#WIEIAD - The influence of TikTok food diaries on young people’s body image
TikTok has seen a rise in "What I eat in a day" videos, #WIEIAD. In these videos, people share what they eat in a day. This study in Body Image investigates how viewing WIEIAD videos induces social comparison in young adults and, thereby, affect body image, diet intentions, and mood. It turns out that the number of calories shown in the video influences whether young people are affected positively or negatively. The way in which they are affected, might surprise you!
Take aways
- Watching videos showing low-calorie diets results in upward social comparison, which means comparing yourself with someone seemingly ‘better’ than you.
- Upward social comparison relates to a less positive mood, which is associated with a lower body image and a lower intention to diet.
- In contrast, watching videos showing high-calorie diets increases downward social comparison, which means comparing yourself with someone seemingly ‘worse’ than you.
- The downward social comparison can improve one’s positive mood, which relates to a more positive body image and a higher intention to diet.
- This could mean that people feel better about their own bodies after seeing other people’s unhealthy diets on social media. And surprisingly, this might even lead to an improved diet.
Study information
Who?
316 young adults (mean age: 20 y/o, age range 18-54 years, 62.7% female)
Where?
USA
How?
The researchers divided the participants into two groups showing five WIEIAD videos either depicting low-calorie or high-calorie diets. Afterwards, participants filled out questionnaires assessing body image, diet intentions, social comparison, mood, TikTok use frequency, and demographic information. The researchers then assessed how the videos affected the measured variables, by comparing the two groups.
Facts and findings
- Both type of video led to social comparisons, but social comparisons only related to positive, not negative, mood.
- When there was an upward social comparison, the positive mood was lower and when there was a downward social comparison the positive mood was higher after watching the videos.
- Still, participants who reported a more negative mood, indicated to be less satisfied with their bodies, to appreciate their bodies less, and intended to diet more often. This suggests that a lower mood is related to a negative body image and a desire to change.
- A possible explanation the authors offer is that watching high-calorie content may prompt individuals to distance themselves from choices they might perceive as being unhealthy, but also foster a more positive relationship with their bodies.
- Critical notes: The study only looked at the immediate influence of the videos on young people’s moods, self-image, and dietary intentions and not at sustained effects or actual behavior change in response to the videos. Moreover, we cannot be entirely certain whether the social comparison affected participants’ moods, self-image, and intentions or whether it was the other way around.