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In their study, the Online Identity Experiments Scale, Self-identity Scale, Internet Behaviors Questionnaire, and Compulsive Internet Use Scale were administered to 275 college students. Will online identity experimentation positively or negatively influence self-identity development of Chinese adolescents? Some Chinese scholars conducted a study to explore the effects of online identity experimentation on Chinese college students’ self-identity as well as the underlying moderating and mediating mechanisms ( Zhang et al., 2016). Online identity experiments may promote the development of self-identity through bridging the gap between the ideal self and the true self, on the other hand, individuals may also receive some negative feedback on their identity experimentation ( Chai & Gong, 2011). Some found online identity experimentation was negatively correlated with self-identity, or online identity was not significantly correlated with self-identity ( Matsuba, 2006 Valkenburg & Peter, 2008). Some scholars found that online identity experimentation on social network sites significantly contributes to self-identity development ( Zhao, Grasmuck, & Martin, 2008). However, previous studies generated mixed conclusions on the association between online identity experimentation (pretending to be someone else in the Internet environment) and self-identity development.
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A lot of individuals are increasingly using the Internet to experiment with their identity through pretending to be someone else when being online ( Chai & Gong, 2011 Valkenburg & Peter, 2008).
#What are other words for split identity Offline#
In addition to a traditional offline environment, the Internet environment has become an important developmental environment of adolescents and young adults. As Ecological System Theory increasingly gets more attention from developmental psychologists, researchers increasingly study self-identity in different developmental environments. Both adolescents and young adults are in a special developmental stage to develop self-identity ( Arnett, 2000).
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Self-identity was considered to be a stable and coherent perception of oneself. Wu Chen, in Boundaries of Self and Reality Online, 2017 Influences of Internet Use on Self-Identity as a Form Self-Content
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