Negative body image can cause serious psychological problems. In some Western societies, body image concerns can develop at a young age, with early preadolescents preferring thinner bodies and reporting body dissatisfaction. The aims here were to clarify the significant gaps in published research, and to challenge existing assumptions around weight, muscularity, and body satisfaction in children. In addition, this novel research focused on young children’s body dissatisfaction, particularly young boys (aged 4-11 years). Traditional measures of body satisfaction are limited and do not incorporate muscularity, assess individual body parts, or indicate the direction of dissatisfaction. Here, new visual measures were developed along with a prototype application for a touch-screen tablet to measure body satisfaction in children. Through 4 innovative experimental studies the current research explored factors influencing body image: including gender, age, ethnicity, BMI, perceived body size, and sociocultural factors (e.g. cultural ideals and body size stereotypes). Results consistently supported the findings of study 1 which showed gender differences in body satisfaction: boys were more dissatisfied with their bodies than girls, and their dissatisfaction varied over the different body parts (torso, arms and legs). Stereotypical idealised body perception was evident: boys wanted to be muscular and girls desired to be lean. In study 2, ideal body choices saw boys choosing more muscular figures and girls more lean figures for the self, than the ones they choose for another boy or girl. Boys desired more muscular ideal figures than what they perceived the opposite sex would choose. Study 3 revealed the pattern of assigning positive attributes was gendered. Boys viewed the hypermuscular figure the most positively and girls the normal weight and lean figures the most positively. However, both sexes did not want to look like the overweight figure as a child or adult. Study 4 showed parent’s body satisfaction and their perception of their child’s current body size predicted child’s body satisfaction, and exposure to media predicted the child’s ideal and future ideal adult figure choices. Overall, a combination of factors involved in the development of children’s body image were revealed, including sociocultural influences, age, ethnicity, and perceived body size. The research carried out within this thesis has extended our knowledge of pre-adolescent’s body dissatisfaction, has developed innovative measures for use with younger children, and revealed fascinating findings around young boys’ body image.

This study examines counselors understanding of body fixation (alt: body image fixation) as a social problem among young women aged 15-25 years. Earlier research on this subject highlights the standards and ideals placed on the female body where happiness is associated with a slim body figure. Research has shown that young women that compare their own bodies with others are at higher risk at developing an unhealthy relationship with their body, which can lead to eating disorders. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine counselors from youth clinics, schools and primary healthcare. The results were interpreted and analysed in the light of social constructionist perspective as developed by Berger & Luckmann and Loseke's social constructionist definition of social problems. The results of analysis show that counselors’ understandings of body fixation are constructed and perceived as a problem of body fixation which itself is part of a larger problem. Namely, the cause of body fixation is connected to a variety of factors such as poor self-esteem, parents’ behaviour in relation to their own bodies and the depiction of female body ideals in mass media, among others. Counselors meant that body fixation often becomes problematic as it drives young women to isolation and withdrawal from their social environments. The results reveal several similarities in relation to earlier research on the subject, and we conclude by presenting our own suggestions and ideas for future research within the subject, such as for instance increasing of the awareness of body fixation among young men. / Denna studie behandlar kuratorers uppfattning om kroppsfixering som ett socialt problem hos unga kvinnor i åldern 15-25 år. Tidigare forskning kring ämnet har framförallt belyst samhällets bild av kvinnokroppen genom de rådande kropp- och skönhetsidealen där ett smalhetsideal hör ihop med lycka och framställs som önskvärt. Forskning har visat att unga kvinnor som jämför sin egen kropp med andras ses ha en högre riskfaktor i att utveckla ett osunt förhållande till sin kropp som kan leda till ätstörningar. Datamaterialet för denna studie samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio kuratorer inom ungdomsmottagning eller likvärdig mottagning, skola och primärvården. Resultatet förstods och tolkades med socialkonstruktivistiskts perspektiv utifrån Berger & Luckmann och Loseke´s socialkonstruktivistiska definition om hur ett socialt problem konstrueras. Resultatet av analysen visade att kuratorers uppfattning om kroppsfixering konstruerades och sågs som ett problem i och med att kroppsfixeringen ansågs vara en del av en större problematik. Orsaken till kroppsfixering berodde på en rad olika faktorer såsom dålig självkänsla, föräldrars beteende kring sin egen kropp, massmedias bilder av hur kvinnokroppen ska se ut m.fl. Kuratorerna uppfattade att kroppsfixeringen blev problematisk när den ledde till att de unga kvinnorna isolerade sig själva från sin sociala omgivning. Resultatet visade på många likheter med tidigare forskning som behandlat ämnet och avslutningsvis presenteras våra idéer till vidare forskning inom ämnet bl.a. att belysa kroppsfixering bland unga män.

