For Immediate Release
Instagram and the Male Body Image
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, April 27, 2020—In a new study among males depicted on Instagram, the majority of posts showed men with low body fat, while only a small fraction depicted men with high body fat. Sixty-two percent of posts showed men with low body fat and 41% showed high muscularity, whereas only 6% showed men with high body fat and 17% showed low muscularity. Men with both low body fat and high muscularity (35%) represented the largest group with a specific body type, according to the study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website through May 27, 2020.
“Male Body Image Portrayals on Instagram” was coauthored by Thomas Gültzow, Francine Schneider, and Ciska Hoving, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. The researchers reported that exercise was the most frequently shown behavior. Furthermore, the number of likes and comments was significantly related to body composition, and the number of responses increased with decreasing levels of body fat and increasing levels of body muscularity.
“Based on Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, body image pictures on Instagram may, through positive modeling, help to counteract the obesity epidemic, with the portrayals leading men to lead more healthy lifestyles. On the negative side, the skewed images may lead to male body dissatisfaction, depression and eating disorders. We can use this knowledge to educate our patients about the false sense of reality often portrayed on social media,” says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
About the Journal
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, andJournal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.