Social Media’s Impact on Physical Body Dissatisfaction and Objectified Body Consciousness

SOCIAL MEDIA’S IMPACT ON PHYSICAL BODY DISSATISFACTION AND OBJECTIFIED BODY CONSCIOUSNESS: INVESTIGATING MIAMI’S ADOLESCENT SELF-PERCEPTION FROM EXPOSURE TO TIKTOK

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the variables that led to the highest levels of objectified body consciousness (OBC) and physical body dissatisfaction (PBD) among adolescents aged 13-19 who were exposed to TikTok and attended school in Miami-Dade County after the COVID-19 pandemic. TikTok is used at high frequencies by various adolescents, however, previous studies identified that constant exposure leads to negative body image issues, ultimately resulting in long-term detrimental health effects. Factor analysis identified the correlation among variables that were collected through the distribution of a questionnaire in which adolescents shared their feelings about their body images from exposure to TikTok. The strongest variables identifying PBD and OBC among adolescents were the exposure before and after one’s reported TikTok experience and the belief that one’s TikTok experience affects an adolescent’s perception of their physical appearance and the answer to this question itself, respectively. This study identified that users who engaged in higher frequencies of TikTok usage were more likely to rate themselves with a higher overall body satisfaction due to pre-established conditioning of negative exposure from TikTok, regardless of one’s gender. Conclusions drawn were that social media applications such as TikTok directly impact an adolescent’s feeling of OBC and PBD, and increased exposure will only lead to lower PBD levels and higher OBC levels, altering one’s self-perception.

Keywords: physical body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, TikTok, adolescents, body image issues

INTRODUCTION

As teenagers undergo the developmental stages of adolescence, their vulnerability to peer influence increases, resulting in physical and mental alterations. Exposure to peer influence is heavily found in social media applications, especially in TikTok, “a popular social media app that revolves around the creation and sharing of short looping videos” (Stahl, Literat, 2022). Adolescents aged 11-16 (Bucknell, Kottasz, 2020) are directly targeted as feed is constantly being reinforced by specific technological algorithms. Identifying this target on TikTok is significant because of its popularity among adolescents (Erizal, 2021). Many influencers are prevalent on TikTok who promote the beauty industry, leading to many adolescents attempting to achieve the same beauty that is portrayed by their feed to boost their body satisfaction (Knauss, Paxton, Alsaker, 2008). #Beautytok’¹ emerged due to social beauty values and the desire to achieve them as adolescents, especially in forms such as cosmetics, dieting, and exercise, which may even be extreme (Kim, Lee, 2018). Adolescents are prone to compare themselves physically with influencers on the application, leading to negative body image thoughts such as physical body dissatisfaction (PBD) and objectified body consciousness (OBC). In addition to mental health issues, physical issues occur as well such as becoming underweight or gaining diagnosed health issues due to lack of supplements. This leads to the research question: to what extent does exposure to TikTok affect adolescents’ levels of physical body dissatisfaction and objectified body consciousness in Miami after the COVID-19 pandemic? The COVID pandemic has affected the overall physical aspects of inhabitants globally, such as excessive weight gain or loss(Masciantonio, Bourguignon, Bouchat, Baity, Rimé, 2021). Along with weight changes, dietary alterations were prevalent during the pandemic, which was highlighted among different genders in high-school-aged adolescents, especially females because of societal expectations of presenting themselves as “beautiful” (Greenleaf, McGreer, 2006). This leads to the inference that the increased exposure to social media among adolescents, especially from platforms such as TikTok, has led to increased issues regarding PBD and OBC. In addition to the algorithm that directly associates feed based on the interest of each viewer, the application also promotes the creation and usage of filters that alter one's physical body and/or face. These filters can convey drastic changes such as making bodies thinner or changing hair/eye colors. However, they could also be controversial because adolescents utilize filters to achieve features like high-count followers on TikTok, leading to the promotion of expected social norms. These social norms continue to support the widely accepted belief of what is expected in beauty values, depicting high counts of PBD and OBC due to exposure from social media- to which adolescents of their age are vulnerable, prevalent the most among females.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which TikTok affects adolescents and their overall feelings about their body images and to examine the percentage of negative results in a current era in which society overall engages and promotes the usage of social media from a very young age. This study also aimed to evaluate the underlying and observable variables within adolescents’ feelings about their body images to determine whether further exposure to TikTok has lasting determinants in adolescent development regardless of the part-time satisfaction that is guaranteed as users continue to utilize the application.

