PICTURE, EDIT, POST, REPEAT: PHOTO EDITING, SOCIAL MEDIA, BODY IMAGE AND PERSONALITY VARIABLES

Abstract

Social media use has skyrocketed in recent years among teens and young adults. Posting photos on social media that have been edited or manipulated in some way poses interesting psychological questions that have only begun to be addressed in the empirical literature. This study assessed the relationship between social media photo editing generally and with specific photos and personality variables. Eighty-one college students evaluated three photos posted on their Instagram accounts and completed self-report measures of body image, self-perception, and narcissism. An observer also evaluated their posted photos. Results show that the more dissatisfied individuals are with their bodies, the more manipulating they do to their photos. Editing of specific body parts (i.e., faces and stomachs) was associated with negative feelings about these body parts. Narcissism was not significantly predictive of editing behavior. Future studies should continue to assess social media photo manipulations with a larger and more diverse sample.