#malefitspo: Links between viewing fitspiration posts,muscular-ideal internalisation,appearance comparisons,body satisfaction,and exercise motivation in men

Abstract

Exposure to fitspiration content via social media can influence women’s body satisfaction and exercise inspiration, but fitspiration exposure has not been investigated in men. This study examined links between the frequency of viewing fitspiration content on Instagram, and men’s body satisfaction, appearance-based exercise motivation and health-based exercise motivation, and whether those relationships were mediated by muscular-ideal internalisation and/or appearance comparison tendency. Participants were 17- to 27-year-old Australian men who used Instagram (N = 118). Frequency of viewing fitspiration content was not directly associated with body satisfaction or reasons for exercise. However, significant indirect pathways were observed through greater muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency. Viewing more fitspiration content was associated with greater muscular-ideal internalisation and higher appearance comparison tendency, which in turn was associated with less body satisfaction, more appearance-based exercise motivation and less health-based exercise motivation. Fitspiration appears to be more closely related to appearance than health in men.

Keywords

Appearance comparison body image exercise motivation fitspiration internalisation males

Body dissatisfaction is associated with a myriad of negative outcomes, such as eating disorders (Stice and Shaw, 2002), depression (Stice et al., 2000) and excessive dieting (Ricciardelli and McCabe, 2001) in women, and poor life satisfaction (Nayir et al., 2016) and steroid usage (Kanayama et al., 2006) in men. As such, body dissatisfaction and its effects have been the focus of a substantial body of research in recent years (Fardouly and Vartanian, 2016; Johnson and Wardle, 2005; Van den Berg et al., 2010). There is, however, a gender imbalance within the body dissatisfaction literature (Barlett et al., 2008). Body dissatisfaction has traditionally been thought of as an issue primarily affecting women, resulting in a female-oriented research field (Jones and Morgan, 2010). However, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders are increasingly recognised as common in men (Mitchison et al., 2014). Furthermore, research is needed to examine potential predictors of body dissatisfaction among men, as they may differ from those affecting women.

One popular sociocultural model of body dissatisfaction is the Tripartite Influence Model (Thompson et al., 1999). This model proposes that one’s perception of the ideal body comes from three primary sources: peers, family, and the media (Thompson et al., 1999). This manifests as a thin-ideal in women (Heinberg et al., 1995; Stice and Shaw, 1994), and a muscular-ideal in men (Hargreaves and Tiggemann, 2009). Media consumption plays a particular role in shaping ideals (Grabe et al., 2008), as bodies in advertising are often presented in extremely idealised ways, aided by the use of professional models and editing technology. From such ideals, body dissatisfaction may be developed and maintained through two mediating pathways: the internalisation of body-ideals and appearance comparisons (Van den Berg et al., 2002). Although correlational research often examines these meditational pathways separately (e.g. Fardouly et al., 2017; Keery et al., 2004), a longitudinal study suggests that these mediators may operate serially to predict body satisfaction (Rodgers et al., 2015). The internalisation pathway involves the long-term adoption of socially defined body-ideals. Individuals may then compare themselves with others according to the internalised ideals, and those comparisons can influence their view of their own body (the appearance comparison pathway). Thus, body dissatisfaction may arise from greater internalisation of the ideal, and subsequently more frequent appearance comparisons with people who meet that ideal.

The Tripartite Influence Model was developed with a focus on women, and there is substantial supporting evidence for both of those mediating pathways in female samples (Cafri et al., 2005; Groesz et al., 2002; Hargreaves and Tiggemann, 2003; Myers and Crowther, 2009). There is also evidence for this model in male samples. First, a meta-analysis by Myers and Crowther (2009) reported a strong positive association between the tendency to make appearance comparisons and body dissatisfaction in both women and men, although this relationship appears to be slightly stronger in women. Muscular-ideal internalisation has also been shown to predict men’s body dissatisfaction (Jones, 2004; Knauss et al., 2007). Second, muscular-ideal internalisation is also a significant mediator of the relationship between media pressures and dissatisfaction with muscularity and fat in men (Tylka, 2011). Thus, internalisation of the muscular-ideal and appearance comparison tendency may be important predictors of body dissatisfaction in men.

