‘Floating University’ sets sail again

Master’s students from West Africa conduct research aboard the POLARSTERN

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)

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A pre-cruise seminar in Mindelo, Cabo Verde, prepared students for the upcoming research cruise.

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Credit: Barbara Dombrowski

A total of 2,840 nautical miles lie ahead of the 14 Master’s students in the West African Master’s programme ‘Climate Change and Marine Sciences’. Tomorrow they will set off on expedition PS154/2 aboard the research vessel POLARSTERN, travelling from Mindelo, Cabo Verde, to Bremerhaven, Germany. This is their first voyage on a research vessel. While on board, they will conduct research in close collaboration with ten experienced scientists, learning how to operate scientific instruments such as the rosette water sampler and filtration systems. Following their arrival in Germany, many of the students will continue with a research stay at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, where they will further develop their scientific projects.

First experiences aboard a research vessel

The ‘Floating University’ forms the practical, ship-based component of the Master’s programme “Climate Change and Marine Sciences” at the Universidade Técnica do Atlântico (UTA) in Cabo Verde. For the training voyage, the transit of the research vessel POLARSTERN from the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) to Bremerhaven via Mindelo in Cabo Verde is being utilised. The research vessel is operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).

“During the Floating University, students learn how ocean research is conducted on a research vessel and how to collect high-quality data on marine ecosystems while working in an international team under challenging conditions. Many of the skills acquired will later be applied by the students in their own research projects in the region,” says Dr Björn Fiedler, a marine chemist at GEOMAR and the expedition’s chief scientist.

Measurements at depths of up to 4,900 metres

Throughout the transit, students and scientists conduct daily physical, biogeochemical and biological measurements at water depths of up to 4,900 metres. The main objectives are to document long-term changes in the ocean and to investigate marine biodiversity. The team continuously measures parameters such as temperature and CO2 at the sea surface. In order to deploy instruments and collect samples, the research vessel stops for several hours at one position each day to operate various devices within the water column.

The route also passes the two long-term monitoring stations: the Cape Verde Ocean Observatory (CVOO) and the European Station for Time-Series in the Ocean of the Canary Islands (ESTOC). Both sites allow processes in the ocean to be observed over many years. For instance, oxygen concentrations at a depth of 3,500 metres have been monitored at the CVOO mooring since 2006. As different parameters, including the presence of different zooplankton species and temperature, are measured simultaneously, it is possible to analyse the relationships between multiple parameters over time.

Learning, networking, shaping the future

In addition, the researchers will deploy three deep-sea drifters (Argo floats), which are autonomous measuring devices that provide temperature, salinity and current data from depths of up to 2,000 metres over many years. The international Argo programme is a collaboration between over 50 research organisations from more than 30 countries. Around 4,000 Argo floats are currently operating in the world’s oceans, continuously collecting data and contributing to an important global ocean observation system. In Germany, responsibility for the programme lies with the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH).

Tobias Hahn, scientific coordinator for WASCAL at GEOMAR: “People from 16 nations will come together for this year’s Floating University. During the two weeks on board, we work together, learn from one another, build networks and exchange ideas. Over the past years, this has resulted in the formation of a valuable global alumni network of students from West Africa.” Björn Fiedler adds: “We are confident that many of the alumni will play a key role in the planned FUTURO research campaign towards the end of this decade. The aim is to better understand the impacts of climate change on the marine ecosystem in West Africa and to derive the necessary actions from these findings.”

 

Expedition at a glance:

Name: PS154/2 (WASCAL IV) “Floating University”

Duration: 1 May 2026 – 15 May 2026

Chief Scientist: Dr Björn Fiedler

Departure: Mindelo (Cabo Verde)

Destination: Bremerhaven (Germany)

 

Advancing research in the future of sport

Goethe University Frankfurt and Eintracht Frankfurt are joining forces to strengthen interdisciplinary teaching and research in sport

Goethe University Frankfurt

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University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff, Frankfurt Mayor and Sports Commissioner Mike Josef, and Axel Hellmann, Board Spokesman of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG (from left to right).

