), and peer appearance conversations and criticism
have been linked with body dissatisfaction, particularly
among young girls who have a greater propensity to
discuss appearance ideals compared with their male
counterparts (Lawler & Nixon, 2011). Thus, SNSs
may represent a distinct platform where body dissatis-
faction levels can be exacerbated due to the strong peer
presence on the site and the constant stream of photos
and social information that is being perpetuated
through the newsfeed feature (Perloff, 2014).
While the literature has reported that time spent on
SNSs is significantly related to body image concerns
(Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; de Vries et al. 2016) and
depressive symptoms (e.g. Kelly et al. 2019), it appears
that the type of activity engaged in while online is
worth further consideration (e.g. Tiggemann &
Miller, 2010; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013). For example,
Meier and Gray (2014) noted how it was not the fre-
quency or quantity of Facebook use among adolescents
that predicted their levels of body dissatisfaction, but
rather the extent to which adolescents engaged in
appearance-related activities such as viewing, tagging,
or commenting on images of themselves or others.
Similarly, Tiggemann and Miller (2010) found that it
was adolescent girls’engagement with appearance-
focused content while online that was associated with
crucial mediating mechanisms implicated in the proc-
esses linking media exposure and body dissatisfaction
such as internalization of the thin ideal and social
comparisons. Internalization of the thin ideal refers to
the degree to which an individual cognitively ‘buys
into’sociocultural ideals, ascribes personal relevance
to them, and seeks to pursue these often unattainable
goals (Thompson & Stice, 2001). Thin ideal media have
been shown to induce girls’and women’s internaliza-
tion of sociocultural ideals and their propensity toward
appearance comparisons (Keery et al. 2004).
Social comparisons are at work when individuals
evaluate and determine their personal worth based
on perceptions of how they measure up to others across
a range of domains Thompson and Stice (2001).
Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory (1954) proposes
that individuals increase rates of social comparisons
when they are unsure of themselves. This aspect of
the theory may be particularly relevant for adolescents
who, according to Erikson (1959), are undergoing an
‘identity crisis’and may turn to peers to obtain social
information about the self in order to reduce uncer-
tainty and forge their identity (Abrams & Hogg, 1988;
Butzer & Kuiper, 2006).
In their systematic review on the impact of SNSs on
body image and disordered eating outcomes, Holland
and Tiggemann (2016) suggest that engaging in social
comparisons mediated the relationship between time
online and body image appraisals. Further to this, in
their sample of female university students, Fardouly
and Vartanian (2015) identified the value of examining
both the frequency and direction of comparisons, par-
ticularly ‘upward comparisons’, where one’s own
appearance is perceived to be less appealing or attrac-
tive than others. This practice has been associated with
lower self-esteem (Allan & Gilbert, 1995), higher body
dissatisfaction rates (Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001),
and disordered eating (Saunders & Eaton, 2018). It
has been reported that adolescent girls engage in this
behavior more frequently than adolescent boys
(Jones, 2001) with social targets for such comparisons
including peers, family members, and celebrities
(Krayer et al. 2008). With SNSs like Facebook uploading
over 350 million pictures to its platform every day
(Social Report, 2018), the Internet offers increased
opportunities for adolescent users to engage in social
comparisons. Indeed, it is suggested that individuals
who have a high social comparison orientation may
be drawn to these sites for this very reason (Vogel
et al. 2015).
Sociocultural models (e.g. Thompson et al. 1999)
have been tested repeatedly in the literature and have
received empirical support for their proposition that
the media influences body dissatisfaction levels
through the mediating processes of internalization
and social comparisons (e.g. Keery et al. 2004). These
mediating mechanisms are important for explaining
variation in body dissatisfaction rates. For example,
research has found that although most female adoles-
cents are aware of depictions of the ‘thin ideal’in the
media (Milkie, 1999), the extent to which girls deem
them to be personally relevant or attainable varies.
