Virtual social networks and the formation of women's mental image of their bodies

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• mehran sohrab zade ¹
• mohsen niazi ¹
• azam nejadi ²
• hadi afra ³

¹ Department of Social Sciences, University of Kashan

² Department of Social Sciences University of Kashan

³ Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Kashan

Abstract

The rethinking feature of late modernity has changed the various areas of everyday life, and the most important of these areas are the issues of the development of identity and body. One of the factors that has provided a good platform for rethinking about the body are virtual social networks. Based on this, the main purpose of this paper is to explain the relationship between virtual networks and women's mental image of their bodies. This study is a social survey type and a questionnaire technique was used to collect data. The statistical population of the study consisted of all women aged 20 to 35 years old in Kashan in 1396 which are studied through quota sampling and are based on five regions of Kashan with a sample size of 340. The findings of the research and the results of the relevant statistical activity confirmed the direct and significant relationship between the use of virtual social networks and mental image of the body at 95% confidence level. In the multivariate regression analysis, body image satisfaction in a total of 6 variables was included in the equation using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Plus, What’s up, Telegram and Instagram. Among the six variables mentioned above, the two facebook and instagram variables entered in the equation are significant at the alpha level of 0.05 and remain in the equation.

Keywords

• Virtual Social Networks
• mental image of the body
• late modernity
• Women

20.1001.1.20088566.1398.10.38.10.1

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