#fitspo or #loveyourself? The impact of fitspiration and self-compassion Instagram images on women's body image, self-compassion, and mood

•Fitspiration images had no impact on body satisfaction or mood.•Self-compassion quotes had a positive impact on body satisfaction and mood.•Trait thin-ideal internalisation moderated some effects.•Self-compassion offers a novel approach to attenuating negative impacts of media.

This study experimentally examined the impact of exposure to fitspiration images and self-compassion quotes on social media on young women's body satisfaction, body appreciation, self-compassion, and negative mood. Female undergraduate students (N = 160) were randomly assigned to view either Instagram images of fitspiration, self-compassion quotes, a combination of both, or appearance-neutral images. Results showed no differences between viewing fitspiration images compared to viewing neutral images, except for poorer self-compassion among those who viewed fitspiration images. However, women who viewed self-compassion quotes showed greater body satisfaction, body appreciation, self-compassion, and reduced negative mood compared to women who viewed neutral images. Further, viewing a combination of fitspiration images and self-compassion quotes led to positive outcomes compared to viewing only fitspiration images. Trait levels of thin-ideal internalisation moderated some effects. The findings suggest that self-compassion might offer a novel avenue for attenuating the negative impact of social media on women's body satisfaction.