A gap in the research is seen by the lack of knowledge of which variables directly impact adolescents’ satisfaction levels with their bodies, specifically the factor analysis on adolescents’ PBD and OBC based on the frequency of TikTok usage and other unobserved versus observed variables. While it is evident that social media affects adolescents because of their susceptibility to peer influence to alter their appearance, especially in terms of their environment, the frequency of social media use alone has no effect on adolescent well-being besides increased peer competition (Course-Choi, Hammond, 2020). This study aimed to identify variables that impact adolescents’ satisfaction levels, specifically PBD and OBC, that have not been previously identified.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Search Strategies

Sources were located via various databases including EBSCO and Google Scholar, consisting of peer-reviewed journals to gain credibility for the research studied. Specific keywords utilized during the research process were: adolescents and health, objectified body consciousness, physical body dissatisfaction, social norms, peer influence, and TikTok. For this study, definitions were assigned to OBC and PBD. OBC refers to one’s desire to portray their physical appearance for evaluation by others while PBD refers to an individual’s negative thoughts and feelings about their own body (Knauss, Paxton, Alsaker, 2008).

GenZ on TikTok

Engagement with this social media app has significantly increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many turned to TikTok to fulfill entertainment desires. TikTok customizes an individual’s feed based on what videos the user engages with the most. One category of videos that is extremely common among adolescents is #Beautytok on TikTok. Many influencers on this section of TikTok are connected to the beauty industry by promoting cosmetic brands and filming videos about different clothing styles, makeup, and more. However, this constant exposure leads to negative body image thoughts among adolescents (Greenleaf, McGreer, 2006). In addition, many adolescents face the pressure of satisfying societal beauty expectations, especially among females.

American Beauty Standards and Female Expectations

For hundreds of years, women promoted the American beauty industry by associating with various self-expressive methods such as clothing and makeup. Since then, beauty has been an aspect that has remained essential among females, and the necessity to be considered “beautiful” is constantly reinforced by excessive exposure. (Kim, Lee, 2018). Many female celebrities and influencers are portrayed wearing glamorous clothing and are widely associated with the beauty industry. Makeup, cosmetics, and other forms of beauty products are advertised the most to women especially, ultimately creating a market from the advertisement of items. The industry is promoted through influencers wearing and showing the same product, eventually causing a lot of their audience to purchase what is being advertised in hopes of achieving the same look as that influencer. This expectation is constantly reinforced by TikTok, especially its popularity in attracting users through the prevalence of video filters and altering one’s appearance due to #Beautytok.

Effects from Excessive Exposure to TikTok

Many forms of altering one’s appearance due to excessive exposure to the beauty industry can even be detrimental to adolescents, including the usage of steroids and extreme forms of dieting which could develop eating disorders. Many female college students engaged in disordered eating attitudes and actions to change themselves physically due to increased self-objectification, resulting from American societal standards (Greenleaf, McGreer, 2006). Although this study was focused on female college students, TikTok is not only limited to this age group (18-24), as the number of adolescents (13-19) exposed to TikTok continues to increase. Appearance anxiety was also common, especially among females in college (Slater, Tiggermann). Due to the pandemic, however, the United States experienced a significant increase in adolescents suffering from mental health issues and even larger numbers of self-inflicted insecurities (Hossain, Tasnim, Sultana, Faizah, Mazumder, Zou, McKyer, Ahmed, Ma, 2020). This is so prevalent nationwide that previous questionnaires have been conducted to analyze general body dissatisfaction, with female scores resulting lower than males (Knauss, Paxton, Alsaker, 2008). Such impacts analyzed from previous studies magnify the extent social media has on one’s body satisfaction, to the degree of engaging in actions that can inflict irreversible individual harm. With consideration that American culture has embedded the need for societal validation to appear “beautiful”, this study analyzed various factors to identify the most triggering causes that could result in such individual harm, leading to providing adolescents with materials and knowledge of how they are getting affected and actions to take to prevent/limit further detriments.

