Norms of Visual Self-Presentation in Adolescents’ Identity Development (NoViS)

Social media: How do adolescents present themselves on Instagram and Snapchat - and why?

How do adolescents present themselves on Instagram and Snapchat? Which self-presentations are approved or disapproved of by their friends, parents, and teachers? And how do these normative ideas affect their own identity development? These questions are at the heart of the "NoViS" research project.

Keywords

Adolescents | Normal behavior | Self-expression

The project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Subprojects

The NoViS project is divided into three subprojects.

A qualitative network analysis with twenty egocentric networks consisting of one adolescent, their two friends, one parent, and one teacher (N=86).
a standardized CAPI survey (N=1002),
as well as an experimental study (N=505).

The specific aim of subproject 1 is to investigate the negotiation and sanctioning of personal and social norms by multiple actors. To date, there have been no studies analyzing the interaction between individuals and various proximal reference groups in the negotiation and sanctioning of norms for the visual self-presentation of adolescents. The unique characteristics of social media platforms require that distal reference groups also be examined. Therefore, SP1 considers the individual as well as their proximal and distal reference groups in order to combine the concepts of self-socialization and external socialization.

SP1 follows an egocentric network approach: Starting with an adolescent between the ages of 14 and 16, it focuses on three proximal reference groups close to the adolescent (parents, teachers, close friends), who are interviewed in guided interviews in 20 networks.

Specifically, SP1 is guided by three overarching research questions:

RRQ1: What personal norms do adolescents perceive for their visual self-presentation?
RQ2: What descriptive and injunctive norms and sanctions of proximal and distal reference groups do adolescents perceive for their visual self-presentation?
RQ3: What role do proximal reference groups assign to themselves and other proximal and distal reference groups in the negotiation and sanctioning of norms?

The aim of subproject 2 is to examine the influence of descriptive and injunctive norms on the visual self-presentation of adolescents on Instagram and Snapchat. SP 2 investigates the interplay between perceived social norms of visual self-presentation and various forms of self-presentation practices.

The basis for this is a computer-assisted face-to-face survey of 1,035 Instagram and/or Snapchat users aged 14 to 16.

The aim of subproject 3 is to investigate the effect of salient social norms of visual self-presentation on the representation of different facets of the self. SP3 analyzes in particular how injunctive and descriptive norms influence self-presentation.

To examine these relationships, an experimental online survey was conducted with 505 adolescents.

Results

The results show that adolescents' self-presentation on Instagram and Snapchat is shaped by personal and social norms. Peers play a central role, and their norms such as "be perfect" or "be authentic" shape self-presentation. Parents set injunctive norms (what is appropriate?), social media influencers set particularly descriptive norms (what are others doing?), but teachers have little influence on self-presentation. The negotiation of these norms has a relevant influence on adolescents' identity development.