TY - JOUR
T1 - “But first let me take a selfie”
T2 - U.S. adolescent girls’ selfie activities, self-objectification, imaginary audience beliefs, and appearance concerns
AU - Terán, Larissa
AU - Yan, Kun
AU - Aubrey, Jennifer Stevens
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/7/2
Y1 - 2020/7/2
N2 - While some scholars argue that selfies can be a way for teenage girls, particularly, to showcase their individual identity, others argue that selfie activities can lead to body dissatisfaction and self-objectification, to name a few consequences. Utilizing objectification theory, we examined selfie activities (selfie sharing, selfie editing, and selfie investment) in relation to self-objectification and appearance concerns with Imaginary Audience Beliefs (IABs) tested as a moderator of these relations. Participants consisted of 278 14-17-year-old girls residing in the United States. Results showed that selfie editing and selfie investment were related to self-objectification, and indirect relationships of selfie editing and investment on negative appearance concerns (appearance anxiety, body shame, and negative appearance evaluation) through self-objectification were found. However, only limited evidence of IABs as a moderator was found. The simple matter of posting selfies is not consequential for appearance concerns, but overemphasizing the importance of selfies and self-scrutiny through selfie editing are the practices that are potentially problematic for adolescent girls.
AB - While some scholars argue that selfies can be a way for teenage girls, particularly, to showcase their individual identity, others argue that selfie activities can lead to body dissatisfaction and self-objectification, to name a few consequences. Utilizing objectification theory, we examined selfie activities (selfie sharing, selfie editing, and selfie investment) in relation to self-objectification and appearance concerns with Imaginary Audience Beliefs (IABs) tested as a moderator of these relations. Participants consisted of 278 14-17-year-old girls residing in the United States. Results showed that selfie editing and selfie investment were related to self-objectification, and indirect relationships of selfie editing and investment on negative appearance concerns (appearance anxiety, body shame, and negative appearance evaluation) through self-objectification were found. However, only limited evidence of IABs as a moderator was found. The simple matter of posting selfies is not consequential for appearance concerns, but overemphasizing the importance of selfies and self-scrutiny through selfie editing are the practices that are potentially problematic for adolescent girls.
KW - Self-objectification
KW - appearance concerns
KW - imaginary audience beliefs
KW - selfies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075727689&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/17482798.2019.1697319
DO - 10.1080/17482798.2019.1697319
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075727689
SN - 1748-2798
VL - 14
SP - 343
EP - 360
JO - Journal of Children and Media
JF - Journal of Children and Media
IS - 3
ER -