This study also filled the gap in the community researching adolescent impact from social media platforms, especially TikTok, regarding their PBD and OBC utilizing a factor analysis to compare the correlation among different variables. Although there are variables that are observed such as one’s gender and frequency of TikTok usage, there are other unobserved variables that have not been taken into account before, such as personal feelings concerning video filters and preferences in video categories. The discovery of such variables is essential in terms of truly identifying TikTok’s impact and its direct causes towards PBD and OBC to gain an understanding of adolescent reaction towards TikTok exposure. Filling in these gaps that are evident within this review of the literature would ultimately lead to identifying methods that could aid adolescents to decrease levels of their own PBD and OBC, further limiting the chances of extensively damaging themselves in the later years of their lives.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Study Design and Introduction

The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of negative body images among adolescents while identifying the primary factors of these feelings, which are commonly found in social media. Some adolescents may have pre-established body image issues that are caused by unobserved variables. Unobserved and observed variables were identified using factor analysis, which also aided in finding a correlation between these variables and the feeling ofdissatisfaction from adolescents from exposure to social media. These variables then became cross-referenced and sorted to identify the correlation(s) that were present due to the findings. The data that was generated was collected through questionnaires that preserve anonymity while containing questions that are related to the goal of answering the research question, ensuring that identity was protected in order to gain a deeper understanding of collective adolescent feelings. These questionnaires were virtually taken on Google Forms, so no physical contact was necessary. This sampling method was probability-based because the subjects will be chosen completely randomly due to the questionnaire being shared with multiple students among schools, with no bias in the selection. No follow-up was needed, as only a factor analysis was utilized for the questionnaire results. QR codes with a link to the questionnaire were developed through a QR code generator and shared amongst high schools in Miami to generate anonymous responses.

Sub-Questions

Under the research question, to what extent does exposure to TikTok affect adolescents’ levels of physical body dissatisfaction and objectified body consciousness in Miami after the COVID-f9 pandemic various sub-questions were present. One sub-question that was prevalent was: how does an adolescent’s gender affect their body dissatisfaction and body consciousness levels? Another sub-question was: which variable will have the biggest impact on PBD and OBC? The final sub-question was: how does the frequency of TikTok usage weekly affect PBD and OBC?

Research Philosophy

This research was based on the increasing usage of social media within this generation and the possible negative impacts that it presents. In addition to the increasing collective frequency of TikTok usage, American societal beauty standards also impact an adolescent’s PBD and OBC and are reinforced through the platform. TikTok’s unique algorithm furthermore promotes videos that are related to what a certain person finds the most interesting, so somebody who is exposed to beauty influencers and video filters will continuously be exposed to such content. The hypothesis created for this study was that the increased frequency of TikTok usage would ultimately lead to higher levels of PBD and OBC among adolescents.

Research Type

This research study was deductive because the theory established that exposure to social media has some effect on body dissatisfaction among adolescents aged (13-19). Such observed variables were the amount of time spent on TikTok and the gender of each participant, with any additional questions being the unobserved variables. This research was also conducted under a mixed-methods approach, as qualitative and quantitative data were both prevalent in the questionnaire.

Research Strategy

Factor analysis was used to depict observed versus unobserved factors in terms of correlation. This analysis was also inductive, allowing for these variables to be factored into easier-to-understand areas to find a correlation among various factors. This was due to the many variables that were involved in the research. The collection of data was conducted by a questionnaire that was provided to participants from several high schools in South Florida. Past researchers have similarly conducted experiments by utilizing questionnaires to collect data regarding adolescents and their body images, however, no evidence was found on this method of data in hopes of analyzing the exposure of social media on adolescents.

Data were analyzed by a survey method, which consisted of twenty questions regarding the dissatisfaction levels adolescents feel regarding social media exposure. After the surveys were completed the data was organized to compare any correlations found among the observed and unobserved variables in terms of identifying PBD and OBC.

