My research proposal:

The point of my research proposal is to show the issues of social media in correlation with body dysmorphia. specifically with people comparing themselves to people on Instagram because they believe everything that is being seen. the point is to show how social media shows false body imagery because positioning, Photoshop, and lighting can change how a person’s body looks compared to in person. People see the posts, specifically posts made by famous artists, and start comparing their bodies to them. people then develop a body imagery issue, thinking they are not enough and have to look like those on the screen. Causing them to develop unrealistic body goals because they think everyone is the same. Due to this, it causes eating disorders specifically targeting adolescents.

Source one:

https://pakistanbmj.com/journal/index.php/pbmj/article/view/205

The source gave a correlation between social media creating unrealistic body images to people wanting it in real life. this was backed up by research to see whether or not this was true. The articles mainly researched were from 2014-2021 specifically articles in English. the results came back to be that there is in fact a correlation between body dysmorphia from social media and eating disorders specifically to those who are highly addicted to scrolling.

use:

I would use this source to start the initial backup of my claim, giving a basic background statistical research that was done showing there is data for the reader to refer back to if they were questioning how much social media truly affects those who scroll through social media constantly.

Source 2:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1697260020300521

The source is another statistic specifically focusing on the use of Instagram and how it affects both men and women equally on body dysmorphia concerns. the study is done by having 796 participants both men and women to prove that gender was also not a distinguishing issue for the problem. To add the results proved this and showed that there was a significant appearance comparison with the other users and even saw that people would make comments on others’ bodies due to imperfections.

use:

another statistic proving the issue of Instagram use and body dysmorphia. this one specifically also proves that people are extremely cruel and even make negative comments in comparison to others’ bodies to make themselves feel better about their own. to add the source also shows that it is not gender biased, body dysmorphia is a real struggle for both men and women.

source 3:

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2880

The main point of this study is the association between people and social media driving people to want to look like an image driving them to do whatever to look like it. The source did their own study with 1331 subjects between the ages 15 to 35; with 193 patients already suffering from eating disorders. Everyone in this test filled out a survey and showed that there was an association between the frequency of comparing their own physical appearance to those followed on social media specifically making people dissatisfied with their body. The comparison led people to be highly vulnerable to eating disorders.

use:

This is another piece of evidence backing up my claim. specifically towards the vulnerability. specifically to those of younger age. the study also has a wide pool of people participating in it showing that it is a reliable source and can be more generalized.

sources 4:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15213269.2016.1257392

This source shows a study being done between girls ages of 14-18 comparing their original photo to the same photo just manipulated. the study shows the girls liking the manipulated photo more than the original, as well as lowering their self esteem while looking at the original. This showed negative impact due to the fact that the manipulated photo were not real and the girls wanting to look like them lowering their own self esteem with their own image manipulated.

use:

people seem to compare themselves go photos of people online because it is something they desire to look like real or not. The reality of it is that usually the photos posted are manipulated in some way. This source gives me evidence to back up that claim. when the girls were comparing the same original photo to the manipulated one they tended to like the manipulated one more because of the want to look like that, and start hating the one they naturally look like.

source 5:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444817694499

This is another study done to measure Instagram use and peoples body imagery concern. This test was done specifically on women in both Australia and the United States. The test showed that those with low self-confidence tended to compare themselves more to those on social media rather than those with higher confidence. to add the images looked at more was the fitinspiration images on Instagram making people more concerned with their own body image. this was shown to negatively influence women

use:

I want to use this as an additional study to the claim of people comparing themselves to bodies that could potentially not be real. the more they saw a picture the more it was scrolled through. again this would be something I could use to show comparison not being real and all of it being subjective in our heads because of the human belief that social media could be real but deep down inside everyone knows there is a false reality to it.

source 6:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740914000693

This article is about the impact of social media use and social interaction bringing different impacts in society overall. Presenting the negative attributes that come with social media and its use of it towards body dysmorphia. They also studied the different communications among all the ages that could cause body image issues among other ones too.

use:

This article would be used to see the impact of social media everywhere not just in the United States. With the different set ups of communication and how It can destroy peoples mental health because of the derealization with reality, eventually leading to believing false bodies on the media.

source 7:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S174014452200064X?via%3Dihub

This article focused on the body image inclusiveness of accepting all body choices, not just the ideals and allowing everyone to feel included whether the body was ideal or not. There has not been much success with this, as not everyone feels included still.

use:

for this I talked about the positives being used, but how they were still not enough for people to believe different. Regardless of what is included or not body image is something deeply struggled with, especially with girls, therefore they will never be satisfied. Wether the body is accepted or not.

source 8:

Talked to Mikeymikebw in person for 45 minutes about the topic.

In this I talked to Mikey about body imagery among his clients and how they feel when they start hitting the gym and why. As well as their feeling after. In the end it always came back to wanting more than what they already had. people even those with nice physiques want to change because they are never fully happy and think there is more potential because of what they see on social media.

Use:

I use the key points of the discussion to set my point across about body image. Showing that no matter what people will constantly struggle because of the constant comparison being right infornt of our faces. rather than you bettering yourself you are trying to be better than others.

source 9:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2017969955?accountid=13605&parentSessionId=T1FB%2B1nadyYdNsYLn%2BdDT65If%2BwHZklEtuR2ZxEfC3g%3D&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

The study focused on the influence of social media on body image. this mainly focused on the eating disorders that are developed when wanting to change their bodies.

I used this study to talk about the social media negatives towards body image as well as how it develops eating disorders. starting from the age of 6 if kids have access to social media they start being worried of becoming fat. This is mainly seen in girls, which is why a lot of the body image issues have to girls, mainly adolescents.