Introduction:
Younger individuals now have easier access to and greater popularity with the media than
they had ten years ago. Adolescents are now exposed to more unrealistic beauty standards
because of the transition in media to being mostly online. As a result, there is a higher chance
of developing eating disorders. Extreme anxiety of gaining weight and misconceptions about
one’s body weight are symptoms of eating disorders including anorexia nervosa and bulimia
nervosa. They thus believe that they must act to either rectify the misconceptions or prevent
gaining weight by engaging in practices like purging or restrictive eating. Unfortunately,
exposure to this slim ideal significantly contributes to the emergence of eating disorders
(Keel & Forney, 2013). My interest in this topic sparked from studying so intensively about
them in my abnormal psychology coursework. I’ve been volunteering for an eating disorder
program at a mental health institution, which also contributed to my interest in this research
topic. I have also read many research articles about eating disorders in females with a higher
social status. It is also well known that female athletes, in particular gymnasts, ballet dancers,
tennis players, figure skaters, are more likely to develop eating disorders as a result of their
environment and increased pressure to be slim (Ringham et al., 2006; Davis & Strachan,
2001). This cultural ideal and the ideal prevalent on social media are comparable. Before
social media, the people who were exposed to this ideal were mostly restricted to those who
lived in settings where being slim and having a particular body type were idealized. In the
sports mentioned above, the coaches also frequently prefer and praise the athletes that meet
the ideal body type that correlates well with their game.
My research question is- How does social media use impacts the risk of developing
eating disorders among female adolescents? According to several research, spending more
time on social media is strongly correlated with greater body image concern and more severe
symptoms for an eating disorder. Considering this, my hypothesis is that a teen’s chance of
having an eating disorder rises if they spend more time on social media and are eventually
more exposed to the demands of conforming to the ideal body type. The dependent variable is
the results from the SATAQ- Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire.
This survey was created to gauge how much women realize and accept socially constructed
norms of attractiveness.
Method:
To conduct this experiment, I will first list down all the High schools in Guelph. Next, I will
select around 5-10 high schools from the list using random sampling. If I’m granted the
permission by the selected schools, I will collect the contact information (email preferably) of
female identifying teens aged 14-15. I will be excluding anyone diagnosed with an ED as my
topic is only about how media influences the chances of one developing an ED. Next I would
like to email the eligible girls about the study using a set script. I am hoping to recruit at least
80 participants.
The study's materials will include a questionnaire regarding participants' usage of
social media and the SATAQ. Solely a few demographic inquiries will be required to
understand the participants' backgrounds as the study only includes female participants who
reside in Guelph. Questions about the participants’ age (14 or 15), and ethnicity would be put
up as well as questions like whether they have a social media profile, how many followers
they have, the time they spend online every day. The SATAQ will evaluate participants’
internalization of social media’s prevalent beauty standards as well as their understanding of
how these standards are applied in real world settings. While filling the SATAQ, participants
will be asked to read the statements carefully and how much they agree with the statements
on a Likert scale (Heinberg et al., 1996).
The first step that I would take is contacting the Research Ethics Board and ask for an
ethical approval to conduct my research. A parental agreement form will be necessary at both
phases in the study because the teenage females chosen for it will be under the age of 18. I'll
debrief the participants following the completion of data collection.