Body Shaming on Social Media from a Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects Perspective

Victim-blaming can reinforce the adverse effects of body shaming on both victims and bystanders. This study extended the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects to body-shaming incidents on social media and examined whether the perpetrators' visual and personal information anonymity reinforce bystanders' victim-blaming. In a 2x2 between-subjects experiment with 500 adolescents aged 13 to 18 (54% girls), visual and personal information anonymity did not amplify victim-blaming. Identification with the perpetrators did not serve as a mediator, nor did personal information anonymity or body appreciation moderate the mediated effect between visual anonymity and victim-blaming. These findings inform the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects by showing that, while identification with the perpetrators drives victim-blaming in body-shaming incidents, anonymity on social media may not activate these processes. Greater attention should be dedicated to individual factors within the SIDE model that may better explain adolescents’ identification and victim-blaming in social media contexts.