Defense Date

10-23-2025

Graduation Date

Fall 12-19-2025

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES)

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Dr. David Delmonico, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Dr. Gibbs Kanyongo, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Dr. Fawn Robinson, Ph.D.

Keywords

Black Women, Social Media, Sexualization, Objectification, Instagram, Influence, Sociocultural, Intensity, Frequency, Counseling

Abstract

In recent years there has been a push toward studying ethnic minority women related to the psychological implications of image and beauty, as historically the focus has been on the experiences of European women (Awad et al., 2015). Black women must process sexual development, attitudes, and behaviors through the lens of the sexual scripts and stereotypes of their ethnic group and must negotiate between mainstream and culture specific norms of sexuality (Daniels and Zurbriggen, 2016; Jerald et al., 2017). The presence of these scripts signifies a difference between Black women and other races about how they may internalize and react to pressures as a result of exposure to media (Stephen & Few, 2007). Social media in particular has become a large source of sexual socialization amongst young adults (Manago et al, 2015). The impact of the consumption of social media for Black women is an area that has been limited in study as to how sociocultural factors contribute to social media influence, particularly with the platform Instagram.

The goal of this study was to explore sociocultural factors relationship to social media influences for Black women. To understand the factors that contribute to Black women internalizing messages about beauty and image in their social media usage of Instagram. With better understanding of potential relationships and significant predictors of social media influence it has the potential to contribute to increased awareness of the mental health and counseling implications of social media use for young Black women.

Language

English

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