The Centre for Young Lives has published findings from a study exploring the impact of ‘looksmaxxing’, an online trend focused on maximising physical appearance that is popular with some teenage boys and young men.

Looksmaxxing content is moving rapidly from fringe online forums into the mainstream and is now widely present across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit. The report found that almost all boys involved in focus groups had heard of or engaged with looksmaxxing ideas, with related terminology increasingly entering school culture.

Looksmaxxing content is reshaping how some boys view themselves by promoting the belief that appearance determines value, success and relationships. Content can escalate from skincare and fitness advice to extreme appearance-altering practices, including disordered eating, steroid use and unregulated injections.

Social media algorithms can intensify harm by promoting increasingly extreme content to drive engagement, while influencers profit from insecurities by marketing products, courses and pseudoscientific solutions.

The report warns that looksmaxxing can act as a gateway to misogynistic, racist and extremist narratives associated with the online “manosphere”, with some boys reporting regular exposure to dehumanising language about women and other forms of harmful content.