(PS6-B42) Social Comparison as a Predictor of Body Image: A Meta-analytic Review of Correlational Studies

Social comparison theory posits that people compare themselves to others in a quest for self-improvement (Festinger, 1954). Modern research on appearance-focused social comparisons, however, show that people will continue to make these comparisons even when they are detrimental (Leahy et al., 2007; Strahan et al., 2006). In 2009, we published a meta-analysis examining the relationships between social comparison and body dissatisfaction in 156 studies (Myers & Crowther, 2009). In the years since, the field has grown dramatically; yet no further comprehensive meta-analytic study has been undertaken. The current study represents the first step in replicating and expanding upon our previous work and examines the relationships between appearance-focused social comparisons and body image – both body dissatisfaction and body appreciation – in studies employing a correlational methodology.

PsychINFO and PubMed were used to gather both published studies and unpublished dissertations, the latter of which were included to account for the file drawer problem. We found 152 studies meeting our inclusion criteria that used a correlational methodology, yielding 186 effect sizes. Studies yielded multiple effect sizes when they included both men and women,  samples of varying races/ethnicities, or samples from different countries. We examined separately studies that examined body image disturbance (body dissatisfaction) and those that utilized measures of positive body image (body esteem, body appreciation) using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Borenstein et al., 2022).

Results revealed a significant positive correlation between social comparison and body dissatisfaction, r = .463 (CI_95%: .431 - .494), p < .001 (N = 44239 participants, k = 119 studies). There were significant gender differences, with studies examining only girls or women (N = 28878 participants, k = 84 studies) finding a stronger relationship between social comparison and body dissatisfaction, r = .487 (CI_95%: .448 - .524), p < .001, than those examining only men or boys (N = 8378 participants, k = 25 studies), r = .424 (CI_95%: .358 - .485), p < .001.

There was a significant negative correlation between social comparison and body appreciation, SC & BA: r = -.379 (CI_95%: -.416 - -.339), p < .001 (N = 28132 participants, k = 72 studies). There were again significant gender differences, with studies examining only girls or women (N = 17524 participants, k = 48 studies) finding a stronger relationship between social comparison and body dissatisfaction, r = -.407 (CI_95%: -.434 - -.335), p < .001, than those examining only men or boys (N = 3935 participants, k = 14 studies), r = -.292 (CI_95%: -.362 - -.218), p < .001.

These findings indicate that research performed since our 2009 meta-analysis continues to show that comparing oneself to others on the basis of appearance is related to both greater body dissatisfaction and lower body appreciation. This finding contributes to the rapidly growing area of research considering the consequences of social comparisons.