Objectification theories (e.g. Fredrickson & Roberts,
1997) have also attempted to explain the effect of the
media on body image appraisals. They propose that
the pervasive promotion of appearance ideals for girls
and women through media channels induce women
and girls to relentlessly and self-consciously monitor
and compare their bodies’external appearance and
internalize how they expect others to perceive them,
a process termed as ‘self-objectification.’
The present study
When exposed to media portrayals of the thin ideal,
body surveillance, or the monitoring of outward
2M. Scully et al.
appearance, and the processes of internalization and
social comparisons are argued to underlie higher levels
of body dissatisfaction. Although there has been a pro-
liferation of studies examining the effects of social
media usage on body image with young adults in recent
years, adolescents have not been afforded the same
attention within the literature (Holland & Tiggemann,
2016). These populations, from sequential –but differ-
ent –periods of the life course, should not be assumed
to be the same in terms of psychological processes and
outcomes. Self-esteem, for example, has been shown to
decline during adolescence (Robins & Trzesniewski,
2005) but to increase gradually during emerging adult-
hood (Chung et al. 2014). Furthermore, the popularity of
SNSs among adolescent girls (e.g. Kelly et al. 2019) who
are a group already noted to have widespread dissatis-
faction with their body shape and weight (e.g. Dooley
et al. 2019) is particularly concerning. More work is
needed to examine the processes at work.
In the present study, Facebook is the SNS in focus.
Facebook is the most popular social network in the
world (Statista, 2019a) and is one of the most used
among teenagers, such that a majority of adolescents
across the US and UK are active members (Pew
Research Centre, 2018; Ofcom, 2019). As adolescent
girls use social media sites, particularly those like
Facebook that are visually oriented, more than their
male counterparts (Pew Research Center, 2018), these
sites may be acting as a unique platform for social com-
parisons with the female peer group.
Research has found that exposure to peers who
closely typify the thin ideal heightens body dissatisfac-
tion levels in young women (Krones et al. 2005). Social
comparisons to peers rather than celebrities may afford
different outcomes for body image concerns as peer
appearances may be evaluated as being more moderate
and personally attainable due to peers’similar lifestyles
and resources (Mussweiler, 2003). Furthermore,
because users present idealized depictions of them-
selves online, this behavior may be distorting the reality
from which actual comparisons stem (Feinstein et al.
2013). The first aim of the present study is thus to
explore participants’reports of social comparisons with
proximal (e.g. close friends and family) and more distal
(e.g. celebrity) female targets. Comparisons will be
assessed in terms of both frequency and favorability,
where the appearance of others is perceived to be more
appealing than one’s own. Associations with reported
body dissatisfaction will also be examined.
It also appears that measuring total time spent on
SNSs, which does not account for how this time is spent,
is less informative than specifically measuring time
spent engaging in appearance-related activities while
logged on. For example, members of Facebook can
access a wide range of features that allow them to
engage in activities such as live chat or video streaming,
playing games, posting comments or photographs,
or sharing links to content deemed interesting.
Obviously, many of these activities are not related to
physical appearance. As such, this study also aims to
ascertain among a sample of adolescent girls if there
is an association between appearance-related activities,
specifically, and body dissatisfaction. It draws upon
sociocultural and objectification models of body dissat-
isfaction to examine social comparisons and internali-
zation of the thin ideal as significant mediating
mechanisms.
Participant age and self-esteem, the attitude one has
toward the self, also referred to as self-worth or self-
image (Rosenberg, 1965), will be controlled for as
possible confounding variables. During adolescence,
self-esteem and body image judgments are rapidly
developing and fluctuating, with researchers highlight-
ing the inextricable link between the two (Harter, 2006;
van den Berg et al. 2010). In addition, various research
studies with samples of adolescents or young people
have found self-esteem to have varying mediating and
moderating roles in explaining sociocultural influences
on body dissatisfaction (e.g. Stice & Whitenton, 2002;
De Sousa et al. 2014; Ahadzadeh, Sharif, & Ong, 2017).
