Instagram influencers’ sexy posts make women dislike their own bodies: study

By Jim Leffman via SWNS

Instagram influencers posting sexy snaps lowers women's mood and makes them dislike their own bodies, claims a new study.

The researchers say that viewing sexualized Instagram posts by online influencers increases the negative mood and body dissatisfaction of young female adults.

They claim it also promotes negative effects among viewers beyond striving for thinness and attractiveness.

The team, from Flinders University in Australia, highlighted the negative impact of sexualised images on social media and the need for enhanced regulation in relation to influencer advertising.

Associate Professor Ivanka Prichard, head the Embrace Impact Lab at the University said: “Some Influencers endorse lingerie and bikini products, and there is growing concern about the overtly sexualised nature of the imagery they post to social media.

“This problem is amplified by the popularity of Instagram among young adults aged 18-34 years, with more than two billion active users monthly.”

The study, published in the journal Body Image, investigated the effect of viewing both standard fashion and sexualized imagery.

This was defined as posing in lingerie or bikini garments in a suggestive manner posted by the same female influencers.

Women aged 17–25 were recruited online and completed pre- and post-viewing measurements of mood and body dissatisfaction, as well as measures of appearance comparison and self-objectification.

Body image expert Prof Prichard said: “Exposure to influencer imagery led to greater negative mood, body dissatisfaction, appearance comparison and self-objectification than exposure to control images.

“Furthermore, exposure to sexualized images led to an even greater negative mood, body dissatisfaction and appearance comparison than exposure to standard fashion images of influencers nand this was with images chosen as being only moderately sexualized rather than hypersexualized, which depict more lewd poses.

“The most obvious implication is that women should be advised to limit their exposure to such images and to unfollow the accounts of influencers who post this type of material.

"There is growing evidence that even a short break from Instagram can have considerable benefit.”

Prichard says it could be argued that Influencers, who gain considerable financial benefit from their endorsements, should be held to the same standards as other advertisers.

She added: “Our study findings highlight the detrimental impact of exposure to sexualized imagery, which is an increasingly common part of contemporary social media, and the role of social comparisons to such imagery.

“We have clearly shown that the effects of sexualization extend beyond those of attractiveness.

"These findings illustrate the need for more research and enhanced regulation regarding advertising by influencers on social media.”