Fitspiration and body dissatisfaction

Recent research has focused on the importance of social media as a powerful influence on body dissatisfaction, by perpetuating the importance of body ideals and appearance comparisons (Fardouly and Vartanian, 2016; Holland and Tiggemann, 2016). There is one recent social media trend that has a particular focus on these idealised bodies, which is known as fitspiration (Boepple et al., 2016). An amalgamation of ‘fit’ and ‘inspiration’, fitspiration content includes fitness-related images and/or text intended to inspire people to pursue a lifestyle of fitness and health (Boepple and Thompson, 2016). Fitspiration has become increasingly popular online and on social media platforms (Boepple et al., 2016; Simpson and Mazzeo, 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016), with over 28 million fitspiration posts on the social media website Instagram alone (Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016).

Despite a positive intention to encourage exercise and healthy living, the idealised bodies and messages within fitspiration posts generally mirror those found on pro-eating disorder websites (Boepple et al., 2016; Boepple and Thompson, 2016), which has triggered growing concerns about possible adverse psychological effects of exposure to fitspiration posts on social media (Holland and Tiggemann, 2017; Simpson and Mazzeo, 2017). Women who post fitspiration content show an elevated risk of disordered eating (Holland and Tiggemann, 2017). Furthermore, there is a growing body of experimental research showing that acute exposure to fitspiration images can cause increases in body dissatisfaction and negative mood in women (Prichard et al., 2017; Robinson et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2015), although this is not always the case (Slater et al., 2017). Furthermore, Tiggemann and Zaccardo (2015) showed that the effect of viewing fitspiration posts on body dissatisfaction is mediated by appearance comparisons, suggesting that viewing fitspiration posts may be harmful for body image because women compare their own appearance to the idealised bodies in those images. Similarly, a correlational study found that viewing more fitspiration posts on Instagram was associated with greater body dissatisfaction among women, and this relationship was mediated by internalisation of the thin-ideal and appearance comparison tendency (Fardouly et al., 2017). Thus, consistent with the Tripartite Influence Model, there is evidence that among women, both internalisation of the ideal and appearance comparison tendency may be mechanisms responsible for the link between viewing fitspiration posts and body dissatisfaction. This process has not yet been tested among men, despite the fact that close to 30% of fitspiration content on social media focuses on males only (Carrotte et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016).

Fitspiration and exercise motivation

In contrast to its potential negative effects, several studies have shown that women report being more motivated to exercise following exposure to fitspiration images (Robinson et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2015). However, this elevated motivation has not been shown to increase actual exercise behaviour (Robinson et al., 2017). Exercise motivation may not translate into actual behaviour because of the type of motivation inspired by fitspiration posts, although this is yet to be examined empirically. Exercise motivation can be facilitated by either appearance or health benefits (Markland and Ingledew, 1997). External motivations, including appearance-based motivations, have been linked to reduced exercise participation among both men and women (Gillison et al., 2006; Ingledew and Markland, 2008). In contrast, among both men and women, health-based exercise motivations, which are considered intrinsic motivators, have been linked with increased exercise participation (Gillison et al., 2006; Ingledew and Markland, 2008). Furthermore, exercising while holding appearance-based motivations is linked to increased disordered eating in women (Prichard and Tiggemann, 2008), and poorer body image in men and women (Strelan and Hargreaves, 2005). Appearance-based motivations can also weaken positive relationships between exercise and higher body satisfaction in women (Homan and Tylka, 2014), whereas exercising following health-based motivations is linked with reductions in body dissatisfaction and eating disorder behaviours (DiBartolo et al., 2007). Following these findings, the strong appearance focus of fitspiration images is likely to maximise appearance motivations for exercise thereby failing to convert exercise motivation into behaviour.