It appears that low self-esteem may contribute to girls’
engagement in body comparisons and heighten levels
of internalization, and other processes that increase
vulnerability to body dissatisfaction (e.g. Durkin &
Paxton, 2002; Caqueo-Urízar et al. 2011). Of course, it
may also be the case that self-esteem is also influenced
by exposure to media portrayals of the thin ideal, com-
parisons, and internalization and body dissatisfaction.
Thus, controlling for a possible confounding variable
such as self-esteem reduces threats to the validity of
inferences that may be made about associations from
the mediation analysis.
In summary, the following two research hypotheses
were proposed: (1) there will be a positive association
between body dissatisfaction and adolescents’fre-
quency and favorability (i.e. direction) of comparisons
to proximal (e.g. close friends) and distal (e.g. celeb-
rities) female targets on SNSs like Facebook and
(2) Social comparisons and internalization of the thin
ideal will mediate associations between online appear-
ance-related activity and body dissatisfaction (while
controlling for age and self-esteem).
Methods
Participants
Participants (n=210) were female students aged
between 12 and 17 years (M=15.16, SD =1.17) from
three second-level schools in Ireland (one single-sex
Social Comparisons on Social Media 3
school, one fee-paying school, and one located in an
urban area. None were identified as being in receipt
of government support to tackle social or educational
disadvantage). All participants had completed at least
8 years of formal education.
Materials
Appearance exposure
The eight-item Photo Subscale devised by Meier
and Gray (2014) was used to determine how often
participants engage in appearance-related activities
(e.g. ‘update your profile photo’or ‘view friends’pho-
tos of themselves’) while on Facebook. Participants
indicated their typical engagement with a photo-related
feature on a 5-point scale ranging from ‘0=almost never
or never’to ‘4=nearly every time I log on’or ‘4=more often
than once a month’, depending on the feature examined.
Scores can range from 0 to 32 with higher scores indicat-
ing higher engagement in appearance-related activities.
Internal consistency reliability in the present study was
acceptable (Cronbach’sα=.82).
Comparisons to specific target groups
With regard to specific female target groups on
Facebook, participants completed items devised by
Fardouly and Vartanian (2015) to report the frequency
with which they make appearance comparisons (‘When
looking at photos of the following people, how often do
you compare your body to theirs?’0=never to 4 =very
often) and the direction of these appearance compari-
sons (‘When comparing your body to each of the fol-
lowing people, how do you rate yourself?’1=much
better to 7 =much worse). Higher scores indicated
greater tendencies to engage in social comparisons
and upward comparisons on Facebook, respectively.
The female target groups varied in relational
closeness and comprised family members,close friends
(i.e. females you are friends with on Facebook and regu-
larly hang out with), distal peers (i.e. females you know
on Facebook or otherwise but do not regularly hang out
with), and celebrities (e.g. actors, musicians, and
models). Scores obtained for each target group were
analyzed separately for both comparison measures.
Internalization of the thin ideal
The Thin-Ideal Internalization Scale has been utilized in
recent studies to measure levels of internalization of the
thin ideal within the female population (e.g. Stice et al.
2017). Using a 5-point response scale (0 =strongly
disagree to 4 =strongly agree), participants rated the
extent to which they agreed or disagreed with eight
statements relating to their levels of internalization such
as ‘Slim women are more attractive’and ‘Women with
toned bodies are more attractive’. Scores can range from
0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher levels of
internalization and lower scores on the scale indicating
lower levels of internalization. Internal consistency
reliability in the present study was high (Cronbach’s
α=.90).
Body dissatisfaction
Using a 6-point response scale (0 =never,5=always),
participants completed the nine-item Body
Dissatisfaction Subscale of the Eating Disorder
Inventory (Garner et al. 1983) to rate statements about
their body image. Scores can range from 0 to 45 with
higher scores indicating higher levels of body dissatis-
faction. Internal consistency reliability in the present
study was acceptable (Cronbach’sα=.83).
