Social Media Use and Self-Objectification among Female Undergraduates

Qiangyan Hou

doi:10.62177/amit.v2i4.1536

Authors

Qiangyan Hou Northwest Normal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62177/amit.v2i4.1536

Keywords:

Social Media Use, Active Social Media Use, Passive Social Media Use, Self-Objectification

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between social media use and self-objectification among female college students, while further distinguishing active social media use from passive social media use. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 412 female college students. The Active Social Media Use Scale, the Passive Social Media Use Scale, and the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale were used for measurement, and correlation and regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among the variables. Results: Passive social media use was significantly positively correlated with self-objectification (r = 0.551, p < 0.001), and active social media use was also significantly positively correlated with self-objectification (r = 0.520, p < 0.001). Regression analyses showed that passive social media use significantly and positively predicted self-objectification among female college students (β = 0.551, t = 13.357, p < 0.001), and active social media use also significantly and positively predicted self-objectification (β = 0.520, t = 12.362, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The more frequently female college students use social media, the more likely they are to attend to their bodies and appearance from an external observer perspective and to show higher levels of self-objectification. These findings suggest that college mental health education and social media platform governance should pay attention to body image pressure among young women in social media environments.

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