University of Vermont research suggests singer has positive impact because of willingness to discuss personal struggles

Taylor Swift performs in Zurich on Tuesday. Photograph: Noam Galai/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift’s candor about her struggles with body image and disordered eating have aided the pop superstar’s fans in grappling with those issues themselves, according to new scientific research.

The authors of a University of Vermont (UVM) study published in the July issue of the Social Science & Medicine journal reached that conclusion after analyzing the top 200 TikTok and Reddit social media posts containing more than 8,300 comments pertaining to Swift, eating disorders and body image.

“Our findings suggest that fans who felt highly connected to Swift were influenced to positively change their behaviors or attitudes around eating or their body image because of Swift’s disclosures and messages in her music,” said a press statement attributed to study co-author Lizzy Pope, a registered dietitian nutritionist and associate professor in UVM’s nutrition and food sciences department.

Pope’s fellow registered dietitian nutritionist and study author Kelsey Rose, a UVM clinical assistant professor, added: “Fans seem to take inspiration from the fact that Swift had recovered from disordered eating and subsequently appeared to be thriving.”

Yet the study’s findings about the “parasocial” – or one-sided – relationship between Swift and the so-called Swifties who support her career aren’t exclusively good news. The survey found that some fans ignore Swift’s message and insist on objectifying the her body, demonstrating “the limitations of personal disclosures to [affect] understanding of systemic issues like anti-fat bias”.

Swift earned news headlines in 2020 when the songwriter-vocalist detailed how she grappled with outsiders’ perception of her weight – and the physical beauty standards by which many women are measured – in her Miss Americana documentary.

The singer explained how seeing pictures of herself made her feel like her “tummy was too big” or how speculation over whether she was pregnant would trigger “to just starve a little bit”.

“If you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass … everybody wants. But if you have enough weight … to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough,” Swift remarked.

She then uttered the words which provided the title of Pope and Rose’s recent study: “It’s all just fucking impossible.”

One of the comments cited in the study was in response to Miss Americana, saying: “To hear that Taylor had the same thoughts and the same problems as me and so many other people was so validating and so inspiring. … I can honestly say if I didn’t have her inspiration I wouldn’t be where I am today … in recovery.”

The study also alluded to Swift’s 2022 music video for her No1 hit Anti-Hero, which depicted her stepping onto a scale, looking down at the weight reading, sighing in disappointment and casting a guilty glance at her alter ego, who shakes her head in consternation.

Ultimately, Swift had not managed to completely silence comments objectifying her: The study found fans sometimes speculating about whether she had gained weight and if it reflected a higher level of happiness or health.

Nonetheless, the survey determined the singer-songwriter was an effective role model for those fighting to overcome disordered eating – particularly after she embarked on her Eras concert tour in May 2023, which later became the first such venture to ever gross more than $1bn.

The release of Pope and Rose’s study arrived within days of an opinion column published by Newsweek which declared Swift was “not a good role model” because she was “unmarried and childless” at age 34 despite a high-profile relationship with pro football player Travis Kelce and prior romances with other famous men.

Many who encountered the column dismissed it as misogynistic and insane.