Negative effects of Fitspiration on Body Image & Self-Esteem

The negative and detrimental effects fitspiration can have on women's body image & self-esteem explained.

Body image is a combination of the thoughts and feelings individuals have about their body and its perception. Body image is the way you see your body, the way you feel about your body, and the way you think about your body (“Body Image”). Positive body image is associated with high self-esteem whereas negative body image is associated with low self-esteem and can lead to body dissatisfaction. Body dissatisfaction is when people are dissatisfied with the way their bodies look which can drive people to engage in unhealthy practices to look a certain way ("Body Image"). Self-esteem is a measure of one’s self-worth in comparison to others and themselves. High self-esteem is associated with self-confidence whereas low self-esteem is associated with lack of self-confidence. Self-esteem dictates how a person feels about themselves which can impact every aspect of life and contribute to happiness and wellbeing, or lack of. A negative body image leads to body dissatisfaction which leads to low self-esteem which in turn leads to detrimental behaviors such as eating disorders (Contreras). Self-esteem is also a driver of upward and downward social comparison so if a woman has a low self-esteem she will participate in harmful levels of social comparison. Having a positive body image, body satisfaction, and high self-esteem is essential for mental and physical health, yet there are so many factors in our society that harm women’s view of their bodies and self, including beauty standards, social comparisons, and the “need” for women to be in complete control of their bodies. Media platforms perpetuate these ideas through idealized images of women with perfect skin, hair, and bodies (Harman). The rise in social media has enhanced these ideas through its constant flow of idealized media and various movements intended to help women reach their beauty and fitness goals (Maguire). The social media movement of fitspiration can have extremely detrimental effects on body image, body satisfaction, and self-esteem. Today, the root of many body image and self-esteem issues among young women is social media and its facet of fitspiration.

Through researching fitspiration and the various studies on its effects, I have learned the many negative effects of fitspiration and will share them to inform readers of the harmful effects of this seemingly innocent form of media.

Overwhelmingly, viewing fitspiration has been found to have negative effects on body image and self-esteem with increases in body dissatisfaction. Through its emphasis on appearance, restrictive eating, compulsive exercise, and prevalence of idealized images, fitspiration creates a negative environment that causes women to feel worse about their bodies and themselves ("Exercise to be fit not skinny"). Psychologists Marika Tiggemann and Mia Zaccardo conducted a research study on the effects of fitspiration imagery on women’s body images compared to images of travel. They measured women ages 17-30s self-esteem, mood, and body dissatisfaction before and after viewing fitspiration or travel photos. They found that the women who viewed fitspiration images can had increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction, as well as lower self-esteem. People who viewed travel posts had little to no change in mood, body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem. This shows that fitspiration can have negative unintended consequences on mental health ("Exercise to be fit not skinny").

Women portrayed in fitspiration images are thin and toned which is unrealistic for many women; and rather than health-based benefits, they promote appearance-related benefits which are associated with negative body image. This creates space for comparisons to be made and for increased focus on appearance to occur opening a door for body dissatisfaction and decreased body image ("Exercise to be fit not skinny"). Fitspiration images reinforce the idea that there is only one desirable and healthy body type. When this message is constantly sent to women, they feel the need to conform to this body type and look like the women they see (Reade). A research article I read by Michelle Raggart, et al., was titled, “I aspire to look and feel like the posts convey.” Women want to look just like the women in the posts and will do whatever it takes to get there. If women succeed, they know they are not failures. In the study by Raggart, et al., social media users ages 15-29 reported that after interacting with fitness and diet content, they were more likely to engage in disordered eating habits (Raggart, et al). There is a direct correlation between viewing fitspiration and engagement in disordered behavior and eating.

Women seek out fitness to begin with, often because they are dissatisfied with their bodies and want to change them. Without even viewing fitspiration content women can be dissatisfied with their bodies because they are constantly sent the message that their body needs to change (Serna). It is easy to be dissatisfied when body ideals are always communicated to you. Women are trying to lose weight because of body dissatisfaction and viewing fitspiration makes the feelings worse. Women find themselves comparing themselves to peers and other women, and when they don’t look or improve in the same ways as their peers, more body image issues arise.

