What is the purpose of the project?This study is conducted as part of the researcher’s Undergraduate Psychology Dissertation program. This study aims to investigate the relationship between TikTok use and body dissatisfaction among South Asian women. TikTok is becoming increasingly popular so it is important to understand the potential effects it may have on how we feel about our bodies. Moreover, most of the body image literature focuses on mainly Caucasian women, and this study aims to gain a perspective on how TikTok impacts women of South Asian women.
Who can take part in this project? You must be a British South Asian/South Asian (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and/or Maldives) female and between the ages of 16 and 24 to participate in this study. You must have the capacity to consent to participate in this study, as well as be able to understand English in order to answer the questions. You must have a device on which you can watch videos and complete a questionnaire.
Do I have to take part?It is entirely up to you to decide whether to take part in this study or not. Before you decide, you should read the information in this sheet carefully and ask any questions you may have to the researcher or supervisor of this study. If you agree to take part, you will then proceed to the consent form where you will be asked to sign it as a testament of you agreeing to take part in this study. However, if at any time during the study, you decide that you no longer wish to take part in this study, you are free to withdraw your participation without giving any reason. You will have the right to withdraw your participation even after completing the study up to two weeks of completion.
What would taking part involve?You will be asked to answer some demographic questions regarding your age, gender, height, and weight (in order to calculate your BMI). Then you will be asked to complete a questionnaire, which will consist of questions about how you feel about your body and how much you compare your body to those of other people. You will then be asked to watch six short TikTok videos (either involving dancers or other people) and will then be asked three further questions about your body. You can indicate your response to each question by selecting a box or number that best reflects your situation in relation to the questions. Participation is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw from the study up to the point when you have submitted your answers to the questions. After that, it will be impossible to identify your data because it is anonymous. You do not have to give a reason if you want to withdraw or do not want to take part in the study. You can withdraw by closing the browser at any point during the study.The survey takes 15 minutes to complete. Upon completion, you will be asked to read a debrief sheet, which will provide you with more information about the study as well as contact details should you want to ask further questions.
Are there reasons why I should not take part? Please do not participate in the study if you ever had or have an eating disorder.
What are the possible benefits of taking part? There are no direct benefits of participation in this research. However, the information that you and other participants provide will help to gain an understanding of TikTok and body dissatisfaction among young South Asian women.
What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part? The experimental procedure entails making body image salient and so people with diagnosed eating disorders, past or present, are excluded from the study. However, should you feel any distress during or after the study you can withdraw, or access support services listed on the debrief sheet.
Who will have access to the information that I provide? All responses are anonymous and confidential. Should you wish to withdraw from the study you can do so at any point whilst completing the questionnaire or in the following two weeks. You won’t be asked to provide any identifying information about yourself, and no identifying information will be present in data storage or analysis. Please contact the researcher, Poornima Jayaraj Menon at (
pjm71@bath.ac.uk), supervisor Professor Richard Joiner (
r.joiner@bath.ac.uk) or the Department of Psychology Ethics Committee (
psychology-ethics@bath.ac.uk) for any further enquiries about the study or your participant’s rights.
What will happen to the data collected and the results of the project? All the information you provide will be treated as confidential and will be stored securely at the University of Bath in a locked room or on a password-protected file on the University’s secure server (X Drive). Storage of the data will be done in accordance with current UK data protection legislation. The recorded data will be safely stored and confidentially in the University archives for a minimum of 10 years. Your name and any other identifying information will not be in any presentation or publication of the research project.
Who has reviewed the project? This project has been given a favourable ethics opinion by the University of Bath’s Department of Psychology Ethics Committee (
psychology-ethics@bath.ac.uk) [Reference: 1655-2038].
How can I withdraw from the project? If at any time during the project, you wish to withdraw from taking part, you can do so by closing the tab on your device. You can withdraw from the study without needing to give a reason and without any penalty. After completing the project, should you wish to withdraw your data, please contact either the researcher or their supervisor within two weeks of your participation. After two weeks, of completion, it will not be possible to withdraw your data as some results may have been analysed or anonymised. However, your individual results will not be identifiable in any presentation or publication.
University of Bath privacy noticeThe University of Bath privacy notice can be found here:
https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/university-of-bath-privacy-notice-for-research-participants/.
What happens if there is a problem? If there are any concerns about any aspect of the project, you should ask to speak to the researcher and/or the supervisor who will do their best to answer any questions. If they are unable to resolve your concern or wish to make a complaint regarding the project, please contact the University of Bath’s Research Governance and Compliance Team (
research-ethics@bath.ac.uk.)
Who should I contact for more information? Thank you for your interest in this project. Please do not hesitate to contact the researcher, Poornima Jayaraj Menon if you would like more information.
Name of Researcher: Poornima Jayaraj Menon
Contact details of Researcher:
pjm71@bath.ac.uk Name of Supervisor / Co-investigator: Professor Richard Joiner
Contact details of Supervisor / Co-investigator:
r.joiner@bath.ac.uk 
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