The Relationships among Self-Worth Contingency on Others' Approval, Appearance Comparisons on Facebook, and Adolescent Girls' Body Esteem: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between appearance-related social comparison on social networking services (SNSs) and body esteem in a cross-cultural context (three European countries, i.e., Austria, Belgium, and Spain, versus one Asian country, i.e., South Korea). The role of self-worth contingency on others' approval was considered to be a psychological and cultural factor. Utilizing a large-scale cross-national survey of early and middle adolescents in 2017, the responses of female adolescents (N = 981) were analyzed. The results generally support the findings from previous studies but also reveal cultural differences. Appearance comparison on Facebook negatively influenced girls' body esteem in all European countries, but not in South Korea. Self-worth contingency on others' approval negatively influenced girls' body esteem across all four countries. Finally, a positive relationship between self-worth contingency on others' approval and appearance comparison on Facebook was found in all European countries, but not among Korean girls. These findings suggest the importance of self-worth contingency on others' approval and cultural contexts can be used to study the effects of body image-related SNS use.