Linking online self-presentation to identity coherence, identity confusion, and social anxiety in emerging adulthood

The present study examined the role of social media in psychosocial development and adjustment in emerging adulthood. Survey data from a diverse college sample of 220 emerging adults (M age ≈ 23, 175 women) were collected and analysed using a series of multiple regressions. Results revealed that emerging adults high in general identity coherence (indicative of high self-concept clarity) reported presenting the real self and the ideal self on Facebook, suggesting that they were more truthful and positively realistic in their online self-presentation. Emerging adults high in general identity confusion (indicative of less self-concept clarity) reported presenting the ideal self and the false self on Facebook, suggesting that they were less truthful, less realistic, and more socially desirable in their online self-presentation. Moreover, emerging adults who experienced both identity coherence and identity confusion reported presenting the false self on Facebook motivated by self-exploration. Emerging adults experiencing high social anxiety reported presenting the false self on Facebook; they engaged in an extensive self-exploratory and socially desirable online self-presentation. Further, emerging adults experiencing both high identity confusion and high social anxiety reported presenting themselves on Facebook in a less truthful manner. Findings have important implications for identity integration during the emerging adulthood transition in the digital age.