The present study

No research to date has investigated links between viewing of fitspiration posts and body dissatisfaction or exercise motivation among men, despite evidence that almost 30% of fitspiration content on Instagram features only men (Carrotte et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016). The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between frequency of viewing fitspiration content on Instagram, and health and appearance-based exercise motivations, through the mediating pathways of muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparisons. It was hypothesised that (1) the frequency of viewing fitspiration content on Instagram would be negatively associated with body satisfaction and health-based exercise motivation, and positively associated with appearance-based exercise motivation and (2) these relationships would be serially mediated by muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency. We reported the indirect effects through muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency separately and serially, based to the findings of previous research (Fardouly et al., 2017; Keery et al., 2004; Rodgers et al., 2015).

Method

Participants

Eligibility for the study included, being male, aged 17–30 years, and registration of an active Instagram account. A total of 154 male undergraduate students were recruited; however, 36 participants did not have an active Instagram account and were removed from analysis. The final sample consisted of 118 male Instagram users, who had a mean age of 19.43 years (SD = 1.92) and a mean body mass index (BMI; kg/m²) of 24.04 (SD = 3.90). Of the final sample, 72 identified as Caucasian (61.0%), 34 identified as Asian (28.8%), 2 identified as Indigenous Australian/Pacific Islander (1.7%) and 10 identified as ‘other’ (8.5%).

Measures

Time spent on Instagram

Consistent with previous research on Instagram use (Fardouly et al., 2017), participants indicated how much time they spent on Instagram each day on a 9-point Likert-type scale with the response options: 1 = ‘Never’, 2 = ‘less than 5 minutes’, 3 = ‘About 15 minutes’, 4 = ‘About 30 minutes’, 5 = ‘About 1 hour’, 6 = ‘1–2 hours’, 7 = ‘2–3 hours’, 8 = ‘3–4 hours’, 9 = ‘4 hours or more’.

Frequency of viewing fitspiration posts

In order to disguise the purpose of the study, participants were not asked directly about how often they viewed fitspiration content. Instead, participants indicated how frequently they saw a variety of hashtags on Instagram, including ‘love’, ‘fashion’, ‘travel’, ‘art’ and ‘fitspiration’, using a 5-point Likert-type scale with response options ranging from 0 (not often at all) to 4 (very often). As hashtags are always attached to a relevant image on Instagram, this was deemed a subtle way of accurately measuring participants’ frequency of viewing fitspiration posts.

Appearance comparison tendency

Trait appearance comparison tendency was measured using the Physical Appearance Comparison Scale-Revised (PACS-R; Schaefer and Thompson, 2014). Participants responded to 11 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 0 (never) to 4 (always). Higher scores indicate higher appearance comparison tendency. Although the PACS-R has not been validated in a male sample, it is psychometrically sound within a female sample, with adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .97; Schaefer and Thompson, 2014). Adequate internal consistency was recorded in this sample (Cronbach’s α = .90).

Internalisation of the muscular-ideal

The internalisation Muscular subscale from the male version of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 Revised (SATAQ-4R) was used to measure the extent to which participants had internalised the muscular ideal (Schaefer et al., 2017). Participants rated their level of agreement with 4 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 (definitely disagree) to 5 (definitely agree). Higher scores indicate greater internalisation of the muscular-ideal. This subscale has been validated in a college-age male sample with adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .87) reported by Schaefer et al. (2017). Adequate internal consistency was found in the present study (Cronbach’s α = .84).

