Young women who spend hours scrolling through Instagram are more likely to want cosmetic surgery than those who shun social media, study warns
- Experts from the University of Surrey surveyed 247 women about body image
- They then repeated the exercise after exposing the subjects to Instagram photos
- Those who were shown sexualised images had increased body dissatisfaction
Young women are more likely to want to undergo cosmetic surgery if they spend hours scrolling through Instagram, a study has concluded.
Experts from the University of Surrey surveyed 247 Italian women — each aged between 19–32 — about their engagement with Instagram and body dissatisfaction.
Next, each participant was shown one of four videos of Instagram images — with varying degrees of sexualisation — and their associated comments.
Finally, the women completed follow-up questionnaires concerning their level of body dissatisfaction, mood and future cosmetic surgery intentions.
The team found that exposure to sexualised imagery from Instagram tended to increase the women’s levels of body dissatisfaction.
MailOnline has reached out to Instagram for comment.
Young women are more likely to want to undergo cosmetic surgery if they spend hours scrolling through Instagram, a study has concluded. It found that exposure to sexualised imagery tended to increase the women’s levels of body dissatisfaction. The platform is popular with influencers such as Emily Skye (pictured left) and Tammy Hembrow (right)
Each participant was shown one of four videos of Instagram images — with varying degrees of sexualisation — and their associated comments. Pictured: Pia Muehlenbeck
Similar detrimental effects were not seen among those individuals who were only shown non-sexualised images. Comments, additionally, appeared to have no effect.
The research was conducted by social psychologist Francesca Guizzo of the University of Surrey and colleagues.
‘This is an exciting study that brings together different dimensions in mental health research and highlights risk factors,’ said Dr Guizzo.
‘Findings such as these show there is a clear link between the sexualised imagery young women are exposed to on Instagram and how they feel about themselves.
‘Given Instagram’s popularity as one of the world’s most popular social media platforms and the increasing prevalence of cosmetic procedures, these findings are of particular interest,’ Dr Guizzo continued.
‘More needs to be done to counteract body negativity; actions such as spreading body positivity messaging may work to improve female body satisfaction.’
Young women are more likely to want to undergo cosmetic surgery if they spend hours scrolling through Instagram, a study has concluded
‘This valuable new research adds to the weight of evidence about the harmfulness of the sexualised images of people that are so common on social media,’ commented Mental Health Foundation manager Katrina Jenkins.
‘It also echoes the findings of our own research with a diverse range of adults, who urged us to work to counter the effects of such imagery.
‘We created our “Mind Over Mirror” campaign accordingly, offering tips and strategies to address this challenge. For instance, it can be useful to be mindful of what we view on social media and how it makes us feel.
‘Unfollowing Instagram pages that encourage negative self-comparisons can also help us to take control over the effect of social media on our body image and mental health,’ she concluded.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Body Image.