Research has explained various psychological factors
Research gap analysis derived from 3 psychology papers in our local library.
The gap
Although research has explained various psychological factors leading to body dissatisfaction in male, limited research has examined the potential mediating effect of the anxiety male experience to align with societal conceptions of masculi
Evidence profile
Stated in the limitations and inline gaps and abstract sections of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2020 and 2026, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 18 times in total.
Research trend
Established — well-defined area with open sub-problems.
Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps
- How does social media addiction make you fear exercise? The relationship between social media addiction and kinesiophobia among college students: the mediating role of social physique anxiety (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi
Several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the cross-sec- tional design precludes causal inference; therefore, future studies should employ longitudinal or experimental designs to clarify the tem- poral direction of the observed relationships. Second, the sample was predominantly male, which may limit the generalizability of the find- ings to other populations. Third, all variables were measured using self- report instruments, raising the potential for common method bias. Although Harman’s single-factor test suggested that common method bias was not a major concern, this test has limited sensitivity, and future research should adopt more robust methodological approaches. Finally, while gender differences were observed in social physique anxiety, the moderating role of gender was not formally tested and warrants further investigation. In addition, the substantial gender imbalance in the sample may have constrained the ability to detect potential moderation effects, particularly those involving gender differences in the relation- ships among the key variables.
generalstated in limitationsevidence 5/5Keywords: gender future observed sample variables potential common bias test differences several limitations acknowledged first cross - Exploring the Relationships between Passive Social Media Use and Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults—The Role of Trait Self-Compassion, Motivations, and Upward Social Comparison (2026) · International Journal of Mental Health Promotion · doi
4 Strengths, Limitations, and Future Research Directions One limitation of this study is that the majority of the study sample was female. Future research is needed to continue examining the effect sizes of the study variables in order to give a more precise and comprehensive picture. Causal relationships between the variables could not be established. , and thus the findings in the current study might not be generalizable to other cultural contexts.
generalstated in inline gapsevidence 5/5Keywords: future variables strengths limitations directions limitation majority sample female needed continue examining effect sizes order - Examining body dissatisfaction in college men through the exploration of appearance anxiety and internalization of the mesomorphic ideal (2020) · Journal of American College Health · cited 18× · doi
Although research has explained various psychological factors leading to body dissatisfaction in male, limited research has examined the potential mediating effect of the anxiety male experience to align with societal conceptions of masculine appearance.
generalstated in abstractevidence 4/5Keywords: male explained various psychological factors leading body dissatisfaction limited examined potential mediating effect anxiety experience
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