Exercise motivation

The health and appearance subscales of the Exercise Motivation Inventory-2 (EMI-2; Markland and Ingledew, 1997) were used to measure the extent to which participants exercise for health and/or appearance reasons. Participants rated the extent to which four statements related to appearance motivation and three statements related to health motivation were true for them on a 6-point Likert-type scale from 0 (not at all true for me) to 5 (very true for me). Higher scores indicate greater exercise motivation for either appearance or health purposes. These subscales have been validated in both female and male samples (Markland and Ingledew, 1997). Adequate internal consistency was recorded in the present sample for the Health subscale (Cronbach’s α = .88) and the Appearance subscale (Cronbach’s α = .77).

Body satisfaction

The Appearance subscale of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA; Mendelson et al., 2001) was used to measure participants’ trait body satisfaction. Participants indicated how much they agree with 10 statements related to their overall appearance. Responses were made on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always), with higher scores indicating greater body satisfaction. The BESAA has been validated using both female and male samples and measures a general satisfaction with one’s appearance (Mendelson et al., 2001). Adequate internal consistency was recorded in the present study (Cronbach’s α = .91).

Procedure

The study was described to participants as an investigation into men’s personality and recreational social media use. Participants came into the laboratory and completed an online questionnaire, which included the measures mentioned above, as well as a measure of demographic information (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, and height and weight [used to calculate BMI]). In keeping with the cover story, participants also completed a personality questionnaire and other filler items. Participants were assured of their anonymity at the beginning of the study and completed the questionnaire in a private cubicle. The study was approved by the University’s ethics committee.

Results

Univariate and correlational analyses

Means and standard deviations for all variables are presented in Table 1. Missing data were handled with pairwise deletion. On average, participants reported seeing each of the hashtags between ‘not very often’ and ‘sometimes’, including fitspiration (M = 2.04, SD = 1.03), fashion (M = 2.07, SD = 1.05), travel (M = 2.74, SD = 1.05), art (M = 2.19, SD = 0.93) and love (M = 2.09, SD = 0.88). All variables were not normally distributed (Shapiro Wilk ps < .046), except body satisfaction (Shapiro Wilk p = .50). Given the non-normal distribution and ordinal measurement of most of the variables, bivariate relationships were examined using Spearman’s correlations. As seen in Table 1, contrary to our predictions the frequency of viewing fitspiration posts was not significantly associated with body satisfaction, appearance-based exercise motivation or health-based exercise motivation. As predicted, frequency of viewing fitspiration posts was significantly and positively correlated with appearance comparison tendency and muscular-ideal internalisation. Muscular-ideal internalisation was also significantly and positively correlated with appearance-based exercise motivation, as well as appearance comparison tendency. Appearance comparison tendency was significantly and negatively correlated with body satisfaction and health-based exercise motivation.

Table 1.

Spearman’s correlations between all of the study measures.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Mean (SD)
1. Time spent on Instagram	–								3.77 (1.82)
2. Fitspiration viewing frequency	.24^*	–							2.04 (1.03)
3. BMI	−.16	.10	–						23.69 (3.84)
4. Body satisfaction	.07	.14	−.23^*	–					33.15 (7.15)
5. Appearance-based exercise motivation	.22^*	.17	−.16	−.05	–				12.38 (4.04)
6. Health-based exercise motivation	.13	.16	.01	.27^**	.29^**	–			11.90 (2.57)
7. Appearance comparison tendency	.04	.22^*	.12	−.49^***	.12	−.25^**	–		17.59 (8.66)
8. Muscular-ideal internalisation	.18^*	.28^**	−.07	−.11	.32^**	.09	.23^*	–	13.77 (3.43)

BMI: body mass index.

N = 118 for all columns, except for column 2, where n = 108.

p < .05; ^**p < .01; ^***p < .001.