Self-esteem
Self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg’s Self-
Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Using a 5-point
response scale (0 =strongly disagree to 4 =strongly
agree), participants rated the extent to which they
agreed or disagreed with 10 statements about their
self-esteem, such as, ‘On the whole I am satisfied with
myself’. Scores can range from 0 to 40, with higher
scores on the scale indicating higher levels of self-
esteem. Internal consistency reliability in the present
study was acceptable (Cronbach’sα=.78).
Procedure
Ethical approval was granted by the School of
Psychology ethics committee within the authors’uni-
versity. After obtaining consent from school principals,
parent information and consent forms were sent home
with students which outlined the objectives of the
study. Students whose parents signed consent forms
were then provided with information sheets and assent
forms and invited to take part in the study. Parent
consent response rate was 59% and student assent
response rate was 100%. Data collection took place in
a group setting with a staff member present during
school hours between December 2015 and January
2016. Upon completion, questionnaires were collected
and all participants were debriefed verbally and in
writing.
Data analysis
‘Rule of thumb’guidelines (e.g. Garver & Mentzer,
1999) proposing a ‘critical sample size’of 200 for path
analyses were consulted in advance of data collection.
Two hundred and ten participants completed the sur-
vey instrument. Their data were analyzed using the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version
4M. Scully et al.
23.0; IBM SPSS, Chicago, IL) and the process computa-
tion tool for SPSS (Hayes, 2017). Analyses of missing
data indicated that no item exceeded a missing rate
above 5%. Little’s missing completely at random
(MCAR) tests indicated that these items were missing
completely at random and so scores were imputed
employing expectation–maximization algorithm
(Little & Rubin, 2002).
Results
There will be a positive association between body dis-
satisfaction and adolescents’frequency and favorability
of comparisons to proximal (e.g. close friends) and dis-
tal (e.g. celebrities) female targets on Facebook.
Table 1shows how time spent engaged in social
comparisons with the target groups of family, close
friends, distal peers, and celebrities on Facebook was
significantly correlated with body dissatisfaction in
adolescent girls (all p<.001). Target-specific upward
comparisons were also significantly associated with
body dissatisfaction among the sample (all p<.01),
most particularly when adolescent girls perceive their
appearance as being worse than that of close
friends (r=.47).
Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA)
tests revealed that participants’responses to the differ-
ent target groups differed significantly with regard to
the time they spent engaging in social comparisons
(F(2.845, 591.8) =131.83, p<0.001; partial eta squared
.388) and the direction of these comparisons (F(2.154,
447.94) =134.4, p<0.001; partial eta squared .391). As
shown in Table 1, adolescent girls most frequently com-
pared their bodies with celebrities followed by close
friends, distal peers, and family. All mean frequency
scores were significantly different from each other at
p<.001, except for the mean difference between close
friends and distal peers which was significant at
p<.05. Body comparisons were found to all be in an
upward direction, with participants rating their bodies
least favorably when compared with celebrities, fol-
lowed by distal peers, close friends, and finally, family.
Comparisons between close friends and distal peers
were not significantly different from each other
(p=.134). All other means were significantly sta-
tistically different from each other at p<.001.
Social comparisons and internalization of the thin
ideal will mediate associations between online appear-
ance-related activity and body dissatisfaction (while
controlling for age and self-esteem).
Table 1. Bivariate and partial correlations between body dissatisfaction and the frequencies and direction of appearance comparisons to
specific target groups
Frequency of body comparisons Upward body comparisons
Family Close friends Distal peers Celebrities Family Close friends Distal peers Celebrities
Body dissatisfaction .313* (.105) .387* (.139) .391* (.089) .404* (.219*) .272* (.053) .470* (.233*) .427* (.145) .339* (.044)
*p<.01.
Figures inside parentheses are partial correlations where the frequency or direction (as applicable) of appearance comparisons to the other target groups was
controlled for.
