Normative Beauty Standards and Emotion Beliefs

Moderating Role of Social Media Use

Abstract

The study explores the relationship among emotion beliefs, normative beauty standards, and social media use. Specifically, the study investigated how social media use moderates the relationship between normative beauty standards and emotion beliefs. A sample of 479 (male = 46.1%; female = 53.9 %: M = 23.9, SD = 4.43) participants was selected for this study. The cross-sectional design study was adopted. The test of hypotheses using multiple regression analysis which employed Hayes PROCESS Macro, model 1 (SPSS version 25), found that normative beauty standards related with emotion beliefs, and the relationship was moderated by social media use. The outcome of the study supports social comparison theory in which individuals determine their own self-worth and evaluate their own abilities, opinions, and attributes by comparing themselves to others through social media. This study provides insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying the impact of social media use in the relationship between normative beauty standards and emotion beliefs. The outcome of the study has implications for positive psychotherapy interventions aimed at promoting acceptance of body image and reducing the negative effects of social media use on normative beauty standards resulting from negative emotion beliefs expressions.