For example, an individual may be motivated to engage in an action because s/he wishes to do it or because s/he is pressured to do it. Taking the above mentioned results into account, participants’ responses about which domain of the self these personality traits belong to are also meaningful. Additionally, thirty personality trait adjectives were selected from a published personality trait list [60]. Meanwhile, the expression of more true self online also satisfies the three intrinsic needs proposed in self-determination theory [42,47], making people more motivated online. Existing research related to online true self expression has mainly explored true self as an independent aspect of self. Google Scholar Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Participants reflected on their own profiles to answer questions about online communication and self-presentation. Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Affiliation The results of this study reveal that the online-offline dissociation diminishes people’s concerns on acting out both positive true self and negative true self online. London: Sage. Self-concept consists of personal and social aspects leads to self-presentation (Canary et al. The fulfillment of relatedness brings an individual the sense of belongingness [42]. Yes The dissociation of online world and real world enables people to behave with less concern. Some existing literature related to true self online has focused on the relationships between personalities and the expression of true self. No, Is the Subject Area "Personality" applicable to this article? As indicated by one participant: “It’s just like wearing a persona. Even if individuals follow their negative true self, doing things they usually won’t do, their actions online will not be linked to their real life directly. Additionally, the exclusion of true self in traditional self-discrepancy theory may also be explained from the perspective of self-determination theory. The majority of the participants (96.49%) agreed that everyone has both positive and negative personalities, thoughts, and beliefs. Our findings indicated that the various constraints in real world would prevent people from expressing their true self. These discrepancies will lead to various psychological discomforts [6]. Yes here. Those negative personality traits are part of true self, but are not socially desirable [32]. Multiple identities give the freedom of a consequence-free distributed version of how one can present themselves. For the seven unequivocally negative personalities that definitely cannot be expressed in physical world and four slightly negative personalities (except daydreamer) that can be expressed in real world in some extremely cases, participants tend to treat them as negative true self when (re)constructing identity and self-guide. When extrinsically motivated, individuals engage in an action for separable outcomes rather than for intrinsic interest in the action itself [43]. Identity is also defined as the actual attributes that an individual presents in daily life, namely actual self [5]. As a long accepted notion, people are motivated to positively enhance and improve themselves to achieve different goals in real world. Her first point is that online identity is a textual construction. Additionally, Anderson’s personality trait list includes 555 adjectives. More specifically, the positive true self includes the positive aspects of true self that are in line with social norms and expectations in physical world. Multiple identities have been increased by the creation of cyberspace communications according to "Cyberspace and Identity" by Sherry Turkle. At the same time, himself and others (e.g., his wife) believe that he should work harder to better take care of the family. Subjective to various given context, an individual’s identity is ambiguous and unstable [1,4]. In the physical world, normally, it is difficult to lay bare one’s own bosom with others, especially negative ones, because no one is willing to share his/her dark aspects of the self to his/her friends and family. For the first eighteen unambiguously positive personality traits that definitely can be expressed in physical world, participants prefer to regard them as ideal self, ought self and positive true self when (re)constructing identity and self-guide. Yes The increased expression of true self in a reconstructed identity online may better fulfill people’s psychological needs than in physical world. Otherwise, some people may express their negative true self excessively, such as spreading a lot of information about violence. When intrinsically motivated, individuals do an activity naturally, following their inner interests. The purpose of this study and what kind of information would be collected and presented in the study were introduced to all the participants firstly. In many cases, people take a certain action because it will bring them material rewards, like money. Christian Roesler. Self-determination theory suggests that external regulations (extrinsic motivations) could be transformed to internal regulations (intrinsic motivations) [71]. For example, an employee needs to show assiduous to the boss even if s/he is a sluggard; most corrupt officials need to act rectitude and hide their avarice from others. Turkle uses four main points to establish this argument. In hyperreal cyberspace, they argue, identity becomes plastic, 'I can change my self as easily as I change my clothes.' People may feel less vulnerable about acting out online when they are able to separate their online behaviors from their offline identity and real life [68]. online life and its impact on identity: the cre-For a fuller discussion of the themes in this essay, see Turkle ( 1995). The actual-virtual discrepancy also mediates the relationship between social network site use and body image satisfaction [26]. The results of this study also indicated that, people may reconstruct their identity in order to express more true self (especially negative true self) in anonymous online environment. 47 participants (82.46%) agreed that individuals can express their true self more freely and openly online than offline. Copyright: © 2017 Hu et al. Whether these traits are suitable to be expressed in real world is controversial. A growing body of critical writing suggests that travelling in cyberspace--whether we're using email, chat, surfing the web, or participating in online gaming--provides new conditions for the construction of identity. In order to make self-discrepancy theory more comprehensive in interpreting people’s identity and self-guide, this study incorporated true self into the theory as the fourth domain of the self, proposing an advanced self-discrepancy theory. With a reconstructed identity, people are able to express themselves online with less fear of sanctions and disapproval from others than in the physical world [5]. Additionally, in comparison to physical world, disclosing negative true self in anonymous online world may lead to less real costs (such as negative judgments from others, and damage to relationships) [13]. The participants of this study were recruited from interest-based QQ communities in Mainland China. • Not the same as your real- world identity because the characteristics you represent online differ from the characteristics you represent in the physical world 502 Bad Gateway . They understand you, and won’t judge you negatively. Future research could be conducted in other contexts to validate the results. That is the reason why people cannot distinguish positive true self from ought self and ideal self clearly, which is also in line with our result that positive true self is mixed up with ought self and ideal self in physical world. Individuals need to obey different rules, try to meet social expectations, and maintain various relationships. The interview began after the participants fully understood the research and agreed to continue. For example, people may behave themselves in physical world due to their status and position. The anonymity of cyberspace provides people a unique environment to behave more freely and openly with less restraint from the real word. In this study, semi-structured interviews were adopted as the main method to collect data. With a growing open access offering, Wiley is committed to the widest possible dissemination of and access to the content we publish and supports all sustainable models of access. They can stay behind the screen, partly or even totally hide their real personal information and background, and express whatever they want. The result shows that people feel being understood and supported when they reveal their true self to like-minded people online. By the end of March 2016, QQ had more than 800 million monthly active users in China [55]. And this kind of online relationship is under control. In the rapidly changing and developing world, identity is a significant analytic tool to understand society and human behaviors for researchers in different areas [1]. We found that positive true self overlaps with ought self and ideal self when (re)constructing people’s self-guide and identity in both online and offline worlds. Internet identity, also online identity or internet persona, is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites. For the data collected from the closed-ended questions, the results were easily quantifiable [61–63]. Online identity consists of symbolic communication and textual communication. The expression of negative personalities, minds, beliefs and consciousness is one of the most significant distinctions for true self expression in physical world and online world. By Rossella Tamborrini and Patrick Lichty. As a consequence, people will be more motivated and satisfied in anonymous online environment [6,7]. When in anonymous online environment, the negative true self which is hidden in physical world will be discharged due to the release of social norms and laws. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175623.g003. When we interact in cyberspace, how is our sense of self affected? [16] also found that social anxious people can better express their true self on the Internet than in real world. His wish is to be a popular singer who is extrovert. Access supplemental materials and multimedia. In particular, the Federal Government must address the recent and alarming rise in online fraud, identity theft, and misuse of information online. By incorporating true self as an important part of individuals' self-guide and identity online, the current study advances self-discrepancy theory, making it more comprehensive for cyberspace. However, most previous studies in related areas were using the traditional self-discrepancy theory and mainly focused on the effect of self-discrepancy. There are much less laws, rules and norms online. After that, the results are further interpreted based on the theoretical background. They may talk about intimate details that they have never told to their colleagues or even friends and family. These results are in line with previous studies which suggest that technological communication is a facilitator for people who can’t articulate their inner thoughts and/or feelings effectively in face-to-face communications due to the risk of embarrassment or disapproval [74,75]. 133-145. The data was coded iteratively until no more new labels emerged. The data collection of this study was also approved by University of Malaya Research Ethics Committee (Document number: UM.TNC2/RC/H&E/UMREC-99). Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. It can also be considered as an actively constructed presentation of oneself. My online image won’t affect my offline image. Moreover, people with high level expression of true self use Facebook more frequently for the purpose of new relationship establishment [20]. This is also reflected in the results about the allocation of negative personalities in people’s identity and self-guide. The theoretical contributions of this study are discussed and practical implications are also presented. Wiley has partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies and publishes over 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols in STMS subjects. Most importantly, this study advanced self-discrepancy theory by incorporating true self (including both positive and negative true self) as an important aspect of an individual’s identity and self-guide, suggesting that, as self-guide, the positive true self is overlapping with ought self and ideal self, and can be expressed in both online and offline world; whereas negative true self, which conflicts with social norms and expectations, is not suitable to be expressed physical world. Then, the positive true self includes an individual’s positive personalities, minds, beliefs and consciousness. The dreams that are not possible in real life may come true in online world. Identity in cyberspace need not be - and should not be - merely a direct translation of real world identity. On it, people are able to build a Professional athletes need to train hard to improve their ability to win matches. The results also revealed that, negative true self is not suitable to be expressed in physical world. The eighteen personality trait adjectives in the first category distributed in the top and middle of Anderson’s [60] personality trait list, indicating that most people hold positive or neutral attitude towards them. Their ought-self guide online might decrease when compared with that in offline. Bargh et al. Therefore, people can behave in accordance with their own ideas more effectively during communications on the Internet than face