#fitspiration – High expectations of your own body
The FEMtech project (#Fitspiration Image VErification) started a year ago at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences. The researchers want to clarify what motivates young people to follow #fitspiration #fitspiration has on their eating and exercise behavior as well as on their perception of their own bodies and gender norms.
The mixed methods study (carried out in collaboration with six schools in Lower Austria and Vienna) shows that young people can feel very burdened by the pressure of expectations placed on their bodies by social media, but also by their environment. It can be observed that #fitspiration users are more often dissatisfied with their weight and body shape than others, even though they are of normal weight according to objective criteria. This pressure could also promote eating and body image disorders as well as excessive exercise (even if you are sick, for example).
“Initial results show that around a third of the young people we surveyed #fitspiration . #fitspiration can therefore have a relevant influence on health and consumer behavior as well as the perception of gender-specific role models and body norms among young people.”
Project leader Elisabeth Höld, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Health Sciences at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences
“The question of what impact social media trends like #fitspiration can have on young people is fundamentally difficult to answer, especially not from a single research discipline alone. The strength of our study is that we examined this question from different perspectives.”
Mario Heller (FH lecturer in the Department of Media and Digital Technologies), who leads the mixed methods study work package
Your own gender is more interesting
Girls are more likely to follow influencers and boys are more likely to follow influencers. This can also shape what they expect of themselves, their appearance and their behavior: A lot of social media content shows unrealistic body shapes, restrictive eating habits and excessive training behavior. Influencers are very slim and yet muscular; for example, they have visible abdominal muscles. Influencers are often extremely muscular.
Gender-specific differences can also be seen in online presentations: While men appear dominant and strong (e.g. they lift particularly heavy weights or tense individual muscles), women usually present themselves in bent postures, as can often be found in common advertising subjects .
Results flow into online course
The findings of this study provide the basis for an online course that will be developed as the project progresses. This course is intended to make young people aware of the problem of excessive ideas about the body and health as well as the tricks and marketing measures used by the protagonists on the platforms.
The course also provides a tool that can be used to make manipulations of images shared on the platforms visible. The central project goal is to counteract the often one-sided and exaggerated demands on appearance, fitness and gender-specific role models.
“I find it very exciting to be able to work front row in a study that deals with a topic that affects me every day. Today's young people have to cope with the pressure that social media images create on their own lives and bodies. “It’s not always easy and a good online course can certainly support many young people.”
Samira Ghaffari, one of the students who have been involved in the project from the beginning
Strategies behind influencer marketing revealed
Regardless of gender, influencer marketing plays a big role. Young people should also recognize that behind the influencers' appearances there is sometimes a sophisticated marketing model to sell nutritional supplements and sports clothing. In addition, information about gender and diversity is presented in an age-appropriate manner in the course.
About #fitspiration
The hashtag #fitspiration is a global health trend on social media. There are around 20 million amounts on the Instagram image platform alone. At first glance, the health trend on social media behind the hashtag #fitspiration However, #fitspiration often promotes extreme or unbalanced training or nutrition practices and communicates very one-sided gender norms.
About FIVE – #Fitspiration Image Verification
The interdisciplinary project FIVE is being implemented under the leadership of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences together with Hölzel Verlag and gender expert Bettina Prokop. The project is financed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) in the FemTech sector.
Further information about the project can be found HERE .
Source:
press release
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