Table 2. Mean (SD) ratings of the frequencies and directions of appearance comparisons to specific target groups on Facebook
Family Close friends Distal peers Celebrities
Frequency of body comparisons
‘When looking at photos of the following people, how often do
you compare your body to theirs?’
0=never to 4 =very often*
.95 (1.03) 2.17 (1.12) 2.01 (1.14) 2.47 (1.21)
Upward body comparisons
‘When comparing your body to each of the following people,
how do you rate yourself?’
1=much better to 7 =much worse**
4.18 (.82) 4.74 (1.04) 4.83 (.99) 5.76 (1.46)
*All means are significantly statistically different from each other at p<.001 except for the mean difference between close friends and distal peers which is
significant at p<.05.
**Any mean above 3.5 represents upward comparisons where participants rate their bodies less favorably than the targets’bodies. Comparisons between
close friends and distal peers are not significantly different from each other (p=.134). All other means are significantly statistically different from each other at
p<.001.
Social Comparisons on Social Media 5
Hayes’process formulation for mediational regres-
sion (Hayes, 2017) was used to develop a serial multiple
mediator model to investigate the hypothesis that fre-
quently making social comparisons, upward compari-
sons, and internalization mediate the relationship
between Facebook appearance-related activity and
body dissatisfaction. Self-esteem and age were added
to the model as covariates so that their influence may
be statistically controlled for when estimating the other
relationships in the model. As body dissatisfaction was
significantly associated with time spent engaged in
social comparisons and the direction of these compari-
sons with all target groups, two new variables were
computed for this analysis to represent (i) the average
rating for how often participants reported that they
engaged in social comparisons while on Facebook
across all target groups and (ii) the average rating of
upward comparisons made while on Facebook with
all target groups.
Table 3displays the bivariate and partial correla-
tions among the values and Fig. 1displays the proposed
model. Significant paths are denoted with a bold line.
Overall, the model accounted for 39.32% of the
variance in body dissatisfaction levels [R2=.3932,
F(6, 168) =18.1406, p<.0001]. The direct effect of
Facebook appearance activity on body dissatisfaction
was not significant (b=−.1316, SE =.0672, p>.05).
However, comparison frequency significantly medi-
ated this relationship so that more appearance activity
was associated with making more social comparisons
which was in turn associated with greater body dissat-
isfaction, resulting in a significant indirect effect
(b=.0697; 95% CI: .0129–.1416). In addition, greater
internalization of the thin ideal further mediated the
indirect effect of Facebook appearance-related activity
and comparison frequency on body dissatisfaction
(b=.0278; 95% CI: .0041–.0597). Other indirect effects
of Facebook appearance-related activity on body dissat-
isfaction were not significant. The strongest predictor of
body dissatisfaction was how frequently participants
compared their bodies to those of other girls (b=.2317,
SE =.0845, p<.05). Table 4contains the model
coefficients.
Discussion
The results of this study revealed that adolescent girls’
body dissatisfaction was significantly related to appear-
ance-related activity engaged in while on Facebook.
Specifically, body dissatisfaction was significantly
related to (i) time spent engaged in social comparisons
and (ii) upward social comparisons with female celeb-
rities, close friends, peers, and family members while on
Facebook. Evaluating oneself more frequently in
comparison with celebrities and less favorably in
Table 3. Descriptive details for, and correlations between, key variables
M (SD)
Achieved
range
Body
dissatisfaction
Self-
esteem Internalization
Frequency of body
comparisons
Upward body
comparisons
Appearance
activity Age
Body dissatisfaction 29.42 (7.52) 5–45 1 −.418* .370* .482* .480* −.044 .254**
Self-esteem 26.61 (4.34) 14–37 1 −.115 −.330* −.498* .007 −.014
Internalization 26.57 (5.92) 8–39 1 .466* .235* .115 .120
Frequency of body
comparisons
1.9 (.9) 0–4 1 .487* .266** .319*
Upward body comparisons 4.87 (.84) 2–7 1 .013 .108
Appearance activity 15.49 (5.08) 2–27 1 −.023
Age (years) 15.16 (1.17) 12–17 1
6M. Scully et al.