Mediation analyses

A significant direct relationship between the predictor variable (i.e. frequency of viewing fitspiration posts) and the criterion variable (i.e. body satisfaction or exercise motivation) is not necessary for mediation (Hayes, 2009). Thus, the indirect pathways from the frequency of viewing fitspiration images to body satisfaction and exercise motivation, via muscular-ideal internalisation and/or appearance comparison tendency were investigated using serial mediation analyses, conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2013). Non-parametric bootstrapping is used in the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) by resampling and replacement (in this case, 5000 resamples) so that an approximation of the sampling distribution is created for the indirect pathways without the assumption of normally distributed variables. Significance for the indirect path is indicated when the 95% confidence interval (CI) does not include zero. Time spent on Instagram was included as a covariate in the mediation analyses because it was positively correlated with the frequency of viewing fitspiration posts on Instagram. Paths were assessed from frequency of viewing fitspiration posts to body satisfaction (see Figure 1), appearance-based exercise motivation (see Figure 2), and health-based exercise motivation (see Figure 3), with muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency entered as mediators.

Figure 1.

Multiple mediation model for the frequency of viewing fitspiration posts, the mediators (muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency), and body satisfaction, controlling for Instagram use. Numbers represent unstandardized beta weights. Numbers in the parentheses represent the direct effects. ^*p < .05; ^**p < .01; ^***p < .001.

Figure 2.

Multiple mediation model for the frequency of viewing fitspiration posts, the mediators (muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency), and appearance-based exercise motivation, controlling for Instagram use. Numbers represent unstandardized beta weights. Numbers in the parentheses represent the direct effects. ^*p < .05; ^**p < .01; ^***p < .001.

Figure 3.

Multiple mediation model for the frequency of viewing fitspiration posts, the mediators (muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency), and health-based exercise motivation, controlling for Instagram use. Numbers represent unstandardized beta weights. Numbers in the parentheses represent the direct effects. ^*p < .05, ^**p < .01, ^***p < .001.

The indirect path from viewing fitspiration posts to body satisfaction through muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency was significant, (point estimate = –0.18, standard error [SE] = 0.12, 95% CI = [–0.50, –0.02], completely standardised indirect effect [CSIE] = –0.03), but the path was not significant for either internalisation, (point estimate = –0.03, SE = 0.17, CI = [–0.43, 0.26], CSIE = –0.00) or appearance comparisons, (point estimate = –0.49, SE = 0.38, CI = [–1.26, 0.22], CSIE = –0.07) alone. The indirect path from viewing fitspiration posts to appearance-based exercise motivation through muscular-ideal internalisation was significant,(point estimate = 0.31, SE = 0.15, CI = [0.09, 0.70] and CSIE = 0.09) but the path was not significant for appearance comparison tendency (point estimate = 0.02, SE = 0.06, CI = [–0.05, 0.26], CSIE = 0.01) or both mediators combined (point estimate = 0.01, SE = 0.02, CI = [–0.02, 0.07], CSIE = 0.00). The indirect path from viewing fitspiration posts to health-based exercise motivation through muscular-ideal internalisation and then appearance comparison tendency was significant (point estimate = –0.04, SE = 0.03, CI = [–0.12, –0.00], CSIE = –0.02), but the path was not significant for either internalisation (point estimate = 0.07, SE = 0.08, CI = [–0.05, 0.28], CSIE = 0.03) or appearance comparison tendency (point estimate = –0.11, SE = 0.09, CI = [–0.34, 0.04], CSIE = –0.05) alone.

Discussion

Over a third of fitspiration content on Instagram features only males (Carrotte et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016), yet no research to date has investigated links between viewing fitspiration posts and body dissatisfaction or exercise motivation in men. This study investigated links between the frequency of viewing fitspiration content on Instagram and men’s body satisfaction, appearance-based exercise motivation, and health-based exercise motivation. We also tested whether any links are serially mediated by men’s muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendency.

