Development and Validation of the Motivations for Social Media Use Scale (MSMU) Among Adolescents

Theoretical accounts of the relationship between social media use and body image among adolescents have highlighted motivations as an important factor. However, motivations for social media use has received little attention in extant research in the area of body image. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a measure of motivations for social media use among adolescents, with a focus on appearance motivations. Data from 770 adolescents (49% female), mean (SD) age = 12.76 (0.74) were used to examine the psychometric properties of the new Motivations for Social Media Use scale (MSMU). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a four-factor structure including Connection, Popularity, Appearance, and Values and Interests subscales. All subscales revealed acceptable internal reliability, and convergent validity with internalization of appearance ideals, self-esteem, and social media use. The MSMU is a useful tool for assessing appearance motivations for social media use among adolescent girls and boys.