Verified by 
Instagram is full of images of “idealized” female beauty. In current Western culture, that usually means thin and toned young women. Research shows that seeing these types of images on Instagram makes other women feel dissatisfied with how they look.
At the same time, it is becoming more common for women on Instagram to post unedited pictures of themselves, without makeup. So, researchers at Flinders University in Australia wondered: Could seeing thin and toned women in a more realistic light help to prevent appearance dissatisfaction in other women?
The research
The researchers randomly assigned 204 Australian women to one of three groups:
- Group 1: Participants viewed edited Instagram images of thin and toned women, wearing makeup.
- Group 2: Participants viewed Instagram images of the same thin and toned women, but this time they were not wearing makeup and the images were unedited.
- Group 3: Participants viewed the same Instagram images as Group 2, but with hashtags to indicate that the images were makeup-free and unedited (e.g., #nomakeup, #noediting, #makeupfreeselfie).
Before and after viewing the Instagram images, all participants completed questionnaires to measure their satisfaction with the appearance of their face and body.
The key findings were that participants in Group 2, who viewed the unedited makeup-free images, felt less dissatisfied with the appearance of their face compared to the participants in Group 1, who viewed the enhanced Instagram images.
Interestingly, participants in Group 3, who viewed the unedited makeup-free images plus hashtags, felt more dissatisfied with the appearance of their face compared to the participants in Group 2, who viewed the same images without hashtags. Participants in Group 3 felt as dissatisfied with the appearance of their faces as the participants in Group 1, who viewed the enhanced Instagram images.
No differences were found with respect to how the groups felt about the appearance of their bodies.
The take-home message
Research has shown that viewing Instagram images of thin and toned women can make other women feel unhappy with how they look. This experiment showed that viewing unedited makeup-free images can prevent these negative effects, at least with respect to how women feel about the appearance of their face.
Why might this be? A major reason why we feel unhappy about our looks when we view images of “idealized” beauty is that we compare our own appearance to the people in those images. Additional data from this experiment showed that the women who viewed the unedited makeup-free images were less likely to make appearance comparisons with the women in the images.
Paradoxically, the benefits of viewing the unedited makeup-free images were erased when hashtags such as #nomakeupselfie or #noediting were added. The researchers theorized that the hashtags might have drawn attention to the appearance of the women in the images, leading them to make more appearance comparisons. Their data indeed showed higher levels of appearance comparisons among women who viewed the images with the hashtags.
It is important to note that this study did not investigate the impact of viewing unedited makeup-free images that are reflective of the body positive movement. That is, images of people of various body shapes, sizes, ages, genders, ethnicities, etc. Mounting evidence on the effects of viewing these types of images has shown that they help people to feel happier with their own body.
Tentatively, then, we can conclude that unedited makeup-free images of thin and toned women, without hashtags, may be more beneficial for how we feel about our body than edited images of the same women wearing makeup. However, it is even more important to surround ourselves with realistic images of all kinds of people, rather than only those that reflect narrow societal beauty ideals.
References
Tiggemann, M., & Zinoviev, K. (2019). The effect of #enhancement-free Instagram images and hashtags on women’s body image. Body Image, 31, 131-138.
Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body Image, 17, 100–110.
Rodgers, R. F., Kruger, L., Lowy, A. S., Long, S., & Richard, C. (2019). Getting real about body image: A qualitative investigation of the usefulness of the Aerie Real campaign. Body Image, 30, 127-134.
Cohen, R., Fardouly, J., Newton-John, T., & Slater, A. (2019). #BoPo on Instagram: An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women’s mood and body image. New Media & Society, 21, 1546–1564.
Convertino, A. D., Rodgers, R. F., Franko, D. L., & Jodoin, A. (2019). An evaluation of the Aerie Real campaign: Potential for promoting positive body image? Journal of Health Psychology, 24, 726–737.
Slater, A., Varsani, N., & Diedrichs, P. C. (2017). #fitspo or #loveyourself? The impact of fitspiration and self-compassion Instagram images on women's body image, self-compassion, and mood. Body Image, 22, 87-96.
