Social media and beauty ideals - Expectations of ourselves and others: An analysis using parameterizable 3D software

Since it’s rise, social media has repeatedly been associated with negative effects on body ideals. However, the vast majority of these studies focused only on self-perception rather than the perception of others. The aim of this study was to find out which body ideals apply to the perception of one’s own body and the bodies of others, and which differences and similarities can be perceived. In order to narrow the scope of the study, it was limited to male and female subjects. In addition, it was examined whether the use of social media leads to a stricter rating of the attractiveness of others. To investigate these questions, a combination of questionnaires and software for creating three-dimensional bodies was used. Participants created their own body, the ideal body for their own sex, and the ideal body for the respective other sex. No significant relationships were found between the use of social media and self-esteem, body satisfaction or the tendency for social comparison. Women created significantly thinner and more muscular bodies as the female ideal than for their own current figure. For women only, social media time is significantly related to a thinner body ideal for themselves and leads to a stricter rating of the attractiveness of others. Comparing different body ideals, it can be seen that men built bodies with significantly more muscles as the ideal for themselves than women preferred for an ideal man. Men, preferred women to have a body that is slightly thinner than women prefer for themselves.