Impact of Social Media on the Body Image Dissatisfaction in Men

Body image is an individual's subjective impression and attitudes toward their body, including thoughts, feelings, and behaviours concerning body form, size, and attractiveness. Physique dissatisfaction, or unpleasant thoughts and emotions about one's physique and look, is common. This condition occurs at any stage of life and affects both men and women (Fiske et al., 2014). Social media is a collection of digital platforms and applications that enable users to create, share, and interact with content and with each other through various forms of communication. Males are just as likely as females to experience body image issues as a result of using social networking sites, regardless of culture or age group. There have been fewer efforts made toward the maladaptive behaviours associated with boys and men than those on social media concerning girls and women (Nagata et al., 2021). The present study aims to study the effect of social media on male body image concerns. The participants are Indian boys and men aged 16-35 years who have only heterosexual orientations, have never met with a mental diagnosis, and are active users of social media. This experimental study will apply pre-test and post-test administration to our target population. The BSIQ - SF (Body et al.: Short Form) would be used as a pre-test, followed by providing different visual stimuli to the controlled and experimental groups, and finally, the Modified Multidimensional Facebook Intensity Scale as a post-test measure.

Keywords: Men, Body-Image dissatisfaction, social media, Experimental study.