Self-images related activity on Instagram and young Italian women’s Social Physique Anxiety: The mediating role of Instagram appearance related comparison

Media influence seems to play an important role on the women body image. With the emergence of Social Networking Sites, such as Instagram, people are afforded with many more opportunities to compare their appearances with the appearance of others. Research shows that women who use Instagram for images-related activities and who engage in appearance-related social comparisons on SNSs are at a higher risk of experiencing body concerns. Among the appearance-related self-presentational concerns, Social Physique Anxiety (SPA) is the tendency to become nervous when others can observe and evaluate one’s physique. The present study aims to analyze, among young Italian women, the role of Instagram use for images-related activities on the SPA. Instagram appearance comparison was taken into account as a mediating variable. Participants were 300 Italian women (mean-age=22; SD=3.83), who completed a questionnaire aimed at measuring the variables of interest. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical regressions were performed. Findings show that the media influence predict the SPA. Furthermore, the self-images related activities on Instagram predicts the SPA by Instagram appearance comparison. These results may be important both for the design of prevention interventions focused on body image concerns and for the promotion of a more aware Instagram use among young women.