Media Psychology Leads The APA’s Top Journal Articles for 2024

The field of Media Psychology continues to attract the attention of researchers worldwide.

Karen Shackleford, Ph.D.

The American Psychological Association, which published 5,000 research articles, published a list of the most popular articles for 2024.  Four of the five most popular articles were in Media Psychology (#s 1, 2, 3, and 5) and were published in the Psychology of Popular Media, edited by Fielding’s Dr. Karen Shackleford with the assistance of Drs. Patrick Sweeney and Andreas Miles-Novelo as Associate Editors.

1. Living for the likes: Social media use, fear of missing out, and body and life satisfaction in women.

authors: Bissell, K., & Chou, S.
Women who use social media more than others experience more fear of missing out (FOMO), social comparison, and appearance anxiety, all of which were associated with unhealthy attitudes about eating and body dissatisfaction, suggests this study in the Psychology of Popular Media (Vol. 13, No. 3). Researchers surveyed 560 women ages 19 to 63 in the United States about social media use, attitudes about social media, body and life satisfaction, family pressure related to body image, and attitudes about eating. Participants represented a diverse sample of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomics. Those who reported feeling pressure to adhere to societal norms on social media were more likely to have negative eating attitudes. Moreover, media FOMO, social comparison, and appearance anxiety played a role in moderating the relationship between participants’ disordered eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction. Family pressure was associated with increased disordered eating attitudes, but that increase did not impact body satisfaction.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000507

2. Self-esteem, but not age, moderates the influence of viewing social media on body image in women

authors: Price, M., et al.
Viewing images of “thin-ideal” body shapes lowers personal body image ratings for women of all ages and self-esteem levels suggests this study in Psychology of Popular Media (Vol. 13, No. 3). Researchers used social media to recruit 690 adult women ages 18 to 60 with wide-ranging body mass indices, then randomly assigned the women to view one of four Instagram-like images (“thin-ideal” body image, “average” body image, holiday scene, or stationary). They measured the women’s body image ratings before and after viewing the images, followed by a measure of self-esteem. The women’s body image rating decreased after viewing the “thin-ideal” versus “average” and control images. Self-esteem (but not age) moderated this effect but did not factor into the negative impact of viewing “thin-ideal” images. However, women with lower self-esteem showed a greater increase in body image rating after viewing “average” images than women with higher self-esteem.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000493

3. Limiting social media use decreases depression, anxiety, and fear of missing out in youth with emotional distress: A randomized controlled trial

authors: Davis, C. G., & Goldfield, G. S.
Limiting social media use can reduce mental health issues in emotionally distressed youth, indicates this study in Psychology of Popular Media (advanced online publication). Researchers recruited 220 undergraduate students in Canada ages 17 to 25 who used social media at least 2 hours per day and were experiencing depression or anxiety symptoms. After 1 week of normal social media use, half of the participants limited social media to no more than 1 hour per day for 3 weeks, while the other half continued regular use. The researchers found that participants who limited social media use showed greater preintervention versus postintervention improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms than those who used social media as usual. The limited-use group also reported that their FOMO had decreased while their sleep had increased by 30 minutes per night.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000536

4.  Doing the work: The role of inclusive leadership in promoting psychological safety and openness to diversity through diversity, equity, and inclusion practices

authors: Woods, A., et al.
Inclusive leadership is essential for fostering psychological safety and employee openness to diversity, suggests this study in Psychology of Leaders and Leadership (Vol. 27, No. 1). Researchers surveyed 400 employees of a large health care institution in the United States about perceptions of leader inclusiveness, frequency of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, and perceptions of psychological safety and openness to diversity. The researchers found that employees with inclusive leaders were more likely to have the opportunity to participate in DEI actions and to actively engage in these actions. Furthermore, the researchers used social identity theory, the relationship between people’s self-perception and their behavior and attitudes in and toward groups, to examine team engagement in DEI practices. The researchers also made recommendations for strengthening DEI in the workplace with practical guidance for implementation at the organizational, leader, and individual levels.
DOI: 10.1037/mgr0000158

5. Associations between intentions for affective social media content choices and depressive symptoms in adolescence: A cross-sectional investigation of media response styles as moderators

authors: Brimmel, N., et al.
Adolescents who seek out sad messages on social media when they feel unhappy experience more depressive symptoms, suggests this study in Psychology of Popular Media (Vol. 13, No. 4). Researchers surveyed 157 adolescents ages 14 to 18 in Belgium about their depressive symptoms, intentions to consume sad or happy social media, degree of ruminating on consumed media, and response to happy media (i.e., whether the media dampened or enhanced their mood). They found that intending to choose sad social media content while in a sad mood was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, but intentions to consume happy social media content, regardless of mood, were not associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. However, adolescents who intended to select happy social media content when they felt happy and were more prone to mood-enhancing responses did report more depressive symptoms.
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000510

Fielding’s faculty includes recognized leaders in the unique and marketable field of Media Psychology.  The Media Psychology faculty and students advance the field of Media Psychology through their teaching, learning, and research.

Read APA article here: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/01/top-10-journal-articles.