Rousseau Ann, Rodgers Rachel F
Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen), Belgium.
Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Department of Applied Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, USA.
Body Image. 2025 Mar;52:101838. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101838. Epub 2024 Dec 11.
Research has shown that young people manage their body image by relying on appearance-ideals conveyed by social media and such use of social media maintains and/or reinforces existing body image issues. While useful, this research exclusively focuses on intentional social media exposure/use: the purposeful use of appearance-related social media content to fulfill particular needs. However, oftentimes young people incidentally encounter appearance content without actively searching for it; i.e., incidental appearance social media exposure. To date, research has yet to differentiate between incidental and intentional appearance exposure and investigate how each of these relates to body image. This review addresses this gap by identifying different ways in which social media incidental exposure may relate to young people's body image. We first explain the potential of incidental social media exposure to promote positive body image, focusing on exposure diversity (exposure to diverse appearance content). Then we reflect upon conditions under which social media incidental exposure may facilitate exposure diversity. Lastly, we discuss how cognitive response states mediate the relationship between social media incidental exposure and body image outcomes, and the role of social identities. We conclude with recommendations for how to include social media incidental appearance exposure in future body image research.
研究表明，年轻人通过依赖社交媒体所传达的外表理想形象来管理自己的身体意象，而这种社交媒体的使用维持和/或强化了现有的身体意象问题。虽然这项研究很有用，但它只专注于有意接触/使用社交媒体：即有目的地使用与外表相关的社交媒体内容来满足特定需求。然而，年轻人常常会在没有主动搜索的情况下偶然接触到外表相关内容；也就是说，偶然接触外表相关的社交媒体内容。迄今为止，研究尚未区分偶然和有意接触外表相关内容的情况，也未调查这两种情况与身体意象之间的关系。本综述通过确定社交媒体偶然接触可能与年轻人身体意象相关的不同方式来填补这一空白。我们首先解释偶然接触社交媒体促进积极身体意象的潜力，重点关注接触的多样性（接触各种外表相关内容）。然后我们思考社交媒体偶然接触可能促进接触多样性的条件。最后，我们讨论认知反应状态如何调节社交媒体偶然接触与身体意象结果之间的关系，以及社会身份的作用。我们最后提出了关于如何在未来的身体意象研究中纳入社交媒体偶然接触外表相关内容的建议。
