#Instabod Versus #BoPo: An Experimental Study of the Effects of Viewing Idealized Versus Body-Positive Content on Collegiate Males’ and Females’ Body Satisfaction

Multiple studies have reported the harmful effects of appearance-related social media content on women’s body image; however, few studies have examined gender differences in the impact of Instagram images on body satisfaction and body appreciation. In addition, no studies have examined the influence of bodypositive images on males’ body image and body appreciation. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of three different types of Instagram posts (idealized, body-positive, and nature images) on males’ and females’ body satisfaction and appreciation. Three hundred seventy-one emerging adults (18–29 years old) viewed one of three sets of Instagram posts based on gender and completed body image measures before and after viewing those images. While the experimental condition only impacted overall posttest body satisfaction in females, when the salience of the images was highlighted by asking about how viewing these Instagram posts made them feel about specific body parts, both males’ and females’ feelings about their bodies seemed to be negatively affected by idealized Instagram images and positively affected by viewing body-positive posts. However, while females’ body image may benefit more from viewing body-positive images than idealized or nature images, males seem to benefit from viewing nonidealized images (either body-positive or nature images).