Abstract:
ABSTRACT
This current quantitative research investigated the impact of social media use on social
comparison and its subsequent effects on individuals' perceptions of their body esteem and
their likelihood of opting for aesthetic procedures. For testing these constructs, the data was
gathered from 400 university students from public and private sector university females using
non-probability sampling technique. Four hypotheses were tested including 1) Social media
usage would be a predictor of social comparison 2) Social media usage would be a predictor of
Body Esteem, 3) There would be a positive relationship between social media use and the
probability to undergo aesthetic procedure and 4) Social Comparison and Body esteem would
differ in individuals based on their gender. The data was collected using a self-designed
demographic sheet and questions based on IOWA-Netherlands Comparison Orientation
Measures (INCOM), Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), Body Esteem Scale for
Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), and Cosmetic Procedure Screening Questionnaire. The
gathered data was analyzed using SPSS V22. The findings of the study revealed that there is
Social Media use is a significant positive predictor of Social Comparison (F (1, 406) = 12.743,
p < 0.001; R
2 = 0.030) and Body Esteem (F (1, 407) = 4.276, p < 0.001; R
2 = 0.039). A weak
positive relationship (r = 0.198, p < 0.05) was found between social media use and the
probability of undergoing cosmetic procedures. Significant differences (p < .01) in body esteem
were found in males and females indicating that females have higher body esteem in
comparison to males. Thus, this research has theoretical significance as it contributes to
empirical evidence with respect to the existing literature on the topic.
