Women with more Facebook pics 'are obsessed with their looks'

A new study has revealed that women who base their self worth on their appearance tend to share more photos on social networking sites.

Au00a0new study has revealed that women who base their self worth on their appearance tend to share more photos on social networking sites.

The results suggest that females identify more strongly with their image and appearance, and use Facebook as a platform to compete for attention. "The results suggest persistent differences in the behavior of men and women that result from a cultural focus on female image and appearance," said University at Buffalo researcher Michael A. Stefanone.

Among other things, the team looked at the amount of time subjects spent managing profiles, the number of photos they shared, the size of their online networks and how promiscuous they were in terms of "friending" behaviour.

In the study, 311 participants with an average age of 23.3 years -- 49.8 percent of who were female -- completed a questionnaire measuring their contingencies of self worth. "Those whose self esteem is based on public-based contingencies (defined here as others'''' approval, physical appearance and outdoing others in competition) were more involved in online photo sharing, and those whose self-worth is most contingent on appearance have a higher intensity of online photo sharing," Stefanone says.

"Participants whose self worth is based on private-based contingencies (defined in this study as academic competence, family love and support, and being a virtuous or moral person)," says Stefanone, "spend less time online."

"This study provides a framework for future explorations of identity construction, social interaction and media use in a rapidly changing communication environment."

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