Research Time Horizon

This was a cross-sectional study because no follow-ups were needed after the data collection. The questionnaire was virtually shared among adolescents using QR codes to scan or website links, not requiring them to be completed at a certain time frame. However, although there was no set timeframe, there was an established date where any responses given after the time were not counted towards the data, ultimately providing the students with 10 days, or two full school weeks, to answer within the time in which answers were qualified.

Sampling Strategy

This research was collected with a convenience sample with the only requirement that the participants must have been traditional high-school-aged adolescents (13-19 years old) and utilized TikTok, with a random response sample. This also contributed to various Miamian adolescents in Miami- Dade County rather than focusing on one high school in the county, maximizing the results in the region.

Data Collection

Data were collected with questionnaires that were developed using Google Forms. QR codes were printed out and sent with additional websites among various schools in Miami shared by teachers in multiple departments. These questionnaires provided consent and permission letters to collect data and ensure that answers were fully anonymous. These were produced virtually and presented before the questionnaire with an area to sign/type their name in agreement with consent. The questionnaire also asked for the participant's gender and age which will always be protected under anonymity.

Data Analysis

Multiple variables were identified and separated between three factors, all of which were questions included in the questionnaire to conduct an inferential statistical analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the sample provided using factor analysis. Variables were separated based on how questions’ data was collected in terms of answering them, the first factor consisted of questions that could be answered using a Likert scale, and factor two included questions that were measured by qualitative data: gender, and the number of hours of usage time which cannot be gathered using a Likert scale. The third factor consisted of questions that were only applicable to a portion of the responders due to their individual usage of TikTok; those who followed beauty influencers and actively posted on TikTok were targeted in this group.

Step-by-Step Plan

The location chosen to gather information was Miami, Florida, due to the availability of many high schools in the Miami-Dade school district. For this study, the questionnaire was sent to teachers in multiple high schools via QR codes and links on Google Forms. Links were also shared among social media apps and methods of communication such as Instagram and Messages. The data were analyzed in three different factors.

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Figure 1.1: Questions in the questionnaire in the order in which they appear. The the following scale was utilized for the Likert scale throughout this experiment: 1 represented “not at all”, 2 represented “somewhat”, 3 represented “neutral”, 4 represented “moderately”, and5 represented “extremely”.

The survey was first released on January 9th, 2023, and stopped accepting responses on January 19th, giving students ten days to answer within a reasonable period. This was also the most practical because anyone with an electronic device could access the questionnaire. This data was then transferred to Google Sheets, allowing it to be organized and analyzed more efficiently. Closed-ended questions required responses in which the answer had to be on a rating scale of 1-5.

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Figure 1.2: Questions included in Factor One.

After this data was organized, proceedings occurred to conduct a Pearson coefficient correlation. To maximize efficiency, Google Sheets was utilized to calculate the mean by inputting functions. Letters were assigned for each question.

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Figure 1.3: The means of each corresponding letter (variable). The following function was utilized on Google Sheets: =AVERAGE(A2:A74)/COUNT(A2:A74) (represents the the formula of the sum of all numbers/ the number of terms in each column), changing each letter for each respective question.

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Figure 1.4: Factor One- Correlation of each letter to another by inserting the function=PEARSON(A2:A74} B2.B74) in Google Sheets, each letter representing a question. Thisfunction represented the Pearson correlation coefficientformula. The correlation for each letter was found and compared to another letter.

The data that was analyzed within factor two was one’s gender and one’s weekly usage of TikTok with its effects on body satisfaction levels. Results were separated into two groups: male and female. Subgroups within these groups were created, separating each gender by the amount of weekly TikTok usage. The average satisfaction level was then taken per subgroup of weekly TikTok usage among each gender to see which subgroup conveyed the highest PBD after an estimated weekly usage.

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Figure 1.5: Factor Two- Average satisfaction score after assigned weekly TikTok usage.

Subgroups were separated based on their weekly TikTok usage: <1 hour, 1-2 hours, 3-4 hours, 5-6 hours, 7-8 hours, 9-10 hours, and >10 hours. Each group was analyzed based on their weekly usage of TikTok and the value they assigned themselves on the Likert scale for question D. The average of each group’s satisfaction level after their most recent TikTok experience was calculated.

