Taking a one-week social media break enhances your self-esteem, study finds
Quitting social media for a week improves body image and self esteem in young women, new research has revealed. The negative impacts of apps like Instagram and TikTok were particularly reduced in those who especially viewed 'being 'thin' as aspirational.
How was the research conducted?
Researchers at York University in Toronto, Canada divided 66 women aged between 17 and 24 into two groups, with one set instructed to take a week-long break from social media.
Ahead of the week, all participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring their self-esteem, body image and the extent to which they understood being slimmer as being an ideal to strive for. After the course of the week, the women completed the same evaluation.
What were the results?
The results showed that those who took a break from social media reported significantly higher self-esteem than those who continued to use the apps, both in terms of how they felt about their bodies as well as as how confident they felt in their abilities. Such results stack up with findings from previous research in the same vein. One 2020 study found that women – though not men – experienced an improvement in life satisfaction after a one week Instagram break; a 2022 study found that a one week break from all social media platforms resulted in lowered depression and anxiety.
Of the findings, Jennifer Mills, a psychology professor and co-author of the paper said: 'There’s natural variability in how people feel about their bodies and themselves in general, so we took that into account statistically, and even after that there were still significant differences between the groups after one week.'
'We hope this study can be used to help protect young people and influence social media companies to give users more agency in how they interact with these platforms.'
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