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Credit: Photo: Benjamin Heinrich

FRANKFURT. The partnership between the university and Eintracht Frankfurt is designed to bring academia and practice closer together in shaping the future of sport, while creating new momentum for research, teaching, and society. Both parties see each other as ideal partners in this endeavor. The framework for the cooperation is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on April 30, 2026, by Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt, and Axel Hellmann, Spokesman for the Board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG in the presence of Frankfurt Mayor and Sports Commissioner Mike Josef.

“Frankfurt sees itself as a city of sport – not only because of its major events and successful clubs, but because sport is deeply embedded in the fabric of urban life,” says Mike Josef, Frankfurt’s mayor and the city's sports commissioner. “Goethe University Frankfurt's decision to expand its academic engagement in this field, and to enter into a partnership with Eintracht Frankfurt, represents a significant boost to Frankfurt’s standing as a center of academic excellence. It also marks an important step toward establishing an interdisciplinary hub for sports. In the longer term, this will enable Frankfurt to position itself more comprehensively within the international world of sport.”

Researchers from Goethe University’s Faculty of Sports Sciences recently moved into dedicated premises at Eintracht Frankfurt’s newly developed “Sportquartier im Stadtwald”, bringing them in direct proximity to the soccer club’s home stadium as well as leading sports institutions. Prof. Dr. Karen Zentgraf is now based here, near partners such as the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the State Sports Confederation of Hesse, the Olympic Training Center, and the Carl-von-Weinberg School. Prof. Zentgraf’s research focuses on the interaction of mind and body in sport. Starting in the 2025/26 winter semester, Goethe University has been offering its students tickets for Eintracht home matches through a raffle – an initiative that proved highly popular.

“Sport is a field of the future. It conveys values, promotes health, and is a major economic force. Goethe University intends to broaden and deepen its engagement in this area in the years ahead,” said University President Schleiff. “With Eintracht Frankfurt, we have gained a partner with strong international visibility and a reputation for the highest professional standards – an ideal combination of academic excellence and practical expertise.” The university also sees particular value in the club’s experience in digitalization and sustainability.

One of the first major joint projects is the Sports Management MBA, due to launch at Goethe Business School in the 2027 summer semester. Developed and run in close collaboration with Eintracht Frankfurt, the part-time program is aimed primarily at professionals and executives working across the sports sector. It will focus strongly on innovation, technology, and media – all central pillars of future sports management.

Axel Hellmann, spokesman for the board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG, said: “The partnership with Goethe University Frankfurt brings together talent development, research, and innovation in sport. Together, we are creating new formats at the interface of academia and practice. The Sports Management MBA is a core element of this collaboration and, for us, a flagship project.”

Goethe University plans to further consolidate its sport-related expertise across disciplines under the research profile area “Science for Health”, by bringing together researchers from sports science, medicine, computer science, law, and beyond. Existing examples already include the continuing education program “Conflict Resolution in National and International Sports,” developed by the Faculty of Law in cooperation with the German Football League (DFL).

 

Perceptions of cultural foreignness may lead to job discrimination

Asian, Arab and Latino American applicants may be at risk, study finds

American Psychological Association

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Asian, Arab and Latino Americans may face more discrimination when seeking jobs that emphasize stereotypically American characteristics because they are deemed to be culturally foreign, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers found this pattern of discrimination across several experiments, regardless of whether the proposed job applicants had foreign-language first names or Anglicized first names. The findings also were supported through an analysis of hundreds of employment discrimination lawsuits filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The research was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

“It’s important to consider perceptions of cultural foreignness in our understanding of how different racial groups experience discrimination,” said lead researcher Terrènce Pope, PhD, a quantitative researcher who received their doctorate at the University of Washington.

In an online experiment, more than 1,000 white American participants were presented with a job ad that emphasized stereotypically American characteristics, including strong English skills and familiarity with American customs and traditions. The participants then viewed similar resumes with candidates who had common Asian American, Latino American or Black American last names and Anglicized first names.

The participants rated the Asian and Latino American applicants as less hirable and more culturally foreign than the Black American applicant. The participants selected the Asian American applicant (21%) or the Latino American applicant (23%) at lower rates compared with the Black American applicant (57%).

A second study with 500 white undergraduate students at the University of Washington had similar findings with Asian American applicants perceived as significantly less hirable for a stereotypically American job than Black American candidates.

