“Ur a freakin goddess!”: Examining appearance commentary on Instagram.
Open accessAbstract
=20.39) received on their posts was observationally coded for positivity and negativity. Receiving positive appearance commentary was common and linked to greater appearance-related social media consciousness, and, weakly, to body surveillance. There were no associations with self-objectification, appearance-contingent self-worth, facial satisfaction, and body dissatisfaction. Negative appearance commentary was not associated with body image concerns. Photos depicting only the self were especially likely to elicit positive appearance commentary. Females received more positive appearance commentary compared to males, whereas males received more negative appearance commentary. Future research should examine long-term effects of receiving appearance comments via Instagram.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Positive comments may also be associated with increased self-objectification, as shown in a study of Australian adolescent girls, and with increased appearance-related social media consciousness, as found in a study of U.S. college students.
“Positive comments may also be associated with increased self-objectification, as shown in a study of Australian adolescent girls (Slater & Tiggemann, 2015), and with increased appearance-related SM consciousness (ASMC), as found in a study of U.S. college students (Burnell et al., 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 Burnell et al., 2021
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008 · Cited by 1,395 · see citing works
Contingencies of Self-Worth in College Students: Theory and Measurement.
Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, A. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.894 · Cited by 1,018 · see citing works
Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions
Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005 · Cited by 801 · see citing works
Self-presentation and gender on MySpace
Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., & Salimkhan, G. (2008) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.001 · Cited by 724 · see citing works
Nesi, J., Choukas-Bradley, S., & Prinstein, M. J. (2018) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-018-0261-x · Cited by 712 · see citing works
Chua, T. H. H., & Chang, L. (2016) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.011 · Cited by 704 · see citing works
Fox, J., & Rooney, M. C. (2015) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.017 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Fardouly, J., Willburger, B. K., & Vartanian, L. R. (2018) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444817694499 · Cited by 421 · see citing works
Appearance-related teasing, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating: A meta-analysis
Menzel, J. E., Schaefer, L. M., Burke, N. L., Mayhew, L. L., Brannick, M. Τ., & Thompson, J. K. (2010) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.05.004 · Cited by 415 · see citing works
Yau, J. C., & Reich, S. M. (2019) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12376 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Cohen, R., Newton-John, T., & Slater, A. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.027 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Do age and gender differences exist in selfie-related behaviours?
Dhir, A., Pallesen, S., Torsheim, T., & Andreassen, C. S. (2016) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.053 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in trans people: A systematic review of the literature
Jones, B. A., Haycraft, E., Murjan, S., & Arcelus, J. (2015) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/09540261.2015.1089217 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Schoemaker, C., van Strien, T., & van der Staak, C. (1994) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.2260150409 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Feltman, C. E., & Szymanski, D. M. (2017) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-017-0796-1 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
“You look great!”: The effect of viewing appearance-related Instagram comments on women’s body image
Tiggemann, M., & Barbato, I. (2018) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.08.009 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
The Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness Scale: Development and validation with adolescents
Choukas-Bradley, S., Nesi, J., Widman, L., & Galla, B. M. (2020) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.02.017 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Hallsworth, L. J., Wade, T. D., & Tiggemann, M. (2005) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1348/135910705x26966 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Bell, B. T., Cassarly, J. A., & Dunbar, L. (2018) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.06.005 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Sewall, C. J. R., Bear, T. M., Merranko, J., & Rosen, D. (2020) · Mobile Media & Communication · doi:10.1177/2050157920902830 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Tiggemann, M., & Boundy, M. (2008) · Psychology of Women Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00453.x · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2015) · Psychology of Women Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0361684314554606 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Facebook and body image concern in adolescent girls: A prospective study
Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2017) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.22640 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Nesi, J. L., & Prinstein, M. J. (2018) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2018.1437733 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Butkowski, C. P., Dixon, T. L., & Weeks, K. R. (2019) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-018-0993-6 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
A Qualitative Study Exploring Female College Students’ Instagram Use and Body Image.
Baker, N., Ferszt, G., & Breines, J. G. (2019) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2018.0420 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Hummel, A. C., & Smith, A. R. (2015) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.22336 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Camera-ready: Young women’s appearance-related social media consciousness.
Choukas-Bradley, S., Nesi, J., Widman, L., & Higgins, M. K. (2019) · Psychology of Popular Media Culture · doi:10.1037/ppm0000196 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Women on display: The effect of portraying the self online on women’s self-objectification
de Vries, D. A., & Peter, J. (2013) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.015 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Herbozo, S., & Thompson, J. K. (2006) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2006.04.001 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Davids, C. M., Watson, L. B., & Gere, M. P. (2018) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-018-0940-6 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Butkowski, C. P., Dixon, T. L., Weeks, K. R., & Smith, M. A. L. (2019) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444819871669 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Male Body Image Portrayals on Instagram
Gültzow, T., Guidry, J. P. D., Schneider, F., & Hoving, C. (2020) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2019.0368 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M., Chhouk, J., McCann, L.-A., Urbina, G., Vuo, H., Krug, I., Ricciardelli, L. A., Linardon, J., Broadbent, J., Heron, K. E., et al. (2019) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.01.002 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Niu, G., Sun, L., Liu, Q., Chai, H., Sun, X., & Zhou, Z. (2019) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-019-01045-9 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Are the Male Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Muscularity Scales reliable and valid instruments?
Dakanalis, A., Timko, C. A., Madeddu, F., Volpato, C., Clerici, M., Riva, G., & Zanetti, A. M. (2013) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105313498108 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Modica, C. A. (2019) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.02.002 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Trekels, J., Ward, L. M., & Eggermont, S. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.020 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Herbozo, S., Stevens, S. D., Moldovan, C. P., & Morrell, H. E. R. (2017) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.01.008 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
The development and validation of the Male Assessment of Self-Objectification (MASO).
