Young women who share their sexy and revealing photos on social media sites, appear 'less' competent and attractive to other females.
Oregon State University researcher Elizabeth Daniels, who conducted the study using a fictitious Facebook profile, said there was so much pressure on teen girls and young women to portray themselves as sexy, but sharing those sexy photos online may have more negative consequences than positive.
Daniels said that girls and young women were in a "no-win" situation when it came to their Facebook photos, as those who shared such images risked negative reactions from their peers, but those who uploaded more wholesome photos could lose out on social rewards, including attention from the males.
For the study, Daniels created two mock Facebook profiles for the fictitious 20-year-old Amanda Johnson. In both versions, Amanda liked musicians such as Lady Gaga, books such as 'Twilight,' and movies like 'The Notebook,' that would be appropriate for a person her age.
However, the profiles had different profile photos. In the sexy photo, "Amanda" was wearing a low-cut red dress with a slit up one leg to mid-thigh and a visible garter belt. In the non-sexy photo, she was sporting jeans, a short-sleeved shirt and a scarf draped around her neck which covered her chest.
Study participants were 58 teen girls, ages 13-18, and 60 young adult women no longer in high school, ages 17-25. They were randomly assigned one of the profiles and asked questions based on that profile.
The participants were asked to assess Amanda's physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, and task competence on a scale from 1-7, with one being strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree, and it was found that in all three areas, the non-sexy profile scored higher, indicating that those who viewed that photo thought Amanda was prettier, more likely to make a good friend and more likely to complete a task.
The research underscores the importance of helping children and young people understand the long-term consequences of their online posts, and there is a need to help youth understand this is a very public forum, Daniels said.
The study is published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
