The Impact of Short Video Addiction on Self-identity: Mediating Roles of Self-esteem and Appearance Anxiety

Abstract:

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the attributes of female self-identity, and investigate the correlation between addiction to short videos, self-esteem, objectification of female content, internalization of beauty ideals, and self-identity. The goal is to develop a psychological framework that enhances our comprehension of the self-identity of contemporary Chinese women. Methodology: This study employed an online survey with a convenience sampling approach to gather responses from 400 female short video users from four most popular Chinese social media platforms: Sina Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douban and WeChat, the Chinese equivalents of Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and WhatsApp respectively. Results: The results suggest that (1) self-esteem played a significant role in mediating the relationship between short video addiction and self-identity; (2) the chain mediating effect of internalisation of beauty ideals and self-esteem was not statistically significant, and (3) the chain mediating effect of objectification of female content and self-esteem was statistically significant. Therefore, the greater the short video addiction, the lower self-esteem, the deeper the appearance anxiety, and thus the higher the likelihood that the individual would not identify with themselves. The results provide a theoretical foundation for gaining a deeper understanding of the factors that influence females’ self-identity. Simultaneously, it offers new ideas for enhancing women’s self-identity. In addition, previous studies on women’s appearance anxiety have given less attention to self-esteem and self-identity. This study, however, looks more extensively into both aspects, so broadening the investigation of the factors impacting women’s self-identity.

Resum:

(2) l’efecte causant de la cadena de la interiorització dels ideals de bellesa i l’autoestima no va ser estadísticament significatiu, i (3) l’efecte causant de la cadena de la cosificació del contingut i l’autoestima femení va ser estadísticament significatiu. Per tant, com més gran sigui l’addicció als vídeos curts, més baixa l’autoestima, més profunda és l’ansietat de l’aparença i, per tant, més gran és la probabilitat que l’individu no s’identifiqui amb si mateix. Els resultats proporcionen una base teòrica per comprendre millor els factors que influeixen en la pròpia identitat de les dones. Alhora, ofereix noves idees per millorar la pròpia identitat de les dones. A més, estudis previs sobre l’ansietat per l’aspecte de les dones han prestat menys atenció a l’autoestima i a la pròpia identitat. Aquest estudi, però, aprofundeix en ambdós aspectes, ampliant així la investigació dels factors que incideixen en la pròpia identitat de les dones..