Sammanfattning   Bakgrund: Den lätta åtkomsten till sociala medier och fokus kring de manliga och kvinnliga kroppsidealen som framställs i media kan leda till depressioner, ångest och fysisk inaktivitet. Utifrån ett folkhälsoperspektiv är vikten av en djupare kunskap kring detta fenomen väsentlig bland unga kvinnor och män och tidigare studier kring detta bland unga män är få. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att studera unga mäns erfarenheter och uppfattningar om sin hälsa och kroppsideal som framställs på sociala medier. Metod: Studiens genomfördes med en induktiv ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Urvalet bestod av sex personer i åldrarna 18–25 år som tränade minst två gånger i veckan. En tematisk analys användes vid analys av materialet. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i ett huvudtema: Sociala media, hälsa och kroppsideal, en växelverkan. Detta huvudtema resulterade i fyra underteman: Hälsa som resurs, ohälsa som hinder, kroppsideal och vägar dit, samt media som påverkansfaktor. I dessa underteman hittades koder som samtliga har en relation till huvudtemat. Slutsats: Hälsa är ett omfattande begrepp som innefattar fler faktorer som bidrar till en hälsosam livsstil. Massmedias framställning av hälsa uppfattas av denna grupp som en fixering av de kroppsliga idealen kontra den subjektiva hälsan. För dessa deltagare är upplevelsen av vilseledande hälsoinformation lättillgänglig medan den korrekta hälsoinformationen uppfattas som svårare att nå. / Abstract   Background: The easy access to social media and a focus on male and female body ideals that are presented in social media can lead to depression, anxiety and physical inactivity. From a public health perspective, the importance of a deeper knowledge of this phenomenon is essential for young women and men, and past studies of this subject among young men are few Aim: The purpose of this study was to study young men’s experiences and perceptions of their own health and body ideals in relation to health and body ideals presented on social media. Method: The study was conducted with an inductive approach with semi-structed interviews as data collection method. The sample consisted of six people between the ages of 18-25 who exercised at least twice a week. The material was analyzed using a thematic analysis. Results: The analysis of the results led to a main theme: Social media, health and body ideals – an interaction. The main theme consists of four sub-themes: Health as a resource, ill health as an obstacle, body ideals and ways to reach them, and media as an impact factor. In these sub-themes, codes were found, each of which relate to the main theme. Conclusion: Health is a comprehensive concept that includes many factors that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. The mass media’s production of health images is perceived by interviewed in this study as a fixation of the body ideals versus subjective health. For these participants, the experience of misleading health information is readily available while the correct health information is perceived as more difficult to get ahold of.

Denna studies inledning ger en övergripande bild av att svenska ungdomar generellt skattar sin hälsa som hög, däremot skattas den psykosociala hälsan lägre vilken innefattas av att vara nöjd med sig själv. Att vara nöjd med sig själv och sin kropp omfattas av kroppsbildsuppfattningen. Sociala medier tar allt mer tid i anspråk och används i större utsträckning som ett kommunikationsmedel. Levnadsvanor, miljö och det tidiga livets villkor har en betydelse för individens hälsa. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka ungdomars kroppsbildsuppfattning och användande av sociala medier samt undersöka relationen mellan dem. Metod: En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie utfördes. Enkäter användes som datainsamlingsmetod bland skånska elever i åk 1-3 på gymnasiet, där 249 elever besvarade enkäten. Resultatet visade att 33 procent av flickor hade högre kroppsuppfattning än pojkar (14%) och att 38 procent av pojkarna hade lägre kroppsuppfattning än flickorna (18%) (p=0,001). Flickor använder sociala medier i större utsträckning än pojkar. Sättet flickor och pojkar använde sociala medier på skiljde sig åt. Flickor hade fler olika roller på sociala medier än pojkar, samt pojkar spelade mer onlinspel än flickor. Konklusion: Eftersom pojkarna i denna studie hade lägre kroppsbildsuppfattning och spelade mer onlinespel än flickorna är det utifrån ett genus och jämställdhetsperspektiv lämpligt att studera pojkars kroppsbildsuppfattning i relation till onlinespelande. Därför bör ytterligare forskning med inriktning på pojkars kroppsbildsuppfattning bedrivas utifrån både en kvalitativ och kvantitativ metodaspekt, med ändamål att försöka förstå vilka faktorer som ligger till grund för deras kroppsbildsuppfattning. / The study's introduction is given as an overall picture of the fact that Swedish youth generally estimate their health as high but the psychosocial health is estimated to be lower, which includes being satisfied with themselves. Being content with yourself and your body is covered by the body image perception. Social media takes more time and it's used to a greater extent as a communication medium. Living habits, the environment and the conditions of early life have a bearing on the individual's health.The aim of this study was to investigate the body image of young people and the use of social media and to investigate the relationship between them. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional study was performed. The survey was used as a data collection method among Scanian students in grades 1-3 in high school, where 249 students answered questionnaires. The result showed that 33 percent of girls had a higher body image than boys (14 percent) and that 38 percent of boys had a lower body image than girls (18 percent) (p = 0.001). The way girls and boys used social media differs. Girls use social media to a greater extent than boys. The way girls and boys used social media differed. Girls had more different roles on social media than boys, and boys played more online games than girls. Conclusion: Since the boys in this study had lower body image perception and played more online games than girls, it is appropriate from a gender and gender perspective to study boys' body image perception in relation to online gaming. Therefore, further research with a focus on boys' body image should be conducted on the basis of both a qualitative and quantitative method aspect, with the aim of trying to understand which factors underlie their body image perception.

