The Relationship between Selfie- Editing, Self-Esteem, and Social Appearance Anxiety among University Students

Abstract

Existed research had investigate the impact of this new trend of selfie-editing on psychological well-being, but mainly focus on body image issue. However, there were limited study regarding the selfie-editing behaviour in the context of Malaysia, and regarding the relationship between selfie-editing behaviour, self-esteem, and social appearance anxiety. Therefore, this present study intend to widen the field of selfie- editing study by investigating the relationships between selfie-editing before online sharing, self-esteem, and social appearance anxiety in the context of Malaysia. Online survey methods was administered to a total of 253 university students. Three instruments, Photo Manipulation, Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES), Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) were used to measure the variables in this study. Hypothesis were supported that greater frequency of selfie-editing before online sharing was significantly related to higher level of social appearance anxiety. Meanwhile, this study reported higher frequency of selfie-editing before online sharing was significantly associated to lower level of self-esteem. In addition, selfie-editing before online posting was found to be a significant influence on both self-esteem and social appearance anxiety. Possible explanation for these phenomenon were explored. Lastly, this study advices further research on examine the possible mediator of these relationship as the frequency of selfie-editing behaviour was not the major influence of both self-esteem and social appearance anxiety. And also developing guideline on using selfie-editing that can reduce the risk of adverse psychological well-being.