Social Comparison of Idealized Female Images and the Curation of Self on Pinterest
Keywords:
Pinterest, social media, social comparison, self-esteem, Idealized images, body imageAbstract
The online social network, Pinterest, has grown in significance since its introduction in 2010, perhaps because of its emphasis of visual content, known as “pins.” According to the Pew Research Center, when it comes to Pinterest, “Women are about five times as likely to be on the site as men, the largest difference in gender” among popular social networking sites. While the literature indicates that idealizes images in traditional advertising venues have a negative impact on women’s self-perceptions, the present study extends this research to consider how newer social media, Pinterest in particular, affects women’s body image and self-esteem. The empirical findings of the present study, based on the results of an online survey of women, will greater understanding of the degree to which exposure to idealized images on Pinterest have an effect on self-evaluations. The study is based on social comparison theory as a moderator of effects, along with body image and self-esteem. The findings will be of interest to those concerned with the unintended consequences of social media use.
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Wood, J. (1989). Theory and Research Concerning Social Comparisons of Personal Attributes, Psychological Bulletin, 106(2), 231-248.
Alperstein, N. (2013). Is Pinterest Affecting Women’s Psyches? Medium, November, https://medium.com/new-media/954120df23fb.
Aubrey, J. & Taylor, L. (2009). The Role of Lad Magazines in Priming Men’s Chronic and Temporary Appearance-Related Schemata: An Investigation of Longitudinal and Experimental Findings. Human Communication Research, 35: 28–58. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2008.01337.x
Baltar, F. & Ignasi B. (2012). Social research 2.0: virtual snowball sampling method using Facebook, Internet Research, 22(1): 57-74.
Bordo, S. (1994). Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Calif: University of California Press; First Edition, Tenth Anniversary Edition (January 1, 2004).
Brown, K. (2005). Snowball sampling: using social networks to reach non-heterosexual women. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 47-60.
Champion, H. & Furnham, A. (1999). The effect of the media on body satisfaction in adolescent girls, European Eating Disorders Review, 7, 213-228.
Derenne, J. & Beresin, E. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders, Academic Psychiatry, 30, 257-261.
Dreze, X. & Nunes, J. (2009). Feeling Superior: The Impact of Loyalty Program Structure on Consumers’ Perceptions of Status, Journal of Consumer Research, 35 (April) 890-905.
Elliot, Richard & Elliott, N. (2003). Using Ethnography in Strategic Consumer Research, Qualitative Market Research 6:4, 215-223.
Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes, Human Relations, 7, 117-140.
Foot, K. (2014). The Online Emergence of Pushback on Social Media in the United States: A Historical Discourse Analysis. International Journal of Communication, [S.l.], v. 8, p. 30, apr. 2014. ISSN 1932-8036. Available at: <http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2376/1137>. (accessed: July 30 Jul. 2015).
Henderson, M. (2012). Is Social Media Destroying Your Self-Esteem? Forbes (July 11). http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2012/07/11/is-social-media-destroying-your-self-esteem/ (accessed September 25, 2013).
Hirschman, E. & Thompson, C. (1997). Why Media Matter: Toward a Richer Understanding of Consumers’ Relationships with Advertising and Mass Media, Journal of Advertising, 26(1), 44-60.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Lee, R. (1999). Changes in Attractiveness of Elected, Rejected, and Precluded Alternatives: A Comparison of Happy and Unhappy Individuals, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 988-1007.
Martin, M. & Gentry, J. (1997). Stuck in the Model Trap: The Effects of Beautiful Models in Ads on Female Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents, The Journal of Advertising, 2 (summer), 19-33.
Miles, M. & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
Morrison, S., & Gomez, R. (2014). Pushback: The Growth of Expressions of Resistance to Constant Online Connectivity. In iConference 2014 Proceedings (p. 1 - 15). doi:10.9776/14008
Ottoni, R., Pescep, J., Las Casas, D.E., Franciscani JR., G.; Meira J.R., W.; Kumaraguru, P. & Almeida, V. (2013). Ladies First: Analyzing Gender Roles and Behaviors in Pinterest. International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, North America, (June). Available at: http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM13/paper/view/6133. (accessed: 25 Sep. 2013).
Portwood-Stacer, L, (2013). Media refusal and conspicuous non-consumption: The performative and political dimensions of Facebook abstention. New Media & Society, 15(7), 11-17.
Rainie, L, Brenner, J., & Purcell, K. (2012). Photos and Videos as Social Currency Online, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, http://pewinternet.org/Repoertrs/2012/Online-Pictures.aspx. (accessed September 25, 2013).
Richins, M. (1991). Social Comparison and the Idealized Images of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Research, 18 (June), 71-83.
Stapel, D. & Blanton, H. (2007). Social Comparison Theories, New York: Psychology Press.
Stefanone, M., Lackaff, D. & Rosen, D. (2011). Contingencies of Self-Worth and Social-Networking-Site Behavior, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 14:1-2, pp. 41-49.
Wood, J. (1989). Theory and Research Concerning Social Comparisons of Personal Attributes, Psychological Bulletin, 106(2), 231-248.
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2015-12-20
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