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Figure 1.6: Factor three consisted of the questions that were only applicable to some of the responders. These were the questions for those who were eligible to answer these questions.

For factor three, the mean and correlations were found the same way as in factor one.

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Figure 1. 7: Factor Three- The correlations of each letter compared to another.

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Figure 1.8: Correlations of variables within factors one and three in percentages.

RESULTS

Since TikTok was utilized frequently by adolescents, especially in increasing years after the CO VID pandemic, the prevalence of influencers on social media could affect adolescents as they could gain or increase negative feelings towards their physical body. Factor analysis, using components from principal component analysis, was utilized to find correlations among different variables in separate factors to observe the extent that peer influence has on adolescents' feelings of PBD and OBC, regarding TikTok in Miami. As hypothesized, the higher levels of peer influence from TikTok resulted in higher PBD and OBC. This section will evaluate the extent of the variables with the highest correlation to predict the highest factors of PBD and OBC in adolescents. There were seventy-five total responders: 43 females and 32 males.

Factor One: Identifying Physical Body Dissatisfaction

In factor one, variables were gathered based on the commonality of everybody being able to respond:

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The correlation of values was then examined, with the highest correlation being 0.7882929895 or approximately 78.83% among letters C and D.

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Figure 2.1: The responses are given for questions analyzing body satisfaction before/ after one’s TikTok experience.

There was a 4% increase in values 1 and 2, a 4.1% decrease in value 3, and a 6.7% decrease in value 4. This represented the post-effects of one’s TikTok experience, where one’s ultimate levels of satisfaction with their body decrease based on exposure to social media. Results showed that while not everybody experiences lower rates of PBD as seen in the 2.7% increase in the value 5, there was a correlational effect on adolescents' PBD and their TikTok experience, as seen within 85% of the sample. More exposure to TikTok led to higher levels of PBD, as there was a direct impact on the frequency of the application before and after one’s experience.

Factor Two: Weekly TikTok Usage’s Effects on Body Satisfaction Among Genders

Factor Two consisted of gathering data based on gender, their weekly TikTok usage in hours, and their rating of their overall body satisfaction after exposure to TikTok.

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Figure 2.2: The average satisfaction levels of subgroups based on gender and weeklyTikTok usage

The average score for female satisfaction level was the highest from 9-10 hours and lowest between 7-8 hours. The average score for male satisfaction levels was highest between 9-10 hours, likewise, and lowest between less than one hour. Females had an overall higher satisfaction level when exposed to <1 hour to 6 hours, and then again between 9-10 hours of exposure. Men, on the other hand, experienced higher satisfaction rated from 7 to 10 hours. Although the differences in averages among genders within different subunits are not significantly substantial, it still signifies the differences among females and males in terms of various exposure times from TikTok. On average, females did not rate their body satisfaction over 4, Most of these responses ranged from values 1-3, The males, on the other hand, ranged from 1-4, meaning that they had an overall average increase in body satisfaction. The results themselves showed that both males and females rated themselves with an average of a higher body satisfaction score when their TikTok weekly usage was higher. Overall, females were also more satisfied than males. Although there were higher scores of body satisfaction after a higher usage of TikTok, PBD was already on average low among adolescents, so TikTok does not necessarily increase one’s satisfaction in everyone’s experience, however, those that rated themselves with higher satisfaction levels were more likely to use TikTok weekly than those with lower scores.

Factor Three: Identifying Objectified Body Consciousness

Although the variables in factor one were open to everyone, factor three was only limited to a targeted sample. Limited questions due to individual exposure to beauty influencers were:

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The correlation was then examined to evaluate which variable in factor three was the most evident, in which the correlation for questions 4 and 5 showed the highest correlation at 0.9852859867 or 98.53%.

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Figure 2.3: Responses analyzing the belief that video filters have an impact on body satisfaction (body consciousness) and the direct impact.

