Why do we exercise? To lose weight? To build muscle? To strengthen our heart? To calm our mind? Whatever the reason, there are universal benefits we all experience. Exercise helps us feel good.
That is, if you’re comparing online. It’s nearly impossible to glance at Instagram or TikTok without seeing a perfectly shaped influencer touting their daily meals or super-quick morning workout (even though getting that body type almost certainly requires hours of exercise a day).
While many of these accounts claim to promote healthy lifestyles, they’re selling aesthetics — and while they’re aspirational, new research suggests that their inspiration may be doing more harm than good.
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A recent online experimental study aimed to investigate the impact of three popular social media trends – fitspiration, body positivity and body neutral – on women’s body dissatisfaction and psychological well-being.
The research, which will be published in June 2024, Body imageA team of four German researchers specializing in clinical psychology and psychotherapy randomly selected 382 women (172 who reported having an eating disorder and 210 who did not) and asked them to look at 30 Instagram posts that fell into one of three categories:
- “Fitspiration” posts showcased lean, muscular women promoting health and fitness.
- The “body positivity” posts featured photos of plus-sized women promoting self-love.
- The “body neutrality” post included text-based illustrations focused on assessing the functionality of the body.
Participants filled out surveys about body dissatisfaction and mood before and after viewing the posts, and the results were clear: viewing “fitness inspirational” images increased body dissatisfaction, but both “body positive” and “body neutral” posts decreased body dissatisfaction.
In terms of mood, the “fitness” posts reduced positive emotions but had no effect on negative emotions, the “body positive” posts maintained positive emotions and reduced negative emotions, and interestingly, the “body neutral” posts also reduced positive mood, even though they reduced negative mood.
The effects of these trends were consistent among women with and without eating disorders, highlighting the negative impact that “fitness inspiration” content can have on body image and emotional well-being, regardless of mental health. The next time you’re looking for inspiration, turning to real inspiration and guidance from a trainer or nutritionist may be a more beneficial way to help you maintain your overall health.
