An Online Mirror? Facebook Use, Body Image, and Attitudes Toward Appearance in University Women

• In Event: A New Look at Technology in Counseling and Human Development Research

Abstract

This study explores how young women (ages 18-25) enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in one northeast university interact with and understand photographs posted on Facebook, focusing on the relationship between Facebook use and attitudes towards appearance and body image. The new Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire- Facebook Scale (SATAQ-FS) was developed from the Sociocultural Attitudes toward Appearance Scale -3 (SATAQ-3) (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2003). A factor analysis established construct validity for the SATAQ-FS paralleling the SATAQ-3. Findings indicate that women use photos on Facebook for impression management and interact with photos on Facebook to construct their own online identity and to learn about the identity of others.

Author

• Amanda Kay Slattery- Brown, Holy Family High School