74.58% of the respondents answered on a range of 1-3, signifying that there is a correlation between one’s awareness of watching videos with filters and the adolescents’ feelings of body consciousness. Due to the extremely high correlation between these two variables, the more prevalent videos with filters are on TikTok, the higher the degree of one’s body consciousness will become. Such exposure to TikTok has negative effects on one’s perception of their own body, in which most respondents felt less satisfied after watching videos on TikTok with filters, however, PBD was not always negatively affected, as the results only supported that there was a direct impact rather than a consistently negative impact.

CONCLUSION

Discussion

As adolescents engage in TikTok usage, impacts on their PBD and OBC are evident, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to view the multiple variables that could have impacted an adolescent’s PBD and OBC with factor analysis. As three separate factors were established to separate different possible variables, there was a correlation among various factors resulting in adolescent perceptions of their bodies. Throughout factor one’s questions, numbers three and four conveyed the highest correlation, which could be due to increased exposure and the resulting adolescent self-body perception. 85% of responders ultimately answered in lower values in question four compared to question three, magnifying the extent that one’s own TikTok experience could have on overall PBD. Although there was a 2.7% increase in the value 5, this might be due to a higher overall TikTok experience time, which was analyzed in factor two. Factor one conveyed that exposure time does have a direct impact on one’s PBD, however, the exact exposure time and responses could be seen in factor two. Factor two analyzed that female satisfaction levels were all below four, along with lower exposure time leading to lower satisfaction rates. Those who watched TikTok weekly for at least four hours or less showed these results. Subsequently, while male satisfaction levels were lower than females overall, the pattern continued that lower exposure time led to lower body satisfaction. Although the hypothesis presented was based on higher exposure time leading to lower satisfaction levels, it could be concluded that those who rated themselves as more satisfied with their bodies were more likely to have higher frequencies of TikTok usage. Factor three’s questions applied to only those who actively followed beauty influencers on TikTok and/or carried the knowledge that they were exposed to videos posted with filters in them, altering the content creator’s appearance in one aspect. The highest correlation of questions was found between the belief that video filters are prevalent leading to higher levels of personal body awareness versus the result of the question. The data showed that 74.58% of the respondents answered in values of less than the number 3, signifying that the more exposure there is, the higher one’s objectified body consciousness is. The level of OBC, thus, reflects an adolescent’s vulnerability to peer influence with the desire to satisfy others’ expectations of their appearance. (Yoo, Yurchisin, 2018). Peer influence was analyzed based on the percentage of responders in the questionnaire who posted often due to exposure to many beauty influencers and/or others who frequently post with video filters. Although this study failed to support the hypothesis that higher exposure to TikTok leads to increased PBD, it does support that higher exposure time leads to OBC. Ultimately, although one’s personal perception of their body might be higher, in comparison to others on TikTok, they feel less satisfied with their bodies. The higher TikTok times and higher body satisfaction levels could ultimately be stemmed from those already having a pre-established high satisfaction level with their body and it is reinforced by a higher frequency of TikTok usage. In addition, the results conveyed that while PBD levels were already low, those who rated themselves with higher satisfaction were more likely to utilize the application weekly. Although the frequency of social media usage alone has no direct impact on adolescents (Course-Choi, Hammond, 2020), the coupling of multiple variables resulted in an effect on young users. Those who spend less time could be due to the avoidance of utilizing the application because of the fear of further damaging one’s self-body perception. The reason why the body OBC was higher could be because of the advertisement of various cosmetics and appearance-altering behaviors in terms of promoting “beauty” on social media. (Kim, Lee, 2018). Because of the artificial appearance and the normalization of considering this “beautiful” and one’s comparison to their own body without these artificial appearances, the overall consciousness is increased because of not being considered beautiful due to the lack of these procedures being promoted. American society and its standards on women achieving beauty play a vital role in OBC due to the constant pressure of having to appear beautiful to satisfy society’s expectations, especially among adolescents who are exposed to this belief at a young age. This could ultimately lead to harming future results, such as disordered eating attitudes and engaging in detrimental appearance-altering procedures to ensure the “beauty” validation (Greenleaf, McGreer, 2006). This study, however, also identified that while females were usually the group labeled with higher body dissatisfaction levels, males also engaged in high, if not, higher levels than females, establishing that such exposure from TikTok affects most adolescents, especially in terms of pleasing societal expectations, regardless of differing genders. (Lindberg, Grabe, Hyde, 2007).