In two additional experiments with MBA or undergraduate student participants of various races, the job candidates included both male and female names. The racial or ethnic groups of the candidates also were expanded to include common Asian, Arab, Latino, Black and white American names. 

Asian, Arab and Latino American applicants were perceived as more culturally foreign and less hirable for a stereotypically American job relative to Black American applicants, who in turn were perceived as less hirable than white applicants.

The experiments examined hypothetical hiring decisions as an analogy for real-world decisions that often include many other factors besides the race or ethnicity associated with candidates' names. 

The researchers also reviewed 330 employment discrimination lawsuits that were litigated by the EEOC from 1997-2006.  Among Asian, Arab and Latino American plaintiffs, a significant proportion of the cases (ranging from 31%-53% for the different racial groups) involved cultural foreignness stereotypes, and nearly all of those cases were categorized by the EEOC as national origin discrimination rather than racial discrimination. 

The researchers recommended that efforts to reduce stereotyping in hiring decisions should include perceptions of cultural foreignness as a possible factor.

“Programs and policies that intend to reduce discrimination should avoid adopting one-size-fits-all solutions because racial and ethnic groups may experience discrimination in different ways and in different contexts,” Pope said.

Article: “Applicants of Color Encounter Discrimination Based on Cultural Foreignness Stereotypes in the Labor Market,” Terrènce Pope, PhD, University of Washington, Linda Zou, PhD, University of Maryland, Fasika Hailu, MS, Laura Banham, MA, Mona El-Hout, PhD, and Sapna Cheryan, PhD, University of Washington; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, published online April 30, 2026.

Contact: Terrènce Pope, PhD, may be contacted at pope.terrence@outlook.com.

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Journal

Journal of Experimental Psychology

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Applicants of Color Encounter Discrimination Based on Cultural Foreignness Stereotypes in the Labor Market

 

Western US wildfires have gotten less frequent, though larger

In populous regions, higher population density is linked to fewer fires, while adding people to emptier areas makes blazes more common

American Geophysical Union

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WASHINGTON — The number of wildfires burning in the Western United States each year dropped roughly 28% over the past three decades, even as annual burned area and damage from wildfires have soared. A decline in fires accidentally sparked by humans accounts for over 40% of the overall trend, according to a new study. 

In areas with few people, fires get more frequent as population density rises. Push past a certain density, however, and fire frequency starts to fall. Understanding how shifting human demographics influence wildfire can help scientists more accurately predict how fire patterns will change going forward.  

“It would be premature to talk about informing fire management [based on] these results, but the main implication is that we can incorporate these results into projections of future fire activity,” said Gavin Madakumbura, an atmospheric and oceanic scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and lead author of the study. 

The study will appear Thursday, April 30 in Earth’s Future, AGU’s journal for research on the state of the planet and its inhabitants and their future resilience in the Anthropocene. 

More burning, fewer blazes 

Wildfire impacts are mounting across much of the Western U.S. The rise in annual burned area from 1992 to 2020 amounts to an increase of about 4% each year. Nine million acres burned in 2020, more than the entire land area of the state of Maryland. 

Because of all of this, people often assume the number of fires is increasing, too. But after examining a comprehensive dataset of fire occurrence in the Western U.S. including fire dates, locations, sizes and causes, Madakumbura and his coauthors uncovered a decline from over 25,000 fires per year in 1992 to about 18,000 per year in 2020 — equivalent to 305 fewer fires each year across the 11 continental western states. 

Madakumbura said the rise in burned area is due largely to human-driven climate warming, which amplifies the hot, dry conditions that stoke fires to huge sizes. But how often fires start in the first place depends on more than just climate: everyday human activities and fire prevention measures play a role, too. 

“We hear people saying the burned area has been increasing, fire damages have been increasing, fire frequency has been increasing. But…fire frequency is more complicated than that,” Madakumbura said. “We wanted to take a stab at that with the best tools we have right now, to see if fire frequency is, in fact, increasing.” 

In many parts of the West, the team noted, fires started by humans declined more steeply than those from natural causes like lightning. The trend varied by region, however: human ignitions dropped significantly in California and Arizona, for instance, but rose in Wyoming. 

