Gen Z Chooses Sun Over Tanning Beds for Tan

The sun's out, temperatures are high, and on a warm, sunny day, you may find some Gen Zers "tanmaxxing."

For those unfamiliar with the TikTok term, "tanmaxxing" refers to spending time outside during peak UV index levels with little to no protection against the sun's rays, in order to become tanner.

Exposure to the sun and its ultraviolet rays can increase the risk of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the U.S. Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer, and the second most prevalent cancer in adults ages 20 to 39. About 76% of melanoma diagnoses among 20- to 39-year-olds can be attributed to tanning.

[Related: 'Tanmaxxing' and the Pursuit of the Perfect Tan]

The most effective way to protect oneself against skin cancer is to limit exposure to UV radiation from the sun and artificial sources, like tanning beds, by avoiding them, using high SPF sunscreen, or wearing protective clothing and accessories.

Despite the heightened risk of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer, young people continue to tan, believing it makes them look more physically attractive. Tanning can also stimulate chemical pathways in the brain that increase serotonin activity and improve daytime alertness and mood.

"Despite knowing the risks, young people are still tanning because they like what they're getting out of it. They feel more physically attractive when tan, and this is reinforced in social circles and on social media," says Sherry Pagoto, a professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences within the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) and Director of the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media. "Social media amplifies everything to a larger audience, and it's keeping the idea of being tan as a way to enhance physical appearance alive."

Pagoto has studied indoor tanning behavior and tanning bed culture for decades. Her research has illuminated key insights in tanning and has offered solutions for curbing it.

Tackling Tanning Bed Use

In 2015, she led a study that was published in JAMA Dermatology that analyzed the availability of indoor tanning facilities on college campuses and in off-campus housing among the top 125 US colleges and universities as ranked by US News and World Report. Pagoto and her collaborators found that 48% of institutions surveyed had indoor tanning facilities on campus or in off-campus housing. It also found that 14% allowed campus cash cards to be used to pay for tanning.

The study helped inform the US Surgeon General's decision to convene a working group in 2016 to launch the Skin Smart Campus Initiative, which prohibits access to indoor tanning salons on campus and cash cards from being used to pay for tanning services. In fact, UConn was one of the first designated as a Skin Smart Campus.

"I never thought of tanning as unhealthy. I believed that I looked better, thinner, and healthier. I realized I had been duped into harming my skin," says Pagoto.

The good news is that indoor tanning rates have declined substantially, from about 25% of U.S. teens tanning indoors in the early 2000s to about 3 to 5% today.

While this is a significant public health win, young people haven't stopped tanning. They just changed locations.

"We've seen significant changes in the use of tanning beds among youth. Research now is focusing on outdoor tanning. While it's wonderful that people have given up tanning beds, they have not given up tanning," says Pagoto.

An estimated 32 to 65% of college-aged students say they have tanned outdoors in the past year, and 72% tanned unintentionally through recreation.

"Outdoor tanning is not as well studied and is harder to study, because many people who would never lay outside to get tan, use outdoor recreational activities to get tan," says Pagoto. "These people often do not describe themselves as tanners even though they are getting just as tanned as people who lay out."

A Different Approach to Changing Tanning Habits

Pagoto is now leading a National Cancer Institute-funded study to test the effects of a 6-week sun safety intervention that uses social media to reduce tanning among young people.

During the intervention, study participants will be incentivized to create anti-tanning social media messages for a social media campaign and be encouraged to post them on their own social media accounts. Pagoto wants to see if being the messenger can change attitudes and behavior.

The trial uses a strategy called cognitive dissonance induction, which has been successful in preventing eating disorders. Cognitive dissonance refers to the feeling of discomfort that occurs when one's beliefs contradict their statements or actions. To avoid this discomfort, individuals will alter their attitudes and behavior to align with their statements.

"Lecturing people about the harms of tanning doesn't work. What we're doing instead is asking young adults to be the messengers using the communication channels that most affect young adults' attitudes and choices. Young adults influence each other through social media often far more than public health organizations do," says Pagoto.

Pagoto and her collaborators from the University of Kentucky will build on pilot work that showed early signs that this approach could work.

Her pilot program showed that young people were eager to participate in the social media campaign and the act of creating messages about skin health and the harms of tanning decreased their tanning.

The Influence of Beauty Standards

Pagoto's approach to tanning prevention is informed by her own experience.

"As a teenager, I was a tanner. I was a tanning bed user; I'd use baby oil. I had a whole protocol. I understand how young women feel because I felt it too. I never thought of tanning as unhealthy. I believed that I looked better, thinner, and healthier," says Pagoto.

It wasn't until she was training to become a health psychologist that she learned about how our beliefs about what is physically attractive are perpetuated by unrealistic media portrayals of beauty and companies trying to sell us products and services.

"I realized I had been duped into harming my skin," says Pagoto. "When I went to school to become a health psychologist, in some ways, I underwent a dissonance induction. When I started researching this area, I wondered what would have changed my mind when I was 17? It would not have been by giving me a lecture, but instead by getting me to think about where I'm getting my ideas about what is attractive and how that's affecting how I feel about myself."

An expert in social media research and skin cancer prevention, Pagoto has worked on numerous studies that take an innovative approach to understanding and changing tanning behavior. Her work was featured twice in Allure magazine, once in 2015 and then again in May 2026.

Her previous work has offered important insights about how tanners' and skin cancer organizations use social media and the content that may influence tanning behavior.

Not Only a Women's Issue

Pagoto's work has also explored men's tanning behaviors.

"Beauty standards regarding tanning don't just affect women - they affect men too. Men don't talk about it as much, but they get more attention and compliments when they're tan and this shapes how they think about their own physical attractiveness too," says Pagoto. "Gay men in particular tend to have higher rates of tanning and higher rates of skin cancer."

In 2015, she published a call to action in JAMA Dermatology for skin cancer prevention research in sexual minority men.

She also led a study that was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology that found while men use tanning beds at lower rates than women, they tan in riskier ways and treat it more like an addiction than women.

In her new study, she'll be looking at how the social media campaign affects both men and women.