Oral papers
Social Networks and Pornography Use as Precursors Of Body Appearance Self-Perception and Satisfaction
V. Busko
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Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb
A. Cipric
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Faculty Of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb
A. Stulhofer
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Faculty Of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb
https://doi.org/10.21465/2016-KP-OP-0076
Fulltext (english, pages 109-109).pdf
Abstracts
Objective: Following two complementary theoretical approaches to the study on the development of body appearance (dis)satisfaction, this paper examines the potential role of virtual social networks and exposure to pornography in the processes of body appearance perception and satisfaction.
Design and Method: The study is done as a part of an ongoing longitudinal research project focused on the role of sexually explicit material in young people’s sexual socialization and health. The analyses to be presented are based on the data collected within the first time point of the project, on the sample of 1278 female second-year high-school students. Key variables included measures of social networks and pornography use, internalization of appearance ideal, body surveillance, and body appearance satisfaction, gathered within the online administration procedures. Structural equation modeling methodology was used to test the hypotheses on the role of body surveillance and internalization processes in the relationship between the measures of pornography and social networks use and the satisfaction with own body appearance.
Results: The analyses confirmed partially mediated contribution of the measures of the amount of use of pornography and virtual networks in accounting for the individual differences in body appearance satisfaction.
Conclusions: The processes of internalization of appearance ideal, and the measure of body surveillance, seem to have weak but significant mediation role in the relationship between virtual media use and the satisfaction with own body appearance. This work has been fully supported by Croatian Science foundation under the project 9221.