Personliga tränare (PT) har en nyckelfunktion på gymmet, i och med sin uppgift att guida klienter till en bättre fysik och hälsa. Många gymutövare har PT som förebild både vad gäller hälsa och kroppsligt utseende. På gymmet finns dock en problematik med förekomst och reproducering av genuskodade kroppsideal, vilket bland annat kan bidra till ohälsosamma kost- och träningsbeteenden. Syftet med studien är att utforska vilka kroppar och kroppsideal i gymkontext som synliggörs i personliga tränares diskussioner. Vidare är syftet att belysa om och i så fall på vilket sätt maskuliniteter och femininiteter framträder i personliga tränares diskussioner om kroppar och kroppsideal. Totalt medverkade 19 PT i sju fokusgruppsintervjuer, som analyserades genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en abduktiv ansats. Connells teoretiska begrepp hegemonisk maskulinitet och betonad femininitet samt Bauman och Mays perspektiv kring kropp användes under analysprocessen. Resultatet visade att PT talar om den perfekta kroppen, den överdrivna fitnesskroppen, den extremt magra kvinnokroppen och den feta kroppen. I PTs diskussioner går att utläsa hur den perfekta kroppen värderades högre än de andra kropparna, genom deras beskrivningar av övriga kroppar i negativa och nedlåtande ordalag. De övriga kropparna ansågs avvikande både vad gäller utseende och hälsa. Den perfekta kroppen kan därför tolkas stå för den hegemoniska maskuliniteten och betonade femininiteten, genom sin överordnade position på gymmet. Konsekvensen av denna kroppshierarki kan bli att klienter som inte har kroppar som anses ideala, kan uppleva sig exkluderade från gymarenan.

This paper will dive into the topic of fitspiration on SNS and the effects it has on people’s subjective well-being. Fitspiration is a common type of content that is widely spread across multiple platforms, especially on Instagram. This content is often posted by fit people that share content regarding exercising or diets. Previous research has demonstrated that people have an inner desire to compare themselves to others on SNS which might have effects on people’s well-being. Therefore, this paper aims to find out how users perceive fitspiration on SNS as well as the perceived influence it has on their subjective well-being when comparing themselves to others. By using a qualitative approach where focus groups were conducted, empirical data was collected which could provide a deep understanding of the topic. The findings could conclude that fitspiration was perceived as unrealistic and exposing users to body ideals and unachievable perfection. Regarding effects on the user's subjective well-being, fitspiration has both positive and negative outcomes. The positive outcomes were especially associated with inspiration, while the negative effects were predominantly related to body image and self-esteem. The reason why they would be affected negatively or positively, would depend on to whom they would compare, how they were feeling at that specific time or if they would compare their appearance or their performance. Future research could look at different types and features of fitspiration content, how people engage with it and why, to see if it would affect user’s perceived well-being in different ways. Moreover, this paper confirms that fitspiration might promote negative experiences for users, why future studies could investigate how these experiences could be prevented or decreased.

This study aims to understand the complexity underwear brands are subject to in particular in relation to their explicit use of models to create an organizational identity and image. Through two underwear brands (Victoria’s Secret and Twilfit By Change) we intend to examine their use of models in different sizes and different skin tones through visual communication (imagery and text) on their respective websites. The questions we intend to answer are: How are body ideals and body inclusivity constructed throughout Victoria’s Secret and Twilfit By Changes’ visual communication? and How does this contribute to the construction of Victoria's Secret and Twilfit By Changes organizational identity? When collecting material and performing the analysis we will be using two analysis methods, semiotic image analysis using denotation and connotation and a rhetorical analysis using ethos, pathos and logos. The theoretical framework for the study consists of three theories; norm theory, sexual objectification theory and organizational theory with a focus on identity and image. By using these analysis methods and theories we found that there is a significant difference between these companies and their way of using inclusion and diversity in their marketing efforts of the brand. One seems to have made a huge shift in communication to be more inclusive both in regards to body sizes and skin colors. The other one seems to be stuck in the past in regards to their imagery. By using models that represent a more diverse group you can improve your organizational identity and avoid contributing to the harm of young women and women's mental health in regards to body image and ideals.