Contrary to our hypotheses, men’s frequency of viewing fitspiration posts was not significantly correlated with their body satisfaction, appearance-based exercise motivation or health-based exercise motivation. This result differs from previous research with women, which showed positive associations between the frequency of viewing fitspiration content, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating (Fardouly et al., 2017; Holland and Tiggemann, 2017). The results of the present study are also inconsistent with a meta-analysis by Barlett et al. (2008), which indicated a negative relationship between exposure to the male ideal via the media and male body satisfaction. This discrepancy may be a result of men being potentially exposed to images of women, as well as men when viewing fitspiration content on Instagram. Content analyses suggest that around 30% of fitspiration content features only men and between 36% and 67% of fitspiration content features only women (Carrotte et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016). Therefore, men may be more likely to see images of the opposite sex when viewing fitspiration content than women, which may dilute any direct effect on body satisfaction. Alternatively, this inconsistency may be due a focus on functionality in fitspiration posts that is not seen in the generic settings of male models in magazines. This focus on functionality in fitspiration images was investigated by Tiggemann and Zaccardo (2016), finding that 68.2% of male fitspiration focused on fitness-related activities, compared to 58% for females. There is evidence that a greater focus on functionality can improve body image in women (Alleva et al., 2015). However, there is other evidence that a focus on functionality can instead have detrimental effects on body satisfaction in men (Mulgrew et al., 2014). The role of functionality in fitspiration posts requires further investigation.

As expected, viewing more fitspiration content on Instagram was associated with greater internalisation of the muscular ideal and making more appearance comparisons. These results are consistent with previous research with women, where more frequent fitspiration exposure was associated with greater internalisation of the thin-ideal and appearance comparison tendency (Fardouly et al., 2017). Furthermore, in the present study, the frequency of viewing fitspiration images was indirectly related to body satisfaction and health-based exercise motivation through its relationships with internalisation of the muscular ideal and then appearance comparison tendency, and to appearance-based exercise motivation through internalisation alone. Specifically, seeing more fitspiration images on Instagram was linked with greater muscular-ideal internalisation, which was linked with greater appearance comparison tendency, which in turn was associated with poorer body satisfaction and lower health-based exercise motivation. In addition, those who viewed fitspiration content more frequently reported higher muscular-ideal internalisation, which was in turn linked with greater appearance-based exercise motivation.

These findings add to a body of research that highlights the importance of body-ideal internalisation and appearance comparisons in understanding body dissatisfaction (Myers and Crowther, 2009; Tylka, 2011; Van den Berg et al., 2002). Previous research with men has shown that exposure to images depicting idealised bodies is associated with lower body satisfaction via internalisation (Tylka, 2011) and appearance comparison tendency (Karazsia and Crowther, 2009). These findings have been demonstrated in women when viewing fitspiration content (Fardouly et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2015). This study extended these findings to men, indicating that fitspiration content consumption is only linked with less body satisfaction through men internalising the muscular-ideal to a greater extent, and making more appearance comparisons. Consistent with the results of a longitudinal study by Rodgers et al. (2015), the present study suggests that internalisation of the ideal may proceed appearance comparison tendency in predicting body satisfaction. However, further longitudinal research is needed to examine the direction of those relationships over time.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that although fitspiration content is aimed at inspiring people to attain fitness and health, it may be more closely linked with appearance-focused motivations than health-focused motivations. This is unsurprising, given the self-objectification present in the majority of fitspiration images of both women and men (Boepple et al., 2016; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016), as well as the appearance-focused messages prevalent in their attached quotes (Boepple et al., 2016). With this focus on appearance, questions arise regarding fitspiration’s effectiveness as a tool for fitness motivation, let alone to promote healthy behaviours.

Although fitspiration exposure can produce immediate increases in exercise inspiration in women (Robinson et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2015), increases in actual exercise behaviour were not recorded. Reasons for exercise motivation were not examined in these studies, but previous research does indicate that appearance reasons for exercise are linked with inconsistent exercise behaviours compared with those who exercise for health reasons (Gillison et al., 2006; Ingledew and Markland, 2008). The indirect links in the present study between the frequency of viewing fitspiration content with greater appearance-based exercise behaviour, and less health-based exercise behaviour further emphasises the need for caution regarding the use of fitspiration content for increasing actual exercise engagement. Understanding the role of internalisation and appearance comparisons, as well as the different reasons for exercise motivation in promoting consistent healthy exercise behaviour presents a valuable challenge for the future.