comparison with close friends was most strongly asso-
ciated with poorer body image appraisals. When
responses to all female targets were considered
together, time spent engaged in appearance-related
activity on Facebook was not found to be directly asso-
ciated with body dissatisfaction but had an indirect
relationship through the mediating mechanism of fre-
quent social comparisons and internalization of the thin
ideal. Thus, Facebook activities involving the appraisal
of one’s own and others’photographed images were
associated with more frequent social comparisons,
and engaging in frequent social comparisons was
related to body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the rela-
tionship between frequent social comparisons and
body dissatisfaction was also mediated by internalisa-
tion of the thin ideal.
The sociocultural environment of SNSs
Jones (2004) describes the ‘appearance culture’that is
often nurtured during adolescence where girls perceive
thinness as being an advantageous attribute for peer
acceptance. This study adds to existing research exam-
ining appearance culture among young Irish girls (e.g.
Lawler & Nixon, 2011; Kierans & Swords, 2015) but
extends it to focus on the influence of online SNS. It also
suggests that appearance-focused activity may indi-
rectly drive adolescent girls’body dissatisfaction
through the mechanisms of social comparisons and
internalization of appearance ideals, aligning with
related research in the field (Groesz et al. 2002; Jones,
2004; Levine & Harrison, 2009). As such it also supports
sociocultural and objectification theories which state
that increased exposure to images of female targets
may instigate increased rates of social comparisons.
These comparisons highlight discrepancies between
one’s own appearance and that of the societal norm
or expected standard. If self-evaluations are unfavora-
ble, they may exacerbate body dissatisfaction.
Importantly, individual levels of internalization may
be a critical underpinning factor in explaining individ-
ual variation in body dissatisfaction.
It may be the case that sites like Facebook are a
medium that exemplify the appearance culture of ado-
lescent girls, where users are uploading idealized
depictions of themselves (Feinstein et al. 2013). For
the first time, these sites afford adolescents the oppor-
tunity to view images of many other girls on digital
screens with on-demand access. Furthermore, photo-
graphs can be edited, cropped, and filtered which
may be elevating the number of photographs that emu-
late idealized versions of beauty for young adolescents.
Implications and interventions
Body dissatisfaction levels in early adolescence are the
single best predictor of body dissatisfaction levels in
late adolescence (Dion et al. 2015). Furthermore, body
dissatisfaction has been characterized as a significant
component of eating disorder onset, typically during
the late adolescent period, with girls being at greater
risk than boys (Rohde et al. 2015). As such, early inter-
vention is of critical importance. Previous literature has
supported the effectiveness of cognitive dissonance
interventions in reducing levels of internalization and
body dissatisfaction (e.g. Halliwell & Diedrichs, 2014).
Fig 1. Upward body comparisons, frequency of body comparisons, and internalization as mediators in the relationship between
Facebook appearance activity and body dissatisfaction while controlling for self-esteem and age. Standardized path coefficients are
presented. Bold lines indicate significant pathways.
(Total fffect: b=−.0369, SE =.0700, p>.05; Direct effect: b=−.1316, SE =.0672, p>.05; Indirect Effect: XM
1
Y=.0697, Boot SE =.0323,
95% CI =.0129 to .1416; XM
2
Y=−.0196, Boot SE =.0216, 95% CI =−.0729–.0075; XM
3
Y=−.0042, Boot SE =.0143, 95%
CI =−.0339–.0262; XM
1
M
2
Y=.0211, Boot SE =.0152, 95% CI =−.0018–.0569; XM
1
M
3
Y=.0278, Boot SE =.0142, 95%
CI =.0041–.0597).
*p<.05, **p<.001.
