Inspiration for perspiration? Two experiments testing the psychological effects of fitspiration
- Autor(en)
- Kathrin Karsay, Marina Frederike Thomas, Jörg Matthes
- Abstrakt
The rise of social media has coincided with the growing popularity of “fitspiration” imagery, which showcases idealized physiques and fitness-related content. Specifically, we sought to examine the differences between exposure to athletic and thin bodies versus purely muscular bodies.We conducted two experiments to investigate how exposure to fitspiration imagery affects women’s body image, beliefs, and behavioral intentions about exercise and diet. Furthermore, we investigated the moderating role of women’s trait body appreciation.We randomly assigned young women to one of three experimental conditions: fitspiration images of athletic women, fitspiration images of hypermuscular women, or appearance-neutral (i.e., travel) images. In Study 1 (n =213, Mage = 22.69), exposure to hypermuscular fitspiration led to a higher intention to exercise among women with high levels of trait body appreciation. In Study 2 (n= 375,Mage = 22.43),we found no effects of fitspiration images of either type on the intention to exercise or diet. However, in women with low levels of trait body appreciation, hypermuscular images triggered lower body shape control beliefs compared to the other two conditions. In both experiments, we found no short-term effects of fitspiration images on women’s state body satisfaction. Contrasting evidence from most studies on fitspiration, this study reveals subtle to no effects following brief exposure to fitspiration imagery on women’s perceptions and behaviors regarding their bodies. It further suggests that the influence of fitspiration images depends on women’s existing levels of body appreciation and the ideals of beauty being promoted.
- Organisation(en)
- Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft
- Externe Organisation(en)
- Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften
- Journal
- Psychology of Popular Media
- Band
- 14
- Seiten
- 339-353
- Anzahl der Seiten
- 15
- ISSN
- 2689-6567
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000605
- Publikationsdatum
- 04-2025
- Peer-reviewed
- Ja
- ÖFOS 2012
- 508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft
- Schlagwörter
- ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Cultural Studies, Communication, Psychology (miscellaneous), Applied Psychology
- Link zum Portal
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/40967f3d-a3dd-46c8-bba5-bcb03a3788de