To unravel the discrepancy, the team delved into population density data over the same period, as well as financial data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing fire protection and management expenditures at the state level. States with higher population densities, they noticed, spend disproportionately more on fire protection: California’s average annual fire spending, for instance, outstrips Wyoming’s by over seven billion dollars. 

The findings align with something scientists call the “pyric transition.” In sparsely populated regions, the idea goes, adding more people leads to more fires accidentally sparked by human activity. But past a certain threshold of population density, more people also means more coordinated fire prevention and public awareness efforts to tackle the rising risk. This, coupled with the fragmented, patchwork nature of more populated landscapes, can end up making fires less frequent. 

While the correlation between population density and fire-prevention spending is strong, the team’s findings don’t absolutely prove that the former directly causes the latter. Fire prevention efforts may also arise in response to rising fire risks as climate change makes western landscapes more arid, Madakumbura said. In this sense, climate change could be triggering both a rise in fire frequency and, in places with sufficient resources, prevention efforts to push it back down. But Madakumbura suspects population density plays an active part as well. 

“We know that with increasing human activity, we get more accidental human ignitions. But at the same time, a lot of regions are spending so much money on fire prevention and fire awareness, so we should see this in the data,” he said. That made it extra satisfying, he added, to see the regional differences in fire frequency trends his team uncovered. “The data definitely seem to indicate that this is a possible causative relationship.” 

Not all good news 

Exceptions do exist: urban hotspots including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Denver appear to be seeing more frequent fires despite their high population densities. Madakumbura said this may owe partly to inconsistent reporting practices among local and regional fire agencies, with city- and county-level agencies recording more small, urban fires as their populations rise, while state and federal agencies focus more on wildland fires. The “pyric transition” may also not apply to every city or county individually, although it appears once you zoom out to the state and multi-state levels. 

Unraveling the connection between human demographics and fire frequency, the team wrote, will help scientists gauge future fire patterns more accurately than if they considered only the impact of climate change. Previous research, they also noted, has shown that most fire damage to human communities comes from fires sparked by humans themselves, and that aggressive fire suppression efforts can cause wildfire fuels to build up over time, making fires more extreme when they do occur. 

“Even though we have been able to reduce the number of fires through fire preparedness, fire awareness, and spending a lot of money on protective measures, there is a disconnect,” Madakumbura said. “We haven’t been able to reduce the damages.” 

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Notes for journalists:    

This study will be published in Earth’s Future, an open access AGU journal, and is under embargo until Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 13:00 UTC. Journalists may request an embargoed copy of the study by emailing news@agu.org. The study will be available to view and download at this link after the embargo lifts: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025EF007077 

Paper title: “Evolving Fire Frequency in the Western United States and Its Links to Human Influence”  

Authors:    

• Gavin D. Madakumbura, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States 

• A. Park Williams, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States 

• Karen C. Short, Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana, United States 

• Max A. Moritz, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States; University of California Cooperative Extension, Oakland, California, United States 

• Bowen Wang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States 

• Caroline S. Juang, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States 

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  AGU (www.agu.org) is a global community supporting more than half a million professionals and advocates in Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct.   

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Journal

Earth's Future

DOI

10.1029/2025EF007077 

Article Title

Evolving Fire Frequency in the Western United States and Its Links to Human Influence

 

FAU study reveals how camels ‘beat the heat’ at the cellular level

Florida Atlantic University

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Researchers examined how temperature changes affect gene activity in mammalian skin fibroblasts, comparing humans with one-humped camels, a species known for thriving in extreme heat.

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Credit: Alex Dolce, Florida Atlantic University

Living organisms must constantly adjust to their environment to survive. One of the most fundamental challenges is temperature. Even small shifts in heat or cold can disrupt the delicate balance inside cells, affecting how genes function and how tissues respond.

As climate variability intensifies and extreme heat events become more common, understanding how organisms cope with temperature stress is increasingly important – not only for biology, but for human health, agriculture and ecosystem resilience.

At the core of this challenge is homeostasis – the ability of living systems to remain stable even as their environment changes. In this case, cells do so by adjusting gene activity in response to shifting temperatures.

This raises a critical scientific question: how do diverse species maintain cellular stability under such different environmental conditions?

