Real beauty: Effects of a body‐positive video on body image and capacity to mitigate exposure to social media images

Abstract

Objective Recent industry‐created social marketing campaigns have targeted positive body image; however, research investigating the effects of such social media campaigns on body image has largely neglected non‐Western English‐speaking groups. This study explored the effects on body image of a video produced by Dove for a Japanese audience ‘Real Beauty ID’, and its capacity to modify the effects of subsequent exposure to celebrity social media images of young women. Method Young women from Japan (n = 568), mean age (SD) = 25.38 (3.52) years, were randomly allocated to view either the Dove Real Beauty ID video, or a control video, followed by exposure to celebrity social media images (female celebrities or landscapes). Finally, participants reported on state and trait appearance‐based comparisons, thin ideal internalization, body appreciation, and media similarity scepticism. Results Among participants with high levels of thin ideal internalization, those who viewed the Dove Real Beauty ID video reported significantly lower satisfaction with body and facial features, as well as more negative mood (p < .05) compared with the control video. Little support emerged for the capacity of the Dove Real Beauty ID video to modify the effects of exposure to celebrity social media images, nor were these effects moderated by risk and resilience factors. Conclusions In sum, no usefulness emerged for the Dove Real Beauty ID video in promoting positive body image, and limited usefulness was seen in buffering the effects of exposure to celebrity social media images among Japanese young women. Given the reach of such interventions, exploring whether interventions that are culturally adapted and theoretically driven are more helpful is warranted.

Interventions to reduce the negative impact of online highly visual social networking site use on mental health outcomes: A scoping review.

“…Within this group, a range of mental health outcomes were of interest and assessed with a trend toward small benefits found. Six of the eight studies (75%) demonstrated positive improvements, two (25%) did not find significant changes to mental health outcomes (Danthinne et al, 2022; Weber et al, 2022), and none of the studies documented negative impacts to mental health outcomes post-intervention. Reported positive outcomes from these psychology-informed programs included improvements in weight satisfaction (Gobin et al, 2022), appearance satisfaction (Aboody et al, 2020; Gobin et al, 2022), appearance-related anxiety (Aboody et al, 2020), SNS addiction (Esmaeili Rad & Ahmadi, 2018; Soron, 2015), insight (Dattilo et al, 2013), depression (Esmaeili Rad & Ahmadi, 2018; Manwong et al, 2018), emotional problems (Manwong et al, 2018), life satisfaction, and anxiety (Esmaeili Rad & Ahmadi, 2018).…”

“…Six studies were experimental and involved control group comparison and two were case studies (see Table 2). Of the six experimental studies, two were cognitive–behavior therapy (CBT) based (Aboody et al, 2020; Weber et al, 2022), one reality therapy based (Esmaeili Rad & Ahmadi, 2018), one motivational enhancement therapy based (Manwong et al, 2018), one a self-compassion intervention (Gobin et al, 2022) and one did not outline therapeutic modality (Danthinne et al, 2022). Intervention designs included written psychoeducation (Weber et al, 2022), a writing task (Gobin et al, 2022), the use of mobile applications (Aboody et al, 2020; Esmaeili Rad & Ahmadi, 2018), an 8-week group therapy program (Manwong et al, 2018), and a brief video involving observation of a target behavior (appearance satisfaction; Danthinne et al, 2022; Michie et al, 2011).…”

Body image as a global mental health concern

“…As documented in other cultural contexts, in Asian countries body image concerns have been associated with eating disorder symptoms (Yamamiya et al, 2008 ; Chisuwa and O’Dea, 2010 ; Kaewpradub et al, 2017 ), depression (Prusaczyk and Choma, 2018 ), and poorer quality of life (Santhira Shagar et al, 2021 ). In very recent years, prevention efforts have been extended to affluent and developing areas of Asia (Craddock et al, 2021 ; Danthinne et al, 2022 ; Garbett et al, 2022 ); however, more work is needed.…”

Exposure to thin-ideal, fitspirational, and plus-size Instagram images influences body image and body-change cognitions in women and men

“…Currently, 4.5 billion people access social media platforms on a regular basis (Sharp and Gerrard, 2022). These platforms are particularly popular among adolescents and young adults in technologically developed western countries where users spend on average 2.5 hours a day ( de Valle, et al, 2021) interacting via image, text, audio, and/or video (Danthinne, et al, 2022). The popularity of social platforms can be attributed to improved Internet access worldwide, widespread adoption of personal mobile devices, and the ease of maintaining social, professional, and political networks that can be geographically dispersed, confidential, and closed to outsiders (Seelig and Huixin, 2022).…”