How Positive Body Image Spreads

Source: Joel Muniz / Unsplash

Positive body image refers to an overarching appreciation and respect for one’s own body—regardless of whether it meets society’s expectations for how a body “should” look and/or function. A wealth of research shows that having a more positive body image is good for you: It is related to, and may cause, many aspects of better health and well-being (e.g., higher self-esteem, adaptive eating behavior, engaging in joyful physical activity).

An important question then is: How does one go about developing a more positive body image? This is a question that continues to inspire me and my colleagues.

In attempting to answer it, we learned from the existing literature that people with a more positive body image choose to surround themselves with others who also have a more positive body image. In addition, they actively promote positive body image to others by being a positive role model (e.g., engaging in positive self-talk, openly criticizing societal body norms).

By promoting positive body image to others, those individuals may in turn develop a more positive body image, which could have feedback effects as well (e.g., when one’s friend also supports their positive body image in return). This cyclical process, whereby people with a positive body image promote positive body image to others and may be supported by others to have a more positive body image, has been called reciprocity.

In a recently published study, my colleagues and I wanted to test this process of reciprocity in an experiment to determine whether promoting positive body image to others can cause improvements in one’s own body image as well as in the other person’s body image. That is, does the very act of promoting positive body image cause improvements in your own body image, as well as in others?

The Experiment

We recruited 124 pairs of female friends (i.e., 248 participants) to participate in the experiment. Each pair of friends was randomly assigned to be in the “experimental” or “control” (i.e., placebo) group. Within each pair, one friend was randomly assigned to be the “letter writer” and the other to be the “letter receiver.”

In the experimental group, writers wrote a letter to their friend wherein they described many different things their friend’s body can do, and why those things were important or meaningful (e.g., “Your body is able to dance, and dancing with you makes me so happy,” or, “Your body can give the best hugs, and this makes me feel comforted when I am sad”). This was chosen as the present expression of “promoting positive body image” based on research showing that focusing on body functionality (i.e., everything the body can do) and why that is important, is the most effective technique for improving positive body image.

In the control group, letter writers wrote a letter to their friend wherein they described some of their favorite shared memories. This topic was chosen because it also pertained to their friendship and was positive, but was not directly related to the body.

After writing their letters, the letter writers were asked to read their letter to their friend, and were given the opportunity to discuss the letter together.

All of the participants completed measurements of positive body image at the start of the experiment (pre-test), after the letter was written (mid-test), and after the letter was read aloud (post-test). At the end of the experiment, they could also provide feedback about their experience of taking part in the study.

The Key Findings

Among the letter writers, the experimental group reported higher positive body image at mid-test (after writing their letter) and at post-test (after reading their letter) compared to the control group. This supports that promoting positive body image to others (one’s close friend) can cause improvements in one’s own body image.

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At the same time, we also found that participants across both groups reported improvements in positive body image from mid-test to post-test. So, while the experimental group had a clear advantage, the control group who wrote about favorite shared memories also experienced benefits to their body image.

Among the letter receivers, both groups reported improvements in positive body image from before to after having received their friend’s letter, with no clear advantage to either group. Receiving a letter about body functionality or about favorite memories both led to positive changes.

Source: Yasamine June / Unsplash

The Take-Home Messages

Our study provided an experimental test of one “piece of the puzzle” of the positive body image process called “reciprocity.”

The very act of promoting positive body image to others can cause improvements in one’s own body image.

In this study, promoting an appreciative focus on body functionality could have caused the letter writers to shift their personal focus from appearance to functionality. Indeed, key theories in the body image field propose that an appearance-based focus on the body and self contributes to poor outcomes, and re-shifting one’s focus towards body functionality is important.

For the letter writers, it could also be that promoting positive body image to a friend acted as “proof” that one personally holds those positive attitudes, which may affect how one sees oneself (e.g., “I’m telling my friend that I appreciate her body functionality. I must be a person who stands for a more positive perspective toward the body”). This is in line with broader theories in psychology showing that people often form their attitudes about themselves by observing their actions.

An important caveat is that letter writers in the control group also reported improvements in positive body image—albeit to a lesser extent. It could be that these changes were due to similar working mechanisms.

For example, writing about shared memories with a close friend could cause people to shift their personal importance away from appearance, and toward other valued life domains instead, such as their friendships. This is supported by one letter writer participant in the control group who described, “It makes me feel good and appreciate her, our friendship, and my life even more.”

The findings with respect to the letter receiver participants are also nuanced, as both groups reported improvements in positive body image. One working mechanism to explain these changes relates to the “acceptance model” (Avalos & Tylka, 2006), which proposes that unconditional (body) acceptance from important others (e.g., friends, family) is a crucial factor in developing positive body image.

Indeed, letter receivers in both groups described that their friend’s letter reminded them that their friend unconditionally accepted them, for example: “I felt worshipped despite of how strong/fit I am, and she made me feel happy by telling me how much I mean to her. It made me feel like my outer look is not that important” (control group) and, “It made me feel really loved and important and grateful to have her as a friend. We also discussed how physical appearance is such a small part of why we love each other and it made what I perceive to be imperfections in a beauty sense feel much less important” (experimental group).

Interestingly, letter receivers in both groups described feeling like they wanted to “pay it forward” by doing something kind for their friend(s) in return. For example, one participant described, “I now want to also write a letter to her and tell my friends more often how much I love and appreciate them.” Though we did not measure this directly, these descriptions suggest that reciprocity may indeed have feedback effects, whereby others may promote positive body image back to the individual.

In summary, this was the first experiment to test whether the very act of promoting positive body image to others can cause improvements in one’s own and in others’ body image. Future research is needed to confirm these findings and to investigate other valuable questions and nuances as well—for example, to see whether other “expressions” of promoting positive body image have similar effects, and to see whether friends indeed return positive gestures back toward their friend in the future.

Tentative conclusions are that promoting a positive body image to one’s friend (e.g., by promoting an appreciative focus on body functionality) could be a useful tool for improving body image, which could also lead to wider-scale benefits beyond the individual and into their social circle. We are excited to continue this research line and hope that others feel inspired to conduct research on reciprocity as well.