Limitations and future directions

The results of this study should be interpreted while considering the following limitations. First, as discussed above, the correlational design of this study makes it impossible to determine causality. While it is possible, based on these results, that viewing fitspiration content may increase muscular-ideal internalisation, and how frequently people make appearance comparisons, which decreases body satisfaction, it is also possible that the relationships are in the other direction. Specifically, men who are less happy with their appearance are more likely to make comparisons, internalise the muscular ideal, and choose to view more fitspiration posts on Instagram. The same could be said for appearance-based and health-based exercise motivation. Causality should be assessed using experimental studies, and these mediation pathways tested within longitudinal designs.

Second, the university sample used in this study, which had a large percentage of Caucasian participants and a restricted age range could limit the generalisability of these results. Future research could aim to replicate these findings in samples of varying ethnicities, as although there is evidence that the muscular ideal is also upheld outside of Westernised countries (Frederick et al., 2007), the male ideal can differ between cultures (Swami and Tovée, 2005). In addition, these results may differ among other groups of men who are particularly concerned about their body and more vulnerable to exposure to the muscular ideal.

Third, while psychometrically validated scales were primarily used in the present study, measures of frequency of Instagram use and seeing the fitspiration hashtag were measured with single-item scales, not allowing for reliability analysis on these measures. In addition, as exposure to fitspiration content was measured by self-report, it is possible that people might view fitspiration content without noticing the hashtag. However, this is very unlikely as hashtags naturally accompany relevant images on Instagram. Fourth, given that many fitspiration posts contain women, participants may view fitspiration content that does not feature male bodies. Future research could examine the impact of viewing fitspiration images of only men, only women, and both men and women on men’s body satisfaction and exercise motivation.

Finally, this study focused specifically on viewing fitspiration content on Instagram, and it is possible that participants may also view that content on other social media platforms, or view fitspiration content with other fitness-related hashtags (e.g. #menshealth). Instagram was chosen in this study because content analyses revealed that this platform has the highest proportion of fitspiration content featuring males (Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2016). Future studies could investigate fitspiration content consumption across different social media platforms, as well as other fitness-related hashtags.

Conclusion

Having an online community that encourages individuals to live more healthy lives is a laudable concept. Unfortunately, a growing body of research indicates that fitspiration content is more tightly linked with the appearance of health, rather than health itself. This study found that those who viewed fitspiration content more frequently were more likely to report greater muscular-ideal internalisation and appearance comparison tendencies, and in turn reported lower body satisfaction, and less motivation to exercise for health reasons. Greater frequency of viewing fitspiration content was also linked with higher muscular-ideal internalisation, which was in turn associated with greater appearance-based exercise motivation. These results highlight the importance of examining fitspiration in men, as well as women, as although there are similarities, there are also subtle nuances in the findings. They also emphasise the importance of gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of muscular-ideal internalisation, and appearance comparisons, which may provide further insight into body satisfaction and exercise motivation for men. Further experimental and longitudinal research is needed to determine directions and causality for these pathways.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Jasmine Fardouly

Author biographies

Scott J Fatt has completed his Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), and is enrolled in the Master of Clinical Psychology program at Macquarie University. His research interests include body image, eating disorders, exercise motivation, and social media use, particularly in males.

Jasmine Fardouly, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests include social influences on body image, particulary the influence of social media use.

Ronald M Rapee is a distinguished professor of Psychology at Macquarie University, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, and the Founding Director of the Centre for Emotional Health, with a background in clinical psychology. His research interests include body image, mental health literacy, anxiety, and depression.

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