Thinspiration and fitspiration in everyday life: An experience sampling study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Media Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Thinspiration (thin-ideal imagery) and fitspiration (fitness-focused imagery) are prevalent on social media.
• Understanding their impact on body image and affect is crucial for mental health research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the associations between everyday exposure to thinspiration and fitspiration and body satisfaction and affective functioning in women and men.
• To investigate unique and interactive effects of exposure to both types of content.

Main Methods:

• Smartphone-facilitated experience sampling over one week with 108 undergraduate participants (21% men).
• Self-report measures assessed exposure frequency, duration, body satisfaction, and affective functioning.
• Multi-level, gender-adjusted models analyzed the data.

Main Results:

• Women reported significantly more thinspiration and fitspiration exposures than men.
• Thinspiration exposure was linked to lower body satisfaction, lower positive affect, and higher negative affect.
• Fitspiration exposure was associated with lower body satisfaction and positive affect, but not negative affect.

Conclusions:

• Both thinspiration and fitspiration exposure are associated with negative psychological outcomes, including reduced body satisfaction and poorer affective functioning.
• The impact of thinspiration appears more pronounced, especially when combined with fitspiration.
• Findings underscore the need for awareness and potential interventions regarding social media content related to body image.