Using Psychosocial Variables and Social Media Use to Predict Exercise Behaviors and Engagement in Impression Management in Women
Keywords:
body image, social media, impression management, impression construction, impression motivation, exerciseAbstract
Posting on social media has become a norm and an everyday expectation, encouraging users to post photos and captions that depict a highlight reel of their everyday experiences. Many women utilize social media to display their exercise behaviors and personas, yet little is understood about what variables might predict this behavior. The purpose of this study was to use a re-conceptualized version of Perloff’s (2014) Transactional model of social media and body image concerns to explore how psychosocial factors in combination with social media engagement may predict impression management and exercise behaviors in women. Participants (N = 605) included recreationally active women who actively engaged in social media use. Results from three hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that: (1) social media use specific to health/exercise-related content, body/exercise comparisons, physical appearance comparisons, negative affect, thin-ideal internalization, weight, and positive affect all are significant in predicting exercise behaviors; (2) contingent self-esteem, reasons for exercise, social media use, and social physique anxiety significantly predict impression motivation and impression construction. This study provides support for the re-conceptualized model of social media, body image concerns, impression management, and exercise behaviors.
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