Implications

The results of this study could be used as a method of self-monitoring/regulation of one’s TikTok experience due to their resulting PBD and OBC levels. If one would want to improve their levels of body satisfaction and OBC, one could attempt to alter their TikTok experience in terms of exposure times, as well as categories of videos that may trigger damaging levels of self-perception for monitoring (Slater, Tiggermann, 2010). Although social media applications such as TikTok becoming increasingly more prevalent as technology becomes more applicable in everyday society, they could also cause further damage that may be reinforced with constant exposure, resulting in OBC. American society and its expectations of beauty standards also reinforced one’s objectified body consciousness, as adolescents are in a state of comparison between themselves and their peers on TikTok. Additionally, adolescents with pre-established health needs such as diabetes or cyber fibrosis could benefit from this form of self-regulation, as PBD from the health need prior might lead to an even higher amount of OBC in addition to the level observed by this study (Jiang, Walker, Topps, 2021).

Limitations

Although this study succeeded in identifying variables regarding PBD and OBC, a few limitations were present. One of which was the sample size of the questionnaire itself. The responses could have been more accurate if there was a higher number of responders, especially in the case of factor two where subgroups were created to measure the effect on TikTok experience time and one’s gender. There were few responders in the subgroups themselves, and the answers that were given could have been outliers and affected the results entirely altogether. The distribution of genders was also uneven, with more female respondents than males. In addition, the exact exposure time from TikTok might not be accurate, as responders could have answered a different number than their true TikTok experience time or might have not known how to measure it² altogether and simply provided an estimate. Furthermore, measuring one’s exact TikTok experience is not feasible because of the infinite number of video combinations that could appear on one’s algorithm. Although the questionnaire for this study asked users to record the categories which they considered to be the most engaging, the exact combination of such videos cannot be accounted for. Certain videos might trigger more PBD or OBC levels that could not exactly be recorded individually, but collectively due to estimates based on TikTok experiences and measurements on one’s self-perception based on a Likert scale. Respondents could have also lied throughout their experience with the questionnaire, which would disrupt the results altogether. Finally, this study was based on a convenience sample as the responses were gathered only in Miami. Many adolescents could experience their TikTok usage differently based on their environments, especially the local culture in their cities.

Areas for Future Research

Due to this study being a factor analysis on a small number of traditionally aged high-school students (13-19), further results could be drawn by longitudinal studies. Analyzing an individual and viewing their exact levels over a period of time could lead to possible further accuracy in identifying one’s PBD and OBC. Furthermore, more variables could be analyzed in addition to the ones utilized in this study by including other types of questions to view adolescent opinion on PBD and OBC. This study was targeted specifically at an audience of GenZ, so other older generations could be focused on, such as millennials. As this study also identified variables within TikTok, other social media platforms could be explored as well such as Instagram Shorts or Snapchat Spotlight. Furthermore, while this study was aimed at highlighting the negative effects of TikTok usage, it could also be directed to view the positive impact, such as expanding the reach of communications, especially among individuals who are not in proximity to each other. Further research could also expand on adolescents in various regions, not those who reside in Miami, and could further view the impact that social media has on a national scale.

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APPENDICES

Appendix A: QR code and link to the questionnaire

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LINK TO QUESTIONNAIRE

https://docs.google.eom/forms/d/e/lFAIpOLScd7HySggtclPCM4STF-80kM-NWMCuLJnxEtKKWk928 9uA 1 Dw/vicwform?usp-sf link

Appendix B: Questionnaire consent form

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Appendix C: Full results from factor one

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Appendix D: Full results from factor three

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Appendix E: Frequency ofTikTok usage -weekly

Illustrations are not included in the reading sample

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¹ “Beautytok” refers to a user on TikTok filming and posting videos relating to content of the beauty industry, including elements such as hair, makeup, and skincare.

² Digital Well-being and Screen Time are ways to measure one’s exact experience in various applications in minutes, implemented by Android and Apple, respectively.