Abstract
Using Objectification Theory as a guide, social media use is found to be connected to self-objectification, body satisfaction and restrained eating among young Western women and men and Chinese women. However, the relationship among young Chinese men is largely unknown. The current study aimed to examine whether these relationships exist among young Chinese men, as well as self-objectification and body satisfaction’s serial mediation effects. 335 male young Chinese participants (aged 18–35) were recruited to complete questionnaires evaluating their social media usage, self-objectification, body dissatisfaction and restrained eating. A significant correlation between using social media and restrained eating was mediated by self-objectification. However, the impact of social media use on restrained eating was not mediated by body satisfaction, as young Chinese men’s body satisfaction was not correlated with social media use, restrained eating or self-objectification. The fact that Objectification Theory is partially applicable to young Chinese men means that cultural context, especially Eastern context, is important in this framework. And in this case, young Chinese men’s self-compassion and masculinity may be able to explain the partial non-applicability.
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The corresponding author will deliver the datasets generated during the current work upon reasonable request.
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Zhu, Z., Chi, R. Social media use and young Chinese men’s restrained eating: the mediating roles of self-objectification and body satisfaction. Curr Psychol 43, 11642–11650 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05306-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05306-5