The Effects of Thinspiration Social Media on Overvaluation of Appearance, Safety Behavior, and Appearance Concerns

Social media use has been found to be associated with appearance concerns, low mood, and increased appearance comparisons among women. One possible explanation for these findings could be the consumption of thinspiration content, media that focused on thinness and subsequent upward social comparisons. The aim of the present study was to experimentally examine the effect of thinspiration content from TikTok on state-level appearance comparison, appearance concerns, sadness, overvaluation of appearance, and urge to check/camouflage/seek reassurance about appearance. Participants (<i>N</i> = 111) were randomly presented 5-minute compilations of thinspiration videos or animal videos from TikTok and answered state-level measures following each video set. We found that, compared with the animal videos, the thinspiration videos led to greater appearance comparisons, appearance concerns, overvaluation of appearance, urge to use a safety behavior, and sadness. Overall, this study provides novel evidence supporting the role of thinspiration content viewed on TikTok on appearance concerns and related symptoms.