The biopsychosocial model is a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors of health and illness. This approach allows mental health professionals to acknowledge other factors that are important in explaining illness. In this blog, I will focus on the social variables within the biopsychosocial model. The social influence of others can have both positive and negative effects on our health (Gruman et al., 2017, p.194). Let’s dive into the negative effects social media has on our overall well-being.
Many advertisements distort body image and portray unrealistic ideals of beauty. Models photographed on billboards, in magazines, and television advertisements look flawless. They have the perfect smile, unblemished skin, ample cleavage, defined abs, a skinny waist, no cellulite, hairless bodies, and are covered in makeup. Most viewers, including myself, neglect to realize that we are being misled by images that are retouched and photoshopped to give them the perfect, ideal look.
The way women and men are portrayed in the media has been an ongoing, controversial issue. High beauty standards and the constant pressure of meeting society’s expectations leads to severe, harmful consequences and lifechanging decisions. We compare ourselves to models and begin to nitpick every flaw on our body. This destroys our self-confidence, body image, and causes us to feel bad about ourselves. Women feel the only way to be accepted in society and be considered beautiful is by conforming to these high, nearly impossible expectations. Most individuals get frustrated when they don’t see results immediately after exercising. Therefore, they switch to easier, quicker methods such as starvation, surgery, dieting pills, botox, lip injections, and implants. Not only can this be costly, but it is also physically, mentally, and emotionally unhealthy. The pressure of conforming to body image standards can cause eating disorders, stress, low-self-esteem, and depression.
Since social media plays a significant role in shaping our attitudes about our health, it can be used in a positive manner to promote health (Gruman et al., 2017, p.195). Fortunately, over the past decade or so, companies, artists, and influencers have promoted positive body image and self-love through social media campaigns. An example of this is The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy which challenges societal beauty standards by photographing nude overweight women. Plus-size models have emerged into spotlight and have been using their voice to advocate body image and inspire women of every shape to feel confident in their own skin. The overall goal of these campaigns and global movements is to empower women of all ages, shapes, and sizes, improve their self-esteem, and give them the confidence to be themselves. Although we are on the way to redefining beauty standards, they still exist.
Reference
Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology:
Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Tags: beauty standards, biopsychosocial model, body image, depression, social media
I enjoyed reading your post and definitely agree with the issues you have brought to light. Although some media outlets are attempting to improve on their definitions of beauty and place an emphasis on body positivity, they definitely have a long way to go.
I do not believe that the mainstream/corporate media alone is responsible for damaging the self confidence of their viewers — we as individuals are also responsible. Social Media, although a fun distraction and sometimes effective way of communicating, has damaged our society by allowing people to create an unrealistic persona facing the world. I used to scroll through Facebook and Instagram finding myself becoming jealous of the life some people presented — extravagant vacations, activities every weekend, new cars, new clothes, etc. After some time, I came to realize that (most) people only present their “best life” when posting on social media. That vacation they posted? It happened 3 years ago, not last month, and they haven’t been on one since. I learned that you can’t assume that people have a “great life” through social media alone and you also cannot compare your life to others.
As you mention in your post things like perfect looking models can damage self-confidence and just generally make us feel badly about ourselves. Social Media can do exactly the same thing if you’re not careful and allow yourself to believe that everything people post is the truth about their lives as doing so could lead to things like depression. When looking at certain treatments for depression it has been said that, “Positive life events and self-enhancing attributions…are believed to combine to promote the growth of hopefulness” (Gruman, et. al 116). So if we are viewing social media and comparing our positive life events to those presented by others, which are viewed as “better”, it can negate the positive effects on mental health.
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE.