Effect of Fitspiration on State Self-Esteem Among Young Adults

Media trends are widely prevalent on social media sites, and have demonstrated the ability to influence people's perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. The present study examined the fitness and health-focused media trend of "fitspiration" and its effects on the state self-esteem of young adult males and females. The study is one of the first to examine fitspiration in an Indian context and amongst an Asian population and contributes to the growing literature concerning media trends, body image, and self-esteem in women and men. The sample consisted of 61 undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 18-25 years, recruited through convenience sampling. A pretest posttest control group design was used and data was collected using a personal demographic sheet and state self-esteem scale (SSES). Pretest group equivalence was statistically ascertained and then pre-post comparison analysis was done for male and female participants separately. Contrary to expectations, findings revealed that fitspiration caused a significant increase in the social state self-esteem of females. The findings have been discussed based on the Self-Discrepancy Theory. The study contributes to the limited literature on media trends in an Asian setting and has valuable implications for the fields of social, health, and sports psychology, as well as advertising.