自我感知的外表吸引力与自拍发布行为的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

The Relationship between Self-Perceived Appearance Attractiveness and Selfie Posting Behaviors: A Moderated Mediation Model

采用问卷法对377名高校学生进行调查,以考察自我感知的外表吸引力、外倾性、表现欲及自拍发布行为四者之间的关系。结果显示:(1)自我感知的外表吸引力显著地正向预测个体的自拍发布行为;(2)外倾性在自我感知的外表吸引力与自拍发布行为之间起部分中介作用;(3)表现欲能调节外倾性与自拍发布行为的关系,随着表现欲的增加,外倾性的中介作用增大。本研究进一步揭示了个体自拍发布行为的作用机制,促进了人们对网络自我表露行为的认识。

Selfie, which refers to 'a self-portrait photograph of oneself(or of oneself and other people), taken with a camera or a camera phone held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror, which is usually shared through social media', prevails on the social internet recently. A substantial body research revealed that online self-presentation behaviors could contribute to variety of positive consequences. Nevertheless, few studies examined the antecedent factors and little was known about the underlying mechanism of selfie posting behaviors. The current study suggested three propositions. Firstly, based on the impression management theory, self-perceived appearance attractiveness might be a potential facilitator of selfie posting behaviors. Thus, the first purpose was to investigate the effect of self-perceived appearance attractiveness on selfie posting behaviors. Secondly, according to fitness-related evolutionary theory, self-perceived appearance attractiveness was associated with extraversion, which in turn was associated with selfie posting behaviors. It could be hypothesized that extraversion would mediate the relationship between self-perceived appearance attractiveness and selfie posting behaviors. In addition, exhibitionism, which refers to a disposition of attracting others’ attention by presenting private lives publicly, might had a potential influence on the associations. Therefore, we also aimed to examine whether exhibitionism would have a moderating role on the direct effect of self-perceived appearance attractiveness and the indirect effect of extraversion on selfie posting behaviors.A sample of 377 students from universities in Beijing, including 255 females and 115 males was recruited to complete several self-report questionnaires, including Attractiveness Questionnaire, Extraversion Inventory, Exhibitionism Questionnaire and Selfie Posting Behaviors Questionnaire, together with their demographic information. Then, a hypothetical moderated mediation model was formulated to examine the effects of self-perceived appearance attractiveness on selfie posting behaviors and the mediating role of extraversion, as well as the moderating role of exhibitionism.The results demonstrated that:(1) After controlling for the effect of gender, self-perceived appearance attractiveness had a positive prediction on selfie posting behaviors.(2) Extraversion could partially mediate the relationship between self-perceived appearance attractiveness and selfie posting behaviors.(3) The indirect effect which self-perceived appearance attractiveness exerted on selfie posting behaviors through extraversion was moderated by exhibitionism. Specifically, with the increase of the level of exhibitionism, the conditional mediating effect of extraversion changed from non-significance to significance. Taken together, the findings indicated that with a high level of exhibitionism, individuals who perceived their appearance attractive tended to behave extrovertly, leading to post more selfies on the social network. In contrast, with a low level of exhibitionism, self-perceived attractive people failed to facilitate selfie posting behaviors through extraversion.In conclusion, these results can address the issue about what works for whom, extending previous studies in some aspects. From the theoretical perspective, it is one of the first studies that combine self-assessed physical features, personality disposition and self-presentation behaviors, which can provide a constructive perspective to unravel the underlying mechanism. Meanwhile, this study found that extraversion could link self-perceived appearance attractiveness and selfie posting behaviors, and exhibitionism served as a potential moderator towards the mediating relationship, which is greatly helpful to advance the understanding of selfie posting behaviors.