Daniel, S. M., Bridges, S. K., & Martens, M. P. (2013) · Psychology of Men & Masculinity · doi:10.1037/a0031518 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Maes, C., Schreurs, L., van Oosten, J. M. F., & Vandenbosch, L. (2019) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.10.005 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Herbozo, S., Menzel, J. E., & Thompson, J. K. (2013) · Eating Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.01.013 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Limbert, C. (2004) · Health Care For Women International · doi:10.1080/07399330490267486 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
A Stimulated Recall Method for the Improved Assessment of Quantity and Quality of Social Media Use
Griffioen, N., van Rooij, M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/15529 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Get out of my selfie!” Narcissism, gender, and motives for self-photography among emerging adults.
Koterba, E. A., Ponti, F., & Ligman, K. M. (2020) · Psychology of Popular Media · doi:10.1037/ppm0000272 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Eating Disorder Inventory for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
Garner, D. M., Olmstead, M. P., & Polivy, J. (1983) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t64315-000 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
What Types of Photographs Do Teenagers “Like”?
Greenfield, P. M., Evers, N. F. G., & Dembo, J. (2017) · International Journal of Cyber Behavior Psychology and Learning · doi:10.4018/ijcbpl.2017070101 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Bakhshi S, Shamma DA, & Gilbert E (2014). Faces engage us: Photos with faces attract more likes and comments on Instagram. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 965– 974.
- Calogero RM, Herbozo S, & Thompson JK (2009). Complimentary weightism: The potential costs of appearance-related commentary for women’s self-objectification. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 120– 132.
- McKinley NM, & Hyde JS (1996). The objectified body consciousness scale: Development and validation. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181– 215.
- Moradi B, & Huang Y-P (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology and Women Quarterly, 32, 377– 398.
- Noll SM, & Fredrickson BL (1998). A mediational model linking self-objectification, body shame, and disordered eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 623– 636.
- Ringrose J (2011). Are you sexy, flirty, or a slut? Exploring ‘sexualization’ and how teen girls perform/negotiate digital sexual identity on social networking sites. In Gill R & Scharff C (Eds.), New Femininities: Postfeminism, neoliberalism and subjectivity (pp. 99– 116). Palgrave Macmillan.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Choukas-Bradley, S., Roberts, S. R., Maheux, A. J., & Nesi, J. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/ju92a · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Choukas-Bradley, S., Roberts, S. R., Maheux, A. J., & Nesi, J. (2022) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-022-00404-5 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
van Oosten, J. M. F., Vandenbosch, L., & Peter, J. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107730 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Vendemia, M. A., & Fox, J. (2024) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101683 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Maheux, A. J., Roberts, S. R., Nesi, J. L., Widman, L. M., & Choukas‐Bradley, S. (2022) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.08.002 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Wu, H., Zhang, L., & Ren, S. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279853 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Wang, H., Alivi, M. A., & Mustafa, S. E. (2025) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101895 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Look beyond the weight and accept me”: Adolescent perspectives on parental weight communication
Lawrence, S. E., Lessard, L. M., Puhl, R. M., Foster, G. D., & Cardel, M. I. (2023) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.01.006 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Rojo, M., Beltrán‐Garrayo, L., del Blanco-Barredo, M. D. C., & Sepúlveda, A. R. (2023) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.04.004 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Paddock, D. L., Bell, B. T., & Cassarly, J. A. (2024) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101839 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Castro, Y. R., Román, R. M., & Fernández, M. L. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15050572 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The impact of fitspiration comments on adult women’s body dissatisfaction and negative affect
Stutts, L. A., & Blomquist, K. K. (2024) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101708 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Opelík, D., Voráček, J., Šíma, J., & Michlová, A. (2024) · Studia sportiva · doi:10.5817/sts2024-2-15 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Guo, Q., Lang, M., Duan, H., & Chen, H. (2025) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101977 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Piropos online y comunicación digital: la objetivación sexual en la adolescencia
Román, R. M., Lameiras, A. A., & Castro, Y. R. (2026) · Doxa Comunicación Revista interdisciplinar de estudios de comunicación y ciencias sociales · doi:10.31921/doxacom.n42a3045 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Seeto, C.-J., Uhlmann, L., Zimmer‐Gembeck, M. J., & Donovan, C. L. (2026) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102034 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Maheux, A. J., Roberts, S. R., Nesi, J. L., Widman, L. M., & Choukas‐Bradley, S. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/gja83 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Digital Cruelty’s Impact on Self-Esteem and Body Image
Burnell, K., Trekels, J., George, M. J., & Nesi, J. L. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-69362-5_60
Self-citationBrown, H. M. (2024) · The Plymouth Student Scientist · doi:10.70156/1754-2383.1500
Dahl, J. M. R. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-93010-2_9
Vranken, I., Schreurs, L., Blasco, M. M., & Vandenbosch, L. (2025) · Cyberpsychology Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace · doi:10.5817/cp2025-5-4
Shi, X., He, T., Yao, L., Niu, G., & Sun, X. (2026) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102126
Fatt, S. J., Shen, Y., Griffiths, S., & Fardouly, J. (2026) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102190
- Authors
- Burnell, K., George, M. J., Kurup, A. R., & Underwood, M. K.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- RTI International (US)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Venue
- Psychology of Popular Media
- Published
- 2021-10
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 422-433
- ISSN
- 2689-6567 (ISSN-L)
- 2689-6575
- PMC
- PMC8740949
- OpenAlex
- W3154366823
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 2.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Psychology of Popular Media (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R01 HD060995)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Keywords
- Instagram, social media comments, body surveillance, self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, body image, gender differences
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
