From the screen to the bed: Appearance-related social media consciousness and sexual well-being among emerging adult women and men

In an era when social media presents unprecedented opportunities for self-objectification, research is needed to understand how online and offline self-objectification processes are related to emerging adults' sexual well-being. In this brief report, we report results from a cross-sectional study examining associations among appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC), body consciousness during sexual activity, and sexual assertiveness among a mixed-gender sample of emerging adults (n = 249, M_age = 22.30, 54.6% women, 60.6% straight/heterosexual) from four Anglophone countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia). Using self-report measures and controlling for theoretically relevant variables (i.e., general self-objectification, time spent on social media, gender identity, sexual orientation), multiple regression analyses found that higher ASMC was associated with higher body consciousness during sexual activity, with no significant moderation by gender identity or sexual orientation. ASMC was not directly associated with sexual assertiveness, but results indicated a significant indirect effect, such that higher ASMC was associated with lower sexual assertiveness via higher body consciousness during sexual activity. These findings suggest that social media-specific self-objectification may be associated with lower sexual well-being, even when controlling for general self-objectification. Furthermore, body consciousness during sexual activity may be a mechanism through which ASMC relates to lower sexual assertiveness. We discuss these findings through the lens of objectification theory and self-effects theory, highlighting the importance of future research examining associations among self-objectification processes and sexual well-being longitudinally, to better understand how these processes unfold among diverse emerging adults around the world.