How to use psychology to feel better about how you look in a swimsuit

It feels like we have barely left winter in the northern hemisphere, yet here we are nearing midsummer day. The sight of the sun blazing in the sky can mean only one thing: a slew of lifestyle articles and social media posts advising us how to get “beach-body ready”.

A friend recently mentioned that he dreads the summer for this very reason. “I’ve given up even trying to get a six-pack,” he told me. “But I feel so self-conscious with my shirt off.”

His comments left me wondering whether this was a common phenomenon. Sure enough, I found a handful of recent papers about “seasonal body image dissatisfaction” – and some advice on the best ways to prevent it.

Scott Griffiths at the University of Melbourne and his colleagues were the first to chart the phenomenon with a survey of 823 gay or bisexual men across the globe. More than 70 per cent reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction during summer than any other season, with most saying this was due to the combination of social pressure from the media and the fact that their flesh was on greater display.

Such findings align with new research analysing 12 million social media posts between 2020 and 2023. Posts expressing hatred or unhappiness with the body peaked in July in the northern hemisphere and December in the southern hemisphere.

If this sounds familiar, you might draw on research into mindful self-compassion. In the literature, this admittedly woolly concept is characterised by three things: responding to oneself with kindness rather than judgement; recognising one’s experiences are common and shared; and cultivating mindful awareness of the present rather than over-identification with thoughts and feelings.

Personally, I hope that we will see more of the “body-neutrality movement” on social media. Unlike the “body-positivity movement”, which aims to celebrate our imperfections, body neutrality encourages a focus on body functionality rather than its appearance – the kind of non-judgemental approach so important for self-compassion.

Forthcoming research from Raeanna Kilby and Kristin Mickelson at Arizona State University suggests that body-neutrality posts are more effective at reducing self-objectification than those focused on body positivity. As actor and body-neutrality advocate Jameela Jamil puts it: “[My body] is not an advertising billboard for other people. It is not there for them to judge. It’s not there for me to judge… I would rather be thinking about all the fun that I can have before I die.”

Health, happiness and friendship – those are the #gains I hope to achieve this summer.

David Robson is an award-winning science writer and author of The Laws of Connection: 13 social strategies that will transform your life

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