The Effect Of Passive Social Networking Site Use On Facial Negative Physical Self

Social networking sites affect our lives,and research has found that using social networking sites increases an individual's tendency to compare appearance upward.But social networking sites contain a variety of information,some related to our appearance,some not related to our appearance.So,when we look at this information,is it only when we look at the information related to our appearance that it triggers an upward appearance comparison,and nothing else does?Numerous studies have found that the use of social networking sites increases the dissatisfaction of individuals with their bodies by inducing upward appearance comparisons.So,is it because the use of passive social networking sites associated with physical attractiveness that triggers upward appearance comparison that increases our facial negative physical image?In the present study,two experiments were carried out to explore the influence of passive social networking site use on the upward appearance comparison of individuals and the influence of passive social networking site use on the facial negative physical self.Experiment 1 explored whether passive use of social networking sites to browse information related to appearance induced upward appearance comparisons.A hybrid experiment design of 2(group: experimental group,control group)×2(upward appearance comparison: pre-test,post-test)was adopted.From 448 college students with experience in using social networking sites,67 subjects with similar upward appearance were selected and randomly divided into experimental group(browsing information related to body)and control group(browsing information unrelated to body).Two groups of subjects were required to passively use social networking sites to browse body-related/unrelated information for 15 minutes.After browsing the information,all subjects were subjected to post-test of upward appearance comparison level.The results of variance analysis of mixed design show that compared with the control group,the upward appearance comparison level of subjects in the experimental group was significantly increased in the post-test.Experiment 2 investigated whether induced upward appearance comparison increased facial negative physical image.A mixed experiment design of 2(group:experimental group,control group)×3(part of speech: positive words,neutral words,negative words)was adopted.From 448 college students with experience using socialnetworking sites,70 subjects with similar Upward appearance comparison and facial negative physical self level were re-screened.The subjects were randomly divided into two groups,both groups were asked to make part of speech judgments about the stimulus material,the response time and recognition accuracy of words were the dependent variables.The results of mixed design variance analysis found that,Participants who initiated the upward appearance comparison responded more quickly to the negative appearance words in three categories and were more likely to recognize them again.Combined with two experiments,the current findings suggest that when individuals are passively using social networking sites,only viewing information related to their appearance leads to upward comparisons of appearance.When an individual uses social networking sites passively,the information that induces the upward comparison of appearance increases the facial negative physical image.The current research enriches the research on social network and plays a guiding role in helping individuals to use social network correctly.