Elementary students who frequently use social media platforms like Facebook and KakaoTalk tend to have a more negative perception of their bodies. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The results of a recent study indicate that elementary students who frequently use social media platforms like Facebook and KakaoTalk tend to have a more negative perception of their bodies.
Published in the latest edition of the “Health and Social Welfare Review” by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the paper titled “The Relationship between Media Use and Body Self-Image in Elementary Students Before and After COVID-19″ reveals that increased social media engagement correlates with lower ‘body self-image’ among young students.
Body self-image encompasses an individual’s perception, evaluation, and attitude towards their physical appearance and body. The study utilized responses to five questions from the Korea Child Panel Survey, including satisfaction with one’s appearance and height, to score participants’ body self-image, with higher scores indicating a more positive self-view.
The research focused on older elementary children aged 12 to 13, analyzing data from 1,412 respondents in the 12th survey (conducted in 2019) and 1,397 respondents in the 13th survey (conducted in 2020).
Participants’ media usage patterns were categorized into three types: ‘Information-seeking’ for those primarily using media for learning and research, ‘Entertainment-seeking’ for gaming and entertainment purposes, and ‘Relationship-seeking’ for those predominantly engaging with social networking services (SNS) like Facebook, KakaoTalk, and Instagram.
The study found no correlation between information-seeking or entertainment-seeking media usage and body self-image scores. However, a negative correlation was observed between relationship-seeking media use and body self-image, suggesting that heavy use of social media leads to a more negative perception of one’s physical attributes, such as height and appearance.
The negative impact of social media on body image was initially observed in girls in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and in boys in 2020, after the pandemic began. The shift in boys’ body image perception could be attributed to reduced physical activity and increased social media use during the pandemic, coupled with a growing societal focus on male appearance.
The paper explains that relationship-seeking media activities, or ‘social grooming’ such as posting pictures, sharing, and liking, often encourage idealization of certain body types and justify appearance comparisons.
It warns that adolescents, who undergo rapid physical changes and are highly susceptible to media influence, may develop a negative body self-image, potentially leading to depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