In a content analysis done by Marika Tiggemann and Mia Zaccardo called “Strong is the new skinny,” they found that fitspiration promoted one body ideal, thin and toned. They also found that the captions along with the photos contained attitudes that were perfectionist, extreme, and obsessive which promoted excessive exercise and disordered eating, and an overwhelming emphasis on appearance ("Strong is the new skinny"). All these factors can lead to feelings of body dissatisfaction and disordered habits. In their research, Tiggemann and Zaccardo found that photo-based social media sites such as Instagram which in turn are appearance-based, cause the most harm to body image because right at women’s fingertips are hundreds of bodies to compare herself to and ultimately fall short of achieving ("Strong is the new skinny"). Exercise motivated by appearance is damaging because women will do whatever it takes to look thin and when they are not getting immediate results, will blame themselves, become frustrated, give up, and become increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies (Robinson). Fitspiration clearly emphasizes ideal lean bodies and shapes which have proven to cause unrealistic body shape aspirations and body dissatisfaction among women (Knobloch-Westerwick & Romero). Fitspiration promotes another body standard for women to live up to and compare themselves to. People post their best pictures for a reason so even images on influencers’ pages are unrealistic to them because they are posed or have edited their bodies. The images posted are not accurate representations of how those women look in everyday life. A picture of someone standing in front of a mirror in gym clothes is not motivating. It’s just a picture of someone. Someone to compare yourself to, someone you’ll never be. There is an extreme lack of actual workout videos featured under the hashtag of fitspiration emphasizing again that the movement is about appearance. Only the best parts of influencers' lives are shown. Only their best workouts are shown. The days they struggled to finish a workout, the days they gave up, the days they didn’t stick to their diet are not shown causing followers to believe they are failing it they aren’t perfect like the pictures show.

In a study done by Catherine Benton and Bryan T. Karazsia on the effect of thin and muscular images on women’s body satisfaction, they found that body satisfaction decreased when viewing thin bodies and thin and muscular bodies but not when viewing hyper muscular bodies (Benton & Karazsia). This proves that women are attempting to achieve the thin body ideal. Women don’t want to be super muscular; they want to be thin; that’s the body ideal. The whole goal is to achieve the body ideal, not extreme fitness. Personally, when viewing the hashtag fitspiration to get a better idea of the content, I was more drawn to the thin and toned bodies as opposed to the hyper muscular bodies. The hyper muscular body type seems more unattainable to me and I don’t necessarily want to be hyper muscular. Originally, this seemed like my idea and a preference I came up with myself but, it is not. I don’t want to be hyper muscular because I have been conditioned to believe that thinness is the answer; thin is what you should want to be, thin is attainable. This standard for thinness in fitness media promotes the ideas of thinspiration but there is no ban on it, there are no resources when it is viewed (Duca). Thinspiration was banned for its promotion of thinness through disordered habits yet that content still exists with the same harmful effects, just a different name.

Fitspiration has been found to trigger obsessive behaviors in viewers and creators in their attempts to be thin (Holland & Tiggemann). In a study done by Grace Holland and Marika Tiggemann about disordered eating and compulsive exercise in women who post fitspiration on Instagram, it was found that fitspiration influencers and creators experienced the same negative effects as viewers and were more likely to engage in compulsive exercise and restricted eating. They found that women who post were more "at-risk" for eating disorders and drive for thinness. Posting and viewing images promotes obsessive behavior around bodies, eating, and exercise including compulsive exercise, disordered and restrictive eating, and more (Holland & Tiggemann). If even the women posting are experiencing the same harmful effects, how can we trust these images and people? The answer is we can’t.

Participants from Stephanie Easton, et al's research study on young people’s experience of viewing the fitspiration social media trend, shared that they felt worse about their bodies after viewing fitspiration, that they weren’t inspired, that they are too aware of what they eat, and more. They also experienced bad moods, and feelings of frustration, laziness, guilt, and unworthiness (Easton, et al). These emotions lead to feelings of decreased body image and self-esteem because they felt their bodies couldn’t achieve what was portrayed. The feelings of the women in the study are in line with what my cousin Josie and sister Bridget shared with me. They both said that when they don’t exercise and then see fitspiration images, they feel bad and feel like they should be exercising because others are. When they both didn’t see results as fast as they were expecting due to what the media had told them, they were dissatisfied with their bodies and began to struggle with their body image (Armour, J.) (Olney).

The negative effects fitspiration can have, have the power to control women’s lives. Women can become consumed with trying to achieve the ideal body through tracking everything they put in their bodies, excessively exercising, and even ceasing to eat. Dangerous behaviors are being promoted and encourage causing psychological damage (Robinson). It can take women years to recover from an eating disorder and some women go through all of life battling body image that prevents them from ever experiencing high self-esteem. The harmful effects of fitspiration out weight any inspiring qualities it may have. Women are engaging in dangerous behaviors just to achieve the ideal body perpetuated through the media. When women have a negative body image it can affect the way they act and perform in everyday life.

If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder; you can call the toll-free, confidential NEDA Helpline, Monday-Thursday from 9:00 a.m.- 9:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at 1-800-931-2237.

Armour, Josie. Personal Interview. 12 June 2021.

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