Social Media Photo Manipulation, Beauty Ideal Internalization, and Problematic Body Image
Social Media Photo Manipulation, Beauty Ideal Internalization, and Problematic Body Image

Summary/Abstract: Despite the relevance of appearance-based photo manipulation on social media, only limited research has been conducted on this topic. In this article, I cumulate previous research findings indicating that idealized body image and mood on social media can be harmful by not offering realistic representations or promoting appearance ideals. I contribute to the literature on facial modification tools and photo alteration apps by showing that social media photo manipulation is linked to increased cosmetic procedure attitudes and intentions, facial dissatisfaction, and appearance-based self-discrepancy. Throughout February 2022, I performed a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases, with search terms including “social media photo manipulation” + “beauty ideal internalization,” “problematic body image,” and “appearance appraisals and objectification.” As I inspected research published between 2021 and 2022, only 157 articles satisfied the eligibility criteria. By eliminating controversial findings, outcomes unsubstantiated by replication, too imprecise material, or having similar titles, I decided upon 26, generally empirical, sources. Data visualization tools: Dimensions (bibliometric mapping) and VOSviewer (layout algorithms). Reporting quality assessment tool: PRISMA. Methodological quality assessment tools include: AXIS, Dedoose, Distiller SR, and MMAT.

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