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Psychologists have long proposed the idea of the authentic self in which a person internalizes various social roles, resulting in consistency across contexts and a healthy, positive sense of self (Gergen, 1971; Leary, 2003; Rogers, 1959). This proposal suggests a positive relationship between psychological continuity and mental health, distress (e.g., depression, anxiety, neuroticism; Donahue et al., 1993; Korchin, 1976). Clinically orientated researchers have also noted the links between pathologically low levels of psychological overlap across a person’s experiences and poor mental health (Gleaves, 1996). There are many social contexts throughout life that involve unique roles and identities that may represent the authentic or inauthentic self (Brewer & Chen, 2007; Cooley, 1902; James, 1890; McConnell, 2011; Mead, 1934; Turner & Onorato, 1999; Tyler et al., 1999). However, with the advent of social media in recent years, people now have much greater control over whether they express themselves authentically or not (Bayer et al., 2020). The present research examines whether the idea of the authentic self applies to social media. Social media are “virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests” (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011, p. 3529). Popular examples of those platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram, have billions of monthly active users worldwide (Statista, 2022). Emerging research has outlined a complex landscape of how social media use and motives relate to mental health (Braghieri et al., 2022; Brailovskaia & Margaf, 2020). In terms of authenticity in social media use, one might expect a person who perceives their social media self to accurately reflect their values and characteristics to experience positive mental health (Reincke & Trepte, 2014). Alternatively, people use social media to escape from negative emotions or liberate themselves from offline constraints (Brailovskaia et al., 2020; Bunker et al., 2021). People who experience psychological maladjustment may seek social media as a place where they feel they can truly be themselves. Although most people wish to express themselves authentically on social media (Bayer et al., 2020), social media is rife with false profiles and expressions of the self that deviate from offline life (Wright et al., 2018). Therefore, regarding the relationship between social media use and its potential impact on mental health, it is crucial to investigate how social media use patterns are expressions of the extent that a person is authentic on social media. The present project's specific aims are to investigate: (1) Is perceived authenticity on social media linked positively or negatively to mental health? (2): Does the relationship between social media use patterns (e.g., active and passive use) and different aspects of mental health (e.g., indicators of poor mental health and wellbeing) vary by how authentic people believe they are on social media? (3) Does authenticity predict mental health at both trait (i.e., authenticity across contexts) and state (i.e., authenticity for specific social media behaviors) levels? |
