Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Body Appreciation: Association Moderated by BMI and Social Media Use

Abstract

Body appreciation is an important aspect of adolescents’ psychological well-being; however, the rise of social media and increasingly stringent standards of ideal appearance have led many adolescents to experience negative effects on their body image. This study aims to analyze BMI and duration of social media use as moderators of the relationship between the internalization of ideal appearance standards and body appreciation. The study employed a quantitative approach with a correlational design involving 166 11th grade female students selected through cluster sampling. Data were collected using the SATAQ-4R, BAS 2, self-reported BMI, and social media usage duration. Analysis was conducted using the Hayes PROCESS Macro Model 2 after verifying the assumptions of normality, linearity, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity. The results indicate that the internalization of ideal body image standards is negatively associated with body appreciation (β = -0.238; p < 0.001). BMI was found to moderate this relationship (β = 0.016; p = 0.028), whereas social media use did not show a significant moderating effect (β = -0.006; p = 0.579), although it had a direct effect on body appreciation (β = -0.476; p = 0.028). These findings also indicate that the influence of the internalization of ideal appearance standards on body appreciation is strongest among female students with a low BMI and weakens among those with a high BMI. These findings enrich the empirical evidence regarding factors influencing body appreciation among adolescents and serve as a foundation for the development of guidance and counselling services.