Social Comparisons on Social Media 7
Media literacy programs have also elicited positive
results in reducing body dissatisfaction levels
(e.g. Watson & Vaughn, 2006). From the current results,
these interventions could be improved upon with the
addition of social media education focusing on the
‘appearance culture’being promoted through sites like
Facebook. With previous interventions placing greater
emphasis on female adult models that are depicted in
the media through advertisements (e.g. Wilksch et al.
2006; Watson & Vaughn, 2006), future interventions
could focus on adolescent populations and inform
them how peers can present idealized versions of them-
selves on social media platforms (Zhao et al. 2008), by
cropping, editing, and filtering their photographs to
make themselves appear thinner and more attractive.
Limitations and future research
The current study was correlational in design and
therefore causation cannot be implied as other varia-
bles not controlled for may have been influencing the
results obtained. Future research in the area of social
media and body dissatisfaction could adopt experi-
mental designs to investigate whether time spent
engaged in social comparisons on sites like Facebook
are causally linked with levels of body dissatisfaction.
Future research could also examine the transactional
and reciprocal effects of social media. It is uncertain
whether vulnerability factors such as high levels of
internalization or body dissatisfaction predispose indi-
viduals to seek out content that instigates behaviors
such as social comparisons, or whether SNSs such as
Facebook cause individuals to engage in such behav-
iors due to the features they afford which may heighten
their levels of internalization and body dissatisfaction.
A recent study by Rousseau et al. (2017)withanadoles-
cent population suggests that body dissatisfaction posi-
tively predicts comparison on Facebook. In addition,
these authors noted that passive Facebook use, meaning
the ‘the monit oring of other people ’s lives by viewing the
content of others’profiles without direct exchanges
between the users’(Frison & Eggermont, 2015:4),stimu-
lated increased rates of social comparisons that, in turn,
exacerbated body dissatisfaction levels.
Previous research has also found that the relation-
ships between variables outlined in sociocultural models
of body dissatisfaction vary depending upon the age,
gender, and sociocultural setting of the participants.
For example, cultural specificities are important factors
to consider when devising and analyzing sociocultural
models of body dissatisfaction, with the focus on
appearance potentially varying between countries. As
a case in point, one study noted how Australian partic-
ipants reported perceiving greater media and peer influ-
ence, internalization, and appearance comparisons
Table 4. Model coefficients for the effect of Facebook appearance activity on body dissatisfaction with frequency of comparisons, upward comparisons, and internalization as mediators and self-esteem and age as
covariates. Figures in parentheses represent values related to the unstandardized beta coefficients
Frequency of body comparisons Internalization Upward body comparisons
Coeff. SE p Coeff. SE p Coeff. SE p
Facebook appearance activity .3007 (.0532) .0668 (.0118) .0000 (.0000) −.0218 (−.0254) .0760 (.0885) .7741 (.7741) −.1139 (−.0189) .0668 (.0111) .0901 (.0901)
Frequency of body comparisons .4847 (3.1903) .0823 (.5416) .0000 (.0000) .4066 (.3806) .0723 (.0677) .0000 (.0000)
Upward body comparisons
Internalization
Self-esteem −.3435 (−.0711) .0654 (.0135) .0000 (.0000) .0190 (.0259) .0759 (.1033) .8027 (.8027) −.4077 (−.0790) .0667 (.0129) .0000 (.0000)
Age .3414 (.2612) .0673 (.0515) .0000 (.0000) −.0454 (−.2288) .0777 (.3913) .5595 (.5595) −.0086 (−.0062) .0683 (.0489) .8998 (.8998)
R²=.3122 F(3, 171) =25.8730, p=.0000 R²=.2107 F(4, 170) =11.3445, p=.0000 R²=.4019 F(4, 170) =28.5560, p=.0000
8M. Scully et al.
compared with their French counterparts (Rodgers et al.
