The impact of body-positive and fitspirational influencers on body satisfaction: a longitudinal study of evolving parasocial relationships.

Body-focused influencers are ubiquitous on social media, promoting diverse messages around physical appearances, fitness, and self-acceptance. This longitudinal study investigates how repeated exposure to body-positive, fitspirational, and nonbody-focused influencers shapes users' parasocial relatio...

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Publicado en:Human Communication Research Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 90 - 106
Autores principales: Breves, Priska L, Boerman, Sophie C, Stein, Jan-Philipp, Ischen, Carolin, Berlo, Zeph M C van
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Apr2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2026
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        atl: The impact of body-positive and fitspirational influencers on body satisfaction: a longitudinal study of evolving parasocial relationships.
      aug:
        au:
          Breves, Priska L
          Boerman, Sophie C
          Stein, Jan-Philipp
          Ischen, Carolin
          Berlo, Zeph M C van
        affil:
          Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
          Strategic Communication, University of Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands
          Institute for Media Research, University of Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
      su:
        Body image
        Social comparison
        Self-acceptance
        Self-presentation
        Social influence
        Parasocial relationships
        Longitudinal method
        Influencer marketing
      sug:
        subj:
          Body image
          Social comparison
          Self-acceptance
          Self-presentation
          Social influence
          Parasocial relationships
          Longitudinal method
          Influencer marketing
      keyword:
        body satisfaction
        body-positivity
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        fitspiration
        inLanguage:en
        parasocial relationships
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf029
        social comparison
        social media
        social media influencer
        wishful identification
        body satisfaction
        body-positivity
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        fitspiration
        inLanguage:en
        parasocial relationships
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf029
        social comparison
        social media
        social media influencer
        wishful identification
      ab: Body-focused influencers are ubiquitous on social media, promoting diverse messages around physical appearances, fitness, and self-acceptance. This longitudinal study investigates how repeated exposure to body-positive, fitspirational, and nonbody-focused influencers shapes users' parasocial relationship development, wishful identification, appearance-based social comparison, and body satisfaction over a 3-week period. Using a mobile-based experience sampling method, participants were exposed to daily influencer content and completed surveys at four time points (N  = 181, N  = 155, N  = 142, N  = 112). Findings show that parasocial relationships developed most strongly with the body-positive influencer, while no significant increase was found for the fitspirational and control conditions. Over time, exposure to body-positive content led to increases in wishful identification and body satisfaction, whereas fitspirational content did not produce significant longitudinal effects. Social comparison intensity was higher in both body-focused conditions compared to the control, but remained stable over time.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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