Social Media and Muscle Dysmorphia in the Male Gym Going Population

The current project examines the correlation between Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) symptoms and social media usage among college-aged gym-going men who lift weights. 41 participants so far have been recruited from Union's campus and online through prolific to complete a Qualtrics survey. They initially completed metrics on their gym frequency and dedication, and then the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory, a scale that assesses Muscle Dysmorphia symptoms. Finally, they completed questions assessing their social media usage, the type of content, frequency, and duration. We hypothesized that: (1) Male gym-goers would show a higher prevalence of MD symptoms than the general male population (2.8%); (2) Greater time spent on social media would be associated with increased MD symptom severity; (3) Short-form, image-based platform use (e.g., TikTok, Instagram) would show a stronger association with MD symptoms than longer-form platforms (e.g., YouTube); (4) Higher gym devotion (frequency, supplement use, and fitness-related content consumption) would be associated with greater MD symptoms; and (4) increased exposure to fitness content will further amplify symptom severity. At the current moment inital data collection is occurring, the survey will be out for Union students until March 13th 2026 or unill 200 participants have completed it. If below 200 participants on that day the survey will be put out onto Prolific for final data collection.