The Impact of Curvy Fitspiration and Fitspiration on Body Dissatisfaction, Negative Mood, and Weight Bias in Women

Exposure to fitspiration (images of thin, active women) on Instagram has been shown to be associated with body dissatisfaction, but fitspiration's effect on weight bias has not been studied. The impact of curvy fitspiration (images of higher weight, active women) also has not been explored. The present study aim was to investigate the impact of curvy fitspiration and fitspiration on body dissatisfaction, negative mood, and weight bias. Participants included 178 women from the general population who were randomly assigned to three groups: curvy fitspiration, fitspiration, or control (travel). Participants completed measures of body dissatisfaction, negative mood, and weight bias before and after exposure to the images. Body dissatisfaction and weight bias decreased in the curvy fitspiration group, and the curvy fitspiration group had lower negative mood and weight bias than the fitspiration group postexposure. Body dissatisfaction and weight bias did not change in the fitspiration group, but negative mood increased. Body dissatisfaction and negative mood decreased in the control group, and the control group had lower body dissatisfaction and weight bias than the fitspiration group postexposure. These results suggest that increasing representations of diverse body types on Instagram could be beneficial in reducing body dissatisfaction and weight bias in women.