IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSURE ON SOCIAL COMPARISON, BODY ESTEEM AND DECISION TO UNDERGO AESTHETIC PROCEDURES

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.