Using a series of questionnaires, the researchers measured body image satisfaction and attitudes toward beauty standards before and after watching the TikTok content. As a result, both groups reported a decrease in body satisfaction after watching the videos. But those exposed to anorexia-promoting content experienced the greatest decrease in body image satisfaction. They also experienced an increase in internalizing beauty standards.
Internal identification occurs when someone accepts and identifies with external standards of beauty. Exposure to harmful content on social media doesn’t always lead to harm — it happens when the content is internalized, which can impact self-perception and body image. Before the experiment, participants were asked a few general questions about their TikTok use.
They also measured their preoccupation with “healthy” eating and eating disorder symptoms. The researchers noted that the participants who spent more than two hours a day on TikTok reported more eating disorder behaviors compared to less active users. However, this difference was not statistically significant, i.e. the difference between the groups did not exceed the threshold needed to conclude that, it was more uncertainty than a real impact.
On a scale used to assess eating disorder symptoms, the participants who reported high (two to three hours a day) and extreme (more than three hours a day) activity on TikTok scored, on average, just below the threshold for clinically significant eating disorder symptoms. This suggests a possible correlation between using TikTok for more than two hours a day and eating disorders, but further research is needed to understand this thoroughly.
Photos are from open sources.
