Social media use among young people is ubiquitous and has been associated with body image concerns. Though prior work has overwhelmingly focused on “screen time,” increasing evidence highlights the role of subjective social media experiences in driving this association, rather than mere frequency of use. In the current study, body appreciation was tested as a trait-level variable that may protect women from the negative impact of appearance-focused fitspiration images, which have become common in social media platforms. Appearance schema activation and appearance-related self-discrepancy were examined as two social-cognitive processes in which self-protective tendencies may emerge. Fitspiration exposure predicted appearance schema activation but not appearance-related self-discrepancy.
","abstract_html":"<p>Social media use among young people is ubiquitous and has been associated with body image concerns. Though prior work has overwhelmingly focused on “screen time,” increasing evidence highlights the role of subjective social media experiences in driving this association, rather than mere frequency of use. In the current study, body appreciation was tested as a trait-level variable that may protect women from the negative impact of appearance-focused fitspiration images, which have become common in social media platforms. Appearance schema activation and appearance-related self-discrepancy were examined as two social-cognitive processes in which self-protective tendencies may emerge. Fitspiration exposure predicted appearance schema activation but not appearance-related self-discrepancy. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dumas, Brittney"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sarah Savoy Ph.D"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-07-21T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-07-21T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z","subjects":["Positive","Body Image","Cognitive","Processing style","Fitspiration","social media","body appreciation","Cognitive Psychology","Health Psychology","Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/405","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sarah Savoy Ph.D"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dumas, Brittney"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-08-02T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Positive","Body Image","Cognitive","Processing style","Fitspiration","social media","body appreciation","Cognitive Psychology","Health Psychology","Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/405"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Social media use among young people is ubiquitous and has been associated with body image concerns. Though prior work has overwhelmingly focused on “screen time,” increasing evidence highlights the role of subjective social media experiences in driving this association, rather than mere frequency of use. In the current study, body appreciation was tested as a trait-level variable that may protect women from the negative impact of appearance-focused fitspiration images, which have become common in social media platforms. Appearance schema activation and appearance-related self-discrepancy were examined as two social-cognitive processes in which self-protective tendencies may emerge. Fitspiration exposure predicted appearance schema activation but not appearance-related self-discrepancy.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Positive Body Image and Cognitive Processing Style"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sarah Savoy Ph.D"],"dc:creator":["Dumas, Brittney"],"dc:date.available":["2021-08-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Social media use among young people is ubiquitous and has been associated with body image concerns. Though prior work has overwhelmingly focused on “screen time,” increasing evidence highlights the role of subjective social media experiences in driving this association, rather than mere frequency of use. In the current study, body appreciation was tested as a trait-level variable that may protect women from the negative impact of appearance-focused fitspiration images, which have become common in social media platforms. Appearance schema activation and appearance-related self-discrepancy were examined as two social-cognitive processes in which self-protective tendencies may emerge. Fitspiration exposure predicted appearance schema activation but not appearance-related self-discrepancy.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/405"],"dc:subject":["Positive","Body Image","Cognitive","Processing style","Fitspiration","social media","body appreciation","Cognitive Psychology","Health Psychology","Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["Positive Body Image and Cognitive Processing Style"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z"}