Construction and Exploratory Validation of Online Beauty Standards Sensitivity Scale
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70670/sra.v4i2.2397Keywords:
Social Media, Beauty Standards, Online Beauty Norms, Online Beauty, Body Image, Scale Development, Social Comparison, Beauty Filter, Beauty AdsAbstract
As social media use has expanded rapidly, the exposure to idealized beauty has intensified and yet few validated instruments assess individual differences in sensitivity to idealized online beauty standards. The present study was designed to develop and test an instrument called the Online Beauty Standards Sensitivity Scale (OBSS) with a sequential exploratory mixed methods design. In the qualitative part, semi-structured interviews were conducted to develop an item pool of users’ experiences of presenting themselves digitally. The quantitative phase included 300 social media users whose data was analyzed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the scale. To validate a unidimensional construct, an exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine sensitivity to online beauty standards as a latent construct. The items of the OBSS showed strong item coherence and excellent internal consistency. Validity evidence was limited to preliminary nomological network associations rather than full construct validation. In conclusion, the OBSS is an early-stage measurement instrument with preliminary psychometric support. The construct validity and generalizability should be confirmed through further validation, using confirmatory factor analysis, and more comprehensive criterion measures, and across cultural groups.
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