This picture does not portray reality: developing and testing a disclaimer for digitally enhanced pictures on social media appropriate for Austrian tweens and teens

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that idealized beauty presented in mass media can have a detrimental effect on body satisfaction, and these idealized images often stem from digital alterations. Consequently, countries like France and Israel employ disclaimers that inform viewers about the use of such modifications. Previous research, primarily conducted with adult women, has pointed out that these disclaimers are ineffective in reducing the perceived realism of the presented images, leading to negative effects on women’s body satisfaction. However, we know little about the effectiveness of such disclaimers for tweens and teens (TT). Using a two-study design, we firstly developed an adolescent-inspired disclaimer in two cocreation workshops with students (N = 47; aged 12–14 years). Secondly, we examined the effectiveness of this newly developed disclaimer in an experimental setting (N = 186; participants aged 10–19 years). We compared the new disclaimer to the existing one as well as to a condition in which there was no disclaimer. Results indicated that disclaimers are a rather unsuccessful way of disclosing the lack of realism of media images for TT, underlining the urgency of developing more effective media literacy measures.

IMPACT SUMMARY

a. Prior State of Knowledge:

Beauty ideals are shaped by media, but these are often set using digitally altered images. Some countries employ disclaimers that inform viewers about alterations. Previous research indicates that these disclaimers are not effective in balancing detrimental effects of unrealistic beauty ideals among adults.

b.Novel Contributions:

This study focuses on adolescents and considers image alterations on social media. In a cocreation workshop we developed a disclaimer with adolescents, which we employed in an experimental study. Results underline that disclaimers are rather unsuccessful in disclosing the lack of realism of media images.

c. Practical Implications:

Disclaimers are not a sufficient media literacy measure. Yet, as young audiences are so frequently confronted with altered and perfected images (particularly online), it seems crucial to educate them about these practices in specific media literacy programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Disclaimer
• digital alteration
• body satisfaction
• social comparison

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Constanze Huber and Verena Nenning for their support in conducting the cocreation workshop. We also want to thank all students for their participation and input.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1. The study was part of a larger research project. Only variables and concepts relevant to the proposed hypotheses were presented in this paper.

2. The study adhered to the ethical considerations of the polling institute. In addition, the written consent of parents and children was collected.

3. All employed measures were based on existing concepts; however, they were in part modified or shortened to appropriately fit the age range of our sample.

Additional information

Funding

We want to thank the Women Service Vienna (Frauenservice Wien MA 57) and the Vienna Program for Womens’ Health (Wiener Programm für Frauengesundheit) for funding this study.

Notes on contributors

Brigitte Naderer

Brigitte Naderer, (PhD, University of Vienna) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Media and Communication at the LMU Munich. Her research focuses on persuasive communication, media literacy, and effects of media use on children’s and adolescents’ well-being.

Christina Peter

Christina Peter, (PhD, LMU Munich) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Media and Communication at the LMU Munich. Her research focuses on media usage and effects, political communication, and persuasion.

Kathrin Karsay

Kathrin Karsay (Phd, University of Vienna) is a postdoctoral researcher at the School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven—supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen). Her research interests are related to adolescents’ and emerging adults’ use of digital media (e.g., smartphone, social media) and its associations to mental health.