To answer this question, Florida Atlantic University researchers and collaborators explored how mammalian cells respond to temperature changes at the genetic level. They studied one-humped camels commonly found in hot, arid regions like North Africa and the Middle East, and humans. They focused on skin fibroblasts – cells that help maintain tissue structure – and tracked how gene activity shifts at different temperatures. Camels offered a compelling comparison because their ability to thrive in extreme heat provides insight into biological resilience.

However, a major challenge in this type of research is identifying differentially expressed genes – genes that change their activity in response to environmental stress. Traditional methods for detecting these changes rely heavily on large datasets and statistical testing, which are often not feasible when only a small number of biological samples are available.

To address this limitation, the researchers developed a model that compares how genes behave across individuals before and after an environmental change. Rather than simply tracking whether genes go up or down, it focuses on how consistent the response of each gene is across individuals. Genes that remain steady – or become more consistent across individuals – are identified as key players in helping the body maintain stability under stress, allowing scientists to study these responses even with smaller datasets.

The researchers then grouped genes into a few categories that describe how cells respond to heat and built models of how these genes interact under both normal and stressed conditions, revealing how cells maintain balance even when disrupted.

Results, published in the journal BMC Genomics, found that mammals respond to temperature changes using three main groups of genes that act like a simple system for organizing how cells react to heat. Some genes stay stable and help control the response, others switch on specifically when temperatures change, and a third group becomes more erratic, reflecting stress in the system. This approach allowed the scientists to simplify complex gene activity and better understand how different species cope with environmental changes.

 When comparing humans and camels, the researchers found clear differences. Notably, their measure of cellular well-being showed that camels ranked higher than humans under both moderate (98.6 F) and extreme (105.8 F) temperatures, highlighting their greater tolerance of heat stress.

Human cells tend to respond in a more rigid and tightly controlled way, which can make them less adaptable under heat stress. In contrast, camel cells show a more flexible and coordinated response, allowing them to stay stable even at higher temperatures. Overall, the findings suggest that camels are biologically better equipped to handle heat, while humans are more vulnerable to temperature extremes at the cellular level.

By reducing complex genetic activity into a small set of meaningful patterns, this work offers a new way to understand how cells maintain balance – and why some species are better adapted to survive environmental change.

“This research gives us a fundamentally new way to think about resilience in biological systems,” said Valery Forbes, Ph.D., co-author, professor of biological sciences and dean of FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “By focusing on how gene expression variability changes under stress, we can identify mechanisms that help some species maintain stability while others become more vulnerable. This approach also works with limited data, making it useful for studying how organisms respond to climate shifts and other environmental pressures even when sample sizes are small.”

Beyond temperature adaptation, the framework provides a broader way to understand complex systems. By identifying core patterns of response and interaction, it can be applied to other biological and ecological systems, including how ecosystems, microbial communities and other interconnected networks adapt to changing conditions.

Study co-authors include first author Jorge Gonzalez, Ph.D., a former post-doctoral researcher in the Schmidt College of Science at FAU who worked with Forbes, now at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; and researchers from FAU, Broad Institute, the University of Minnesota, the University of Florida, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the San Diego Wildlife Alliance.

This work was funded by a National Science Foundation Understanding the Rules of Life Collaborative Research Grant awarded to Forbes; and co-authors Diane Genereux, Ph.D., Broad Institute; Allyson Hindle, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Elinor Karlsson, Ph.D. Broad Institute.

- FAU -

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University serves more than 32,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses along Florida’s Southeast coast. Recognized as one of only 13 institutions nationwide to achieve three Carnegie Foundation designations - R1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production,” “Opportunity College and University,” and Carnegie Community Engagement Classification - FAU stands at the intersection of academic excellence and social mobility. Ranked among the Top 100 Public Universities by U.S. News & World Report, FAU is also nationally recognized as a Top 25 Best-In-Class College and cited by Washington Monthly as “one of the country’s most effective engines of upward mobility.” To learn more, visit www.fau.edu.

 

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Journal

BMC Genomics

DOI

10.1186/s12864-026-12823-7 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

New approaches to discovering epigenetic rules of homeostasis in diverse mammal species

 

‘Fitspiration’ posts may do more harm than good for young adults – international study, led by Olympian, suggests

Researchers call for caution viewing this social media content as it can lead to unhelpful comparisons, unhealthy dieting and exercise, plus negative self-esteem

Taylor & Francis Group

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Social media is filled with posts about fitness and healthy eating aiming to inspire and encourage better lifestyles. However, out today, a new large review study led by an Olympic athlete reveals that this seemingly motivational content can sometimes have unexpected negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of young adults. 

Findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Communication, suggest that even short-term exposure to these posts can have unhealthy consequences, leaving the viewers with reduced self-esteem, feeling unhappy about their looks and potentially having unhealthy motivations around their health and wellbeing. 

The outcomes follow an extensive analysis of 26 studies involving 6,111 individuals aged 18 to 33 years across seven countries, examining how exposure to ‘fitspiration’ content on social media – posts promoting exercise, healthy eating and idealised, toned bodies – affects health-related outcomes. 
 
The research was led by Dr Valerie Gruest, a Guatemalan swimmer who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Dr Gruest is now completing a Ph.D. in the Media, Technology, and Society doctoral program at Northwestern University, in Illinois. 
She has carried out the paper alongside Dr Nathan Walter, an Associate Professor at the university’s School of Communication.  

“Fitspiration content is often framed as positive and health-focused, but our findings suggest it may be more harmful than beneficial for some young adults,” says Dr Gruest, whose research interests focus on how new media shapes attitudes and behaviors. “Even brief exposure can trigger harmful comparisons and reinforce unrealistic body standards, which may undermine self-esteem and encourage more extreme or unsustainable approaches to diet and exercise.” 

Social media use has grown rapidly in recent years, with most young adults now regular users. While these platforms can support connection and self-expression, they can also expose users to idealised standards that encourage comparison and may affect mental health. Fitspiration – often shortened to ‘fitspo’ – is one example of content that appears beneficial but may carry risks. 

With nearly 100 million posts using hashtags such as #fitspiration and #fitspo – and billions of views across platforms like Instagram and TikTok – many young adults are frequently exposed to this content, whether intentionally or not. Despite its popularity, its impact on health and wellbeing remains relatively underexplored. 

“I’ve been fascinated by fitspiration content since my time as an athlete, where it was often held up in elite training environments as the ideal. But even then, I knew those body standards didn’t reflect the reality of training for performance, especially when following a balanced, sustainable diet, even while training for multiple hours a day,” explains Dr Gruest. 
 
“That curiosity has stayed with me as a researcher. I want to better understand how this kind of content is actually impacting people.” 

To investigate the issue further, Drs Gruest and Walter examined data from experimental studies published between 2015 and 2023, mainly in the United States, with others from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand. Participants were typically shown 10 to 100 fitspiration images, or videos, and their behavioural and psychological outcomes were compared with those exposed to non-fitspiration content. 

Statistical analysis showed that exposure to fitspiration content led to increased social comparison, poorer body image, more negative emotions, and stronger – sometimes unrealistic – dieting and exercise motivations. These patterns were broadly consistent across gender, age and body mass index, suggesting that the effects may extend beyond the groups most commonly studied, such as young women. 
 
“While I expected some negative effects, I was struck by just how strong and consistent they were,” Dr Gruest states.  
 
“The findings show a pretty concerning pattern, as this kind of exposure can harm both psychological well-being and health behaviours, which makes it all the more important that we keep examining its impact.” 

Dr Walter, whose research specialism concerns the power of strategic storytelling, correction of misinformation, concludes: “This research adds to the growing conversation about the impact of social media on young people’s health and emotional wellbeing, and the role of emotion and affect in social influence.  

“Unlike traditional media, fitspiration delivers a constant stream of highly curated and idealised images, meaning young adults are likely to be repeatedly exposed to this content in their everyday lives. As its popularity grows, understanding the effects of this ongoing exposure will be key to supporting healthier engagement in the future.” 

While a key strength of this analysis is that it includes studies from multiple countries, the authors note some limitations. Participants were largely from developed countries and predominantly women, and reporting on factors such as race, ethnicity and body composition was inconsistent, making it difficult to understand how these effects may vary across more diverse populations.  

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Journal

Health Communication

DOI

10.1080/10410236.2026.2653191 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Lifting the Screen on Fitspiration: A Meta-Analysis

Article Publication Date

4-May-2026