Towards prevention of self-objectification in young female athletes on social media : instagram posting patterns of female elite athletes in aesthetic and non-aesthetic individual sports
(2024) In British journal of sports medicine 58(Suppl 2). p.69-70- Abstract
- Background Elite athletes are role models for young sportspersons regarding social media use. Self-objectification, including self-sexualizing, contributes to body dissatisfaction and body shame, especially in young females. For efficient prevention of self-objectification, knowledge is needed about elite athletes’ self-presentation on social media.
Objective To compare social media postings indicative of self-objectification among female elite athletes in an aesthetic and a non-aesthetic individual sport and by age.
Design Cross-sectional quantitative visual content analysis study.
Setting Instagram on October 1st, 2021.
Participants All Swedish elite female athletes aged 16 years or older with open... (More) - Background Elite athletes are role models for young sportspersons regarding social media use. Self-objectification, including self-sexualizing, contributes to body dissatisfaction and body shame, especially in young females. For efficient prevention of self-objectification, knowledge is needed about elite athletes’ self-presentation on social media.
Objective To compare social media postings indicative of self-objectification among female elite athletes in an aesthetic and a non-aesthetic individual sport and by age.
Design Cross-sectional quantitative visual content analysis study.
Setting Instagram on October 1st, 2021.
Participants All Swedish elite female athletes aged 16 years or older with open Instagram accounts in figure skaters (n=26) and athletics (track and field) athletes (n=40).
Assessment of Risk Factors The 30 most recently posted images were identified from each athlete’s Instagram account (Figure). Following exclusion of non-topical images, a panel (4 women/4 men) individually scored factors indicative of self-objectification in the remaining images. The scores were analyzed quantitatively by sport (figure skating/athletics) and age group (age-cut at 21 years).
Main Outcome Measurements Proportion of sexually suggestive images in Instagram postings.
Results In total, 1,869 images were analyzed; 669 posted by figure skaters and 1200 by athletics athletes. Seventy-four images (4%) were classified as containing sexually suggestive content. Figure skaters posted more images with sexually suggestive content (p=0.032) than athletics athletes (especially images with sexual posing (p=0.005) and sexualized body parts in focus (chest (p=0.049); hip-region (p=0.001)). Younger athletes published more images interpreted to contain sexual suggestion than older athletes (p<0.001) (especially images focusing on the chest (p=0.008)). (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/0b7dd787-5c4e-46e1-95de-39d55bfae8f9
- author
- Jederström, Moa ; Sandell, Hanna ; Örjan, Dahlström ; Fagher, Kristina LU ; Korhonen, Laura ; Lundqvist, Carolina and Timpka, Toomas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-03-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- British journal of sports medicine
- volume
- 58
- issue
- Suppl 2
- pages
- 2 pages
- publisher
- BMJ Publishing Group
- ISSN
- 1473-0480
- DOI
- 10.1136/bjsports-2024-IOC.121
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0b7dd787-5c4e-46e1-95de-39d55bfae8f9
- date added to LUP
- 2024-04-29 10:43:16
- date last changed
- 2024-04-29 11:13:24
@misc{0b7dd787-5c4e-46e1-95de-39d55bfae8f9,
abstract = {{Background Elite athletes are role models for young sportspersons regarding social media use. Self-objectification, including self-sexualizing, contributes to body dissatisfaction and body shame, especially in young females. For efficient prevention of self-objectification, knowledge is needed about elite athletes’ self-presentation on social media.<br/><br/>Objective To compare social media postings indicative of self-objectification among female elite athletes in an aesthetic and a non-aesthetic individual sport and by age.<br/><br/>Design Cross-sectional quantitative visual content analysis study.<br/><br/>Setting Instagram on October 1st, 2021.<br/><br/>Participants All Swedish elite female athletes aged 16 years or older with open Instagram accounts in figure skaters (n=26) and athletics (track and field) athletes (n=40).<br/><br/>Assessment of Risk Factors The 30 most recently posted images were identified from each athlete’s Instagram account (Figure). Following exclusion of non-topical images, a panel (4 women/4 men) individually scored factors indicative of self-objectification in the remaining images. The scores were analyzed quantitatively by sport (figure skating/athletics) and age group (age-cut at 21 years).<br/><br/>Main Outcome Measurements Proportion of sexually suggestive images in Instagram postings.<br/><br/>Results In total, 1,869 images were analyzed; 669 posted by figure skaters and 1200 by athletics athletes. Seventy-four images (4%) were classified as containing sexually suggestive content. Figure skaters posted more images with sexually suggestive content (p=0.032) than athletics athletes (especially images with sexual posing (p=0.005) and sexualized body parts in focus (chest (p=0.049); hip-region (p=0.001)). Younger athletes published more images interpreted to contain sexual suggestion than older athletes (p<0.001) (especially images focusing on the chest (p=0.008)).}},
author = {{Jederström, Moa and Sandell, Hanna and Örjan, Dahlström and Fagher, Kristina and Korhonen, Laura and Lundqvist, Carolina and Timpka, Toomas}},
issn = {{1473-0480}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
note = {{Conference Abstract}},
number = {{Suppl 2}},
pages = {{69--70}},
publisher = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
series = {{British journal of sports medicine}},
title = {{Towards prevention of self-objectification in young female athletes on social media : instagram posting patterns of female elite athletes in aesthetic and non-aesthetic individual sports}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-IOC.121}},
doi = {{10.1136/bjsports-2024-IOC.121}},
volume = {{58}},
year = {{2024}},
}