• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.81-94
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• 2019

Social media is an essential part of everyday life in modern society and plays an important role in communicating the ideal body image. With the increased prevalence and high popularity of social media, the problems associated with the addictive use of social media have become a social issue. Utilizing social comparison theory, this study examined (1) the effect of appearance related photo activities on body satisfaction through appearance comparison and (2) the moderating effect of Instagram addiction in relationships among appearance related photo activity, appearance comparison, and body satisfaction. We tested the proposed relationships between research variables using multi-group structural equation modeling analysis on a sample of 346 young female Instagram users. The sample was divided into two groups of high and low addicted Instagram users. The results of this study showed that the appearance related photo activity positively influenced appearance comparison for both high and low addiction groups. For the high addiction group, the effect of appearance comparison on body satisfaction was not statistically significant; however, this relationship was significant and negative for the low addiction group. A significant moderating effect of Instagram addiction was found in the relationship between appearance related photo activity and appearance comparison.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.858-871
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• 2017

The present study purported to understand the relationships between SNS appearance-related photo activity, body image and self-esteem among young women. Objectification Theory and Social Comparison Theory explain the process how young women's SNS appearance-related photo activity influence their body satisfaction through a perceived media pressure, objectification of their own bodies and appearance comparison. These process ultimately affect the self-esteem of young female users. A research model was proposed and related hypothesis were examined. We collected an online questionnaire from 400 female participants in their 20's. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 18.0. Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the proposed research model provided a good fit to the data and supported most hypothesis. The results indicated that the level of SNS appearance-related photo activity significantly influences young female user's body satisfaction and self-esteem. The findings of this study were consistent with previous literature on media and body image. Limitations and future research suggestions were also described.