Imagery versus Captions: The Effect of Body Positive Instagram Content on Young Women’s Mood and Body Image
Open accessAbstract
Body positive social media content aims to positively impact young women's body image and mood by challenging traditionally narrow beauty ideals. This online experiment investigated the effect of viewing body positive Instagram posts on young women's body image and mood, whilst focusing on understanding the impact of the images and captions in the posts. Overall, 195 young women (18-30 years old) were randomly assigned to view either body positive (consisting of images and captions), body positive captions only, body positive images only, or thin-ideal Instagram posts. Positive mood increased in all conditions pre to post exposure. Further, body satisfaction and negative mood improved pre-post exposure for all body positive conditions. However, when controlling for trait body appreciation significant effects only remained for the combined image and caption body positive condition. There were no significant differences in positive mood, state body appreciation, self-objectification, or broad conceptualisations of beauty between the three body positive exposure conditions. Therefore, to improve body satisfaction and mood, body positive content should include a combination of images and captions.
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Pursuit of muscularity can drive men toward extreme and unhealthy behaviors including excessive exercising, overtraining, injury, fatigue, neglect, and performance-enhancing drug use with health risks.
“The pursuit of muscularity can drive men toward extreme and unhealthy behaviors, including excessive exercising that leads to overtraining, physical injury, fatigue, and neglect of other life responsibilities. The use of performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, presents serious health risks, including hormonal imbalances, liver damage, and increased risk of heart disease [142].”
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“The use of performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, presents serious health risks, including hormonal imbalances, liver damage, and increased risk of heart disease [142].”
Background
- Authors
- Cowles, E., Guest, E., & Slater, A.
- Affiliations
- University of the West of England (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Guest, Ella
- Venue
- Body Image
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-03
- Volume
- 44
- Pages
- 120-130
- ISSN
- 1740-1445 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4312069140
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 4.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Body Image (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- UWE Bristol
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Keywords
- Instagram, social media, body satisfaction, mood, captions, images, young women, thin ideal, self-objectification, beauty standards
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Body Image, Concept Formation, Female, Humans, Personal Satisfaction, Young Adult, Social Media
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