Social comparison and state–trait dynamics: Viewing image-conscious Instagram accounts affects college students’ mood and anxiety.
Open accessAbstract
The present experiment examined the extent to which appearance-focused accounts on Instagram (a photo-sharing social-media platform) negatively influence people's moods and anxiety levels.Undergraduates at the University of Florida (N = 81, ages 18-30 years, M = 19.07,SD = 1.56) were randomly assigned to scroll through Instagram accounts with either image-conscious photos (fitness, model, and beauty-blogging accounts) or control photos (food, nature, homedecor accounts).Before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the experimental manipulation, participants completed state-based mood and anxiety measures, and a one-time measure of trait anxiety.Controlling for Time-1 measures, regression results showed that viewing photos from imageconscious accounts related to decreased positive mood and increased negative mood and anxiety at Time 2. Exploratory analyses showed that people with lower trait anxiety were especially susceptible to feeling more state anxiety after viewing image-conscious photos.These findings advance theory by suggesting that state-trait anxiety dynamics are important to understanding how people react to viewing image-conscious Instagram accounts.Further, a social comparison theory of viewing image-conscious photos online should integrate information about people's short-term reactions (states, moods) and long-term predispositions (traits, individual differences).
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Exposure to influencer content focused on beauty or fitness is associated with increased negative mood, anxiety, and body dissatisfaction among young adults.
“Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to influencer content focused on beauty or fitness is associated with increased negative mood, anxiety, and body dissatisfaction among young adults (Kohler et al., 2020; Lowe-Calverley & Grieve, 2021).”
From The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health. (2022) · cites this paper as Kohler et al., 2020
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Kohler, M. T., Turner, I. N., & Webster, G. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- ORCID
- Webster, Gregory D.
- Venue
- Psychology of Popular Media
- Published
- 2021-07
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 340-349
- ISSN
- 2689-6567 (ISSN-L)
- 2689-6575
- OpenAlex
- W4233434260
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 4.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Psychology of Popular Media (publishedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- social comparison, Instagram, mood, state anxiety, trait anxiety, university students, social media use
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