The Impact Of Social Media Use On Women’s Body Image:self-Compassion’s Protective Role

In recent decades,the effect of mindfulness on women’s body image has become a hot topic in psychological research.Body image is a mental picture of an individual’s physical aspects such as body shape and weight.Body image disorder is closely related to eating disorders,sleep disorders,anxiety,depression,substance abuse,social avoidance,etc.Therefore,forming a positive and healthy body image contributes to the beneficial development of physical and mental health.In recent years,with the rapid development of the Internet and social penetration,social media use is a risk factor affecting women’s body image,and too much attention to body information in social media use,and the resulting social comparison,can lead to reduced female body satisfaction and even body image disorders.Self-compassion means that individuals do not shy away from the suffering and failure they experience,but experience it with an open and inclusive mind and give them an uncritical understanding.It has been found that self-compassion is a protective factor to avoid female body image disorder,and plays a mediating or regulating role in the negative impact of many risk factors on body image,but its specific mechanism needs to be further explored.In conclusion,based on the theoretical foundations of sociocultural theory,social comparison theory and triple impact model,as well as existing research results,this paper examines how social media use affects women’s body image in the context of Chinese culture and explores its mechanism.Study 1 used the questionnaire survey method,with 540 women aged 23.40 ±4.81 years and BMI of 20.12 ± 2.50kg/m2 as participants,aiming to investigate the current situation of women’s social media use and its impact on body image,and further investigate the protective mechanism of self-compassion.The results showed that: firstly,social media use,BMI,negative emotions,and neuroticism can negatively predict body image,which is a risk factor for triggering negative body image in women;Second,social comparison was the mediating variable of these risk factors triggering negative body image in women,and self-compassion was a positive protective factor;In addition,the length of body exposure in social media negatively predicts body image through the mediating variable of social comparison,and self-compassion moderates the influence of social comparison on body image,and the three constitute a moderated mediating model.Study 2 used questionnaire survey,experimental method and interview method to take 111 female college students aged 20.84 ± 1.70 years with a BMI of 21.04 ±2.63kg/m 2 as participants,aiming to explore the effect of different short-term mindfulness intervention methods(self-compassion training,mindful breathing exercises)on improving body image under the physical dissatisfaction induced by watching "Tik Tok" short videos,and to explore the mechanism of action in depth.The study was conducted in two phases using a mixed experimental design of 3(groups: self-compassion,mindful breathing,control)×3(measurement time points:baseline,post-elicitation,post-intervention).In the first stage,participants filled out demographic information and baseline questionnaires online;The second phase conducted a formal short-term mindfulness intervention study,followed by short,semi-structured interviews with participants.In the formal experiment,participants first watched 15 "Tik Tok" short videos to induce their state and physical anxiety.After that,the participants were randomly divided into three groups,the self-compassion group completed a 5-minute self-compassion writing task,the mindful breathing group participated in a 5-minute mindful breathing exercise,and the control group watched a 5-minute neutral mood documentary.State body image was measured in three doses,the first measurement was a baseline measurement after the participant was informed of the purpose of the experiment,the second measurement was a post-evoked measurement after the participant watched a short video and completed a forced comparison task,and the third measurement was a post-intervention measurement after a short mindfulness intervention.The results showed that the main effect of group was significant,the main effect of the measurement time point was significant,and the interaction between the group and the measured time point was significant.The results of further simple effect analysis showed that the state body image score after the intervention in the self-compassion group was significantly higher than the post-induction and baseline scores,and the baseline measurement score was significantly higher than the post-induction score.The state body image score after the intervention in the mindful breathing group was significantly higher than the post-evoked score,and the baseline measurement score was significantly higher than the post-evoked score.The state body image score of the control group after intervention was significantly higher than that after induction and significantly lower than the baseline score.In addition,there was no significant difference in state body image scores between baseline and post-evoked measurements between the three groups,but in post-intervention measurements,the state body image scores of participants in the self-compassion group were significantly higher than those in the mindful breathing group and control groups.In summary,this project found through two series of studies that:(1)women’s body image was significantly negatively correlated with BMI,negative emotions,neuroticism,social comparison,and objectified body awareness,and significantly positively correlated with self-compassion;(2)The exposure time of body appearance information in social media use negatively predicts body image through the mediating variable of social comparison,and self-compassion moderates the influence of social comparison on body image,and the three constitute a moderated mediation model;(3)Both short-term mindfulness interventions can significantly improve the level of body image,but the intervention effect of self-compassion training to improve body image is better than that of mindful breathing exercise.This study systematically elucidates the mechanism of the influence of social media use on women’s body image,and the protective mechanism of self-compassion in it.The results of the study can not only help people understand how the mindfulness intervention of self-compassion protects women’s body image from the negative effects of social media use,but also provide practical guidance for young women to improve their body self-esteem and establish a healthy aesthetic,and also provide a new reference for future intervention research in the field of body image.