The present study is the first to examine the extent to which young adult women post objectifying self-images on social media, and whether the frequency of posting such content can be predicted by selfobjectification and positive feedback (likes). Eighty-six young adult women from the UK (Age M = 19.88; SD = 1.34, Range = 18-24) completed self-report measures of self-objectification and social media use. The 20 most recent images they had posted on their personal Instagram accounts were downloaded (Image N = 1720) and content analysed for self-objectifying content. The analysis found that 29.77% of participants’ Instagram images were objectified, though there were individual differences. Higher frequency of posting objectified self-images was associated with trait self-objectification and receiving more likes on this type of self-image, relative to non-objectified self-images. The implications ofthe novel findings for objectification theory are discussed within.

Introduction

In Western consumer culture, women are routinely objectified, that is, their value is reduced to the appearance of their body parts and/or their sexual function (Calogero et al., 2011; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). However, little is known about how young adult women, socialised in this culture to self-objectify and adopt an external viewer’s perspective of their own body, present themselves to others (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Moradi & Huang, 2008). Social media (i.e., web and mobile based applications used to communicate with others through user-generated content) provide a novel opportunity for understanding how women who self-objectify present themselves to others and how objectified self-presentations are received. Self-presentation through images are particularly popular: Instagram, the most popular image-focused social media platform, reports 300 million daily users (Instagram, 2016). Through Instagram, users can create and share self-images for immediate feedback (e.g., likes and comments) from others (Chua & Chang, 2016). The present study aims to examine the extent to which women present themselves in self-objectifying ways on social media, and whether frequency of posting self-objectifying images are associated with trait levels of self-objectification and typically receiving more positive audience feedback in comparison to other types of self-images.