The Effect of TikTok Body Neutrality Content on Young Women’s Self-Compassion

Abstract

The body neutrality movement emphasizes functionality over appearance and promotes a nonjudgmentalapproach to the body. The aim of this study was to investigate how exposure to TikTok body neutrality content impacts young women’s self-compassion. The sample included 189 undergraduate women (Mage=19.25, SD=1.98) who were randomly assigned to view one of three compilation TikTok videos on bodyneutrality, thin ideal, or art content. Participants completed measures of pre- and posttest state self-compassion. Controlling for pretest levels of self-compassion, the results demonstrated that women in the body neutrality group reported higher self-compassion than women in the thin ideal and art groups with moderateeffect sizes. Amidst the plethora of idealized imagery frequently encountered on highly visual platformslike TikTok, our results underscore the importance of advocating for a more extensive presence of diversebody neutral content on social media. Indeed, given that self-compassion is associated with several positivepsychological outcomes, it appears that brief exposure to body neutrality content may encourage youngwomen to develop healthier relationships with themselves and their bodies.