2011). The authors reasoned that Australian women may
be more greatly influenced by Western ideals of beauty
due to Australia being a largely English-speaking coun-
try and therefore more susceptible to the influences of the
US diet industry and culture. The authors further rea-
soned that the French culture may act as a buffer
for young French women where attitudes around food
and diet have been described as being more positive
than other Western countries (Holdsworth, 2008).
Furthermore, associations within sociocultural models
have been found to be stronger for girls than boys
(Papp et al. 2013). It may also be the case that parental
influences on body image are stronger for younger ado-
lescents compared with older adolescents and young
adults (Shroff & Thompson, 2006). Given these findings,
further attention is warranted to extrapolate how the
effects of online media exposure can vary depending
upon an individual’s sociocultural environment, gender,
and age.
Future research might consider looking to other
established models of body image appraisals (e.g.
Tripartite Model of Body Dissatisfaction) to determine
potential additional variables that may explain adoles-
cent body image dissatisfaction following exposure to
online media platforms. The development of a compre-
hensive model, incorporating mediating and moderat-
ing variables, that specifies social media’s potential
effect on adolescent body image appraisals, would also
further explain its role in comparison to other tradi-
tional forms of media outlets (Prieler & Choi, 2014).
Considering the proliferation of research within the
positive body image literature, future research could
also benefit from examining protective factors that
may buffer young girls from the more adverse effects
of social media sites. Emerging research has highlighted
how young women who were exposed to body-positive
posts experienced improvements in mood, body satis-
faction, and body appreciation in comparison to being
exposed to thin ideal and appearance-neutral posts
(Cohen et al. 2019).
The theory also suggests that the impact of social
comparisons on self-evaluations can vary depending
on the comparative target’s distance, extremity, and
attainability in relation to the self (Mussweiler, 2003;
Mussweiler et al. 2005). If an individual believes a
desirable attribute in another is attainable, they may
be inspired and assimilate with them, whereas
contrasting effects may occur when an individual
believes that such an attribute is outside their realm
of ability (Lockwood & Kunda, 1997). For example,
Mussweiler’s(2003) Selective Accessibility Model sug-
gests that celebrities represent an unattainable, psycho-
logically distant, and extreme target of comparison for
adolescent girls. Consequently, social comparisons to
close friends and family rather than celebrities or distal
peers may afford different outcomes for body image
concerns as close friends’appearances may be evalu-
ated as being more personally attainable and less
extreme due to their similar lifestyles and resources
(Kierans & Swords, 2015).
Finally, it would be interesting to explore how other
SNSs, particularly those with an exclusively visually
focused platform such as Instagram, impact upon
users’mental health. Given Instagram’s popularity
among adolescents (Statista, 2019b) and its focus on vis-
ual representations of the self (e.g. uploading of selfies),
exploring if engagement was associated with a height-
ened risk for experiencing elevated levels of body dis-
satisfaction for adolescent girls would be worthwhile.
Conclusion
The constant stream of appearance-focused content
being perpetuated through the newsfeed feature on
Facebook may afford greater opportunities to vulner-
able adolescents to engage in social comparisons with
female targets (Perloff, 2014). The present study sug-
gests that frequent engagement in social comparisons,
less favorable self-evaluations, and a tendency toward
internalization of appearance ideals are all important
processes in explaining how adolescent girls’online
appearance-related activities are related to negative
body image appraisals. It thus appears that Facebook
represents an additional appearance culture environ-
ment for female adolescents. With technology and the
use of social networking platforms advancing at an
exponential rate, research is continually needed to
investigate any impact on young users’mental health.
Conflicts of interest
Maeve Scully, Lorraine Swords, and Elizabeth Nixon
have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Ethical standards
The authors assert that all procedures contributingto this
work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant
national and institutional committee on human experi-
mentation with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as
revised in 2008. The study protocol was approved by
the ethics committee of the participating institution.
Financial support
This research received no specific grant from any fund-
ing agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Social Comparisons on Social Media 9
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