Happier and Healthier? Investigating the Longitudinal Impact of Body-Positive and Fitspirational Influencers on Weight Satisfaction, Healthy Eating, and Physical Activity.

Abstract

Social media influencers frequently share body-related ideals, such as body positivity or fitspiration, with their followers. While their influence is well-recognized, little is known about how their content affects weight satisfaction and health-related behaviors, such as healthy eating and exercise, over time. This study addresses these questions through a 22-day longitudinal experiment, exposing participants to Instagram content from body-positive, fitspirational, or non-body-focused influencers. Experience sampling was employed to deliver the posts, alongside four main questionnaires completed by participants (N_{Day 1} = 181, N_{Day 8} = 155, N_{Day 15} = 142, N_Day22 = 112). Compared to content from a non-body-focused influencer, both body-positive and fitspirational content had a positive impact on weight satisfaction and healthy eating behavior over time. No significant long-term effects on exercise behavior were observed in either group. This study highlights the nuanced impacts of body-focused influencer content on weight satisfaction and health-related behavior.