{"title":"Development and validity test of impression management efficacy scale based on self-presentation behavior of Chinese youth on social media.","authors":"Yixuan Liu, Ke Lei","doi":"10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1494083","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study seeks to develop and validate a scale for assessing Impression Management Efficacy (IME) in the context of Chinese youth's self-presentation behaviors on social media. It aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of their ability and self-efficacy in managing impressions within social media environments.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>For this study, 18 young individuals were selected to participate in in-depth interviews. The specific dimensions of IME were identified through the application of grounded theory categorization. Subsequently, specific measurement questions were formulated by referencing the impression management scale, the social self-efficacy scale, and insights from empirical interviews, leading to the preliminary compilation of the questionnaire. A total of 920 questionnaires were then distributed for a centralized investigation. The collected data underwent repeated testing to refine and finalize the questionnaire.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study explores the relationship between self-presentation and IME in social media contexts. Through multiple tests and empirical data analysis, IME was delineated into five distinct dimensions: identity management strategy, self-impression management strategy, communication expression efficacy, protection strategy efficacy, and self-presentation efficacy, collectively encompassing 25 measurement items. The study is inherently exploratory in nature.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The concept of IME among young people is distinct yet related to traditional notions of impression management and social self-efficacy. While impression management primarily focuses on external behaviors, social self-efficacy assesses one's perceived social abilities. Both concepts, along with their measurement methods, tend to be relatively singular in focus. IME, however, is closely intertwined with these concepts but possesses a unique conceptual depth and theoretical significance, setting it apart as a multifaceted and nuanced construct.</p>","PeriodicalId":12525,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1494083"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11822685/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1494083","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: This study seeks to develop and validate a scale for assessing Impression Management Efficacy (IME) in the context of Chinese youth's self-presentation behaviors on social media. It aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of their ability and self-efficacy in managing impressions within social media environments.
Methods: For this study, 18 young individuals were selected to participate in in-depth interviews. The specific dimensions of IME were identified through the application of grounded theory categorization. Subsequently, specific measurement questions were formulated by referencing the impression management scale, the social self-efficacy scale, and insights from empirical interviews, leading to the preliminary compilation of the questionnaire. A total of 920 questionnaires were then distributed for a centralized investigation. The collected data underwent repeated testing to refine and finalize the questionnaire.
Results: This study explores the relationship between self-presentation and IME in social media contexts. Through multiple tests and empirical data analysis, IME was delineated into five distinct dimensions: identity management strategy, self-impression management strategy, communication expression efficacy, protection strategy efficacy, and self-presentation efficacy, collectively encompassing 25 measurement items. The study is inherently exploratory in nature.
Discussion: The concept of IME among young people is distinct yet related to traditional notions of impression management and social self-efficacy. While impression management primarily focuses on external behaviors, social self-efficacy assesses one's perceived social abilities. Both concepts, along with their measurement methods, tend to be relatively singular in focus. IME, however, is closely intertwined with these concepts but possesses a unique conceptual depth and theoretical significance, setting it apart as a multifaceted and nuanced construct.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.