Understanding the Effect of Body Comparison, Desire to Be Popular, and Social Media Engagement on Body Satisfaction

Research on body image identifies proposed factors that lead to body dissatisfaction. Studies have found that young women who frequently see media images of the ideal thin body standard demonstrate lower body satisfaction. The goal of this study is to identify the effect of body comparison, desire to be popular, and social media engagement on body satisfaction. An online survey utilizing established measures for body comparison, desire to be popular - reading fashion frequency and body area satisfaction was used with 132 responses. Four hypotheses were analyzed with one-way ANOVA, resulting in three statistically significant findings. Findings were contrary to previous research and predictive hypotheses. Study participants were satisfied with their appearance, even when frequently viewing and comparing themselves to the cultural ideal and fashion trends. Future research is needed to investigate personality variables and susceptibility to media exposure and social media influence.