Identity development of adolescents and social media influencers (IdentSoMed)
The dissertation project examines the mutual relevance of adolescents and social media influencers in the norm negotiation process of identity development.
Description of the project
The dissertation project examines the mutual relevance between adolescents and their favorite social media influencers (SMIs), focusing on the negotiation of social and personal norms in identity development. It explores how SMI content shapes adolescents’ identity development (ages 14-16) and how these contents are integrated into their self-presentation and daily lives. At the same time, the perspective of the SMIs on their adolescent followers is considered, particularly how they perceive the influence of their followers on their own self-presentation and identity development. The project goes beyond a one-dimensional perspective and considers the negotiation process, where personal and social norms are negotiated and integrated into the respective identity development by both adolescents and SMIs. It employs a qualitative research approach with two sub-studies: In sub-study 1, 46 adolescents (ages 14-15) were interviewed, and in sub-study 2, SMIs were interviewed.
Keywords
Adolescents | Social media influencer | Norm development
Leader of the Research Project
Jessica Kühn, M.A.
Academic Staff
social media influencer • media pedagogy • media literacy
Further areas of research at LMU
The project includes several research projects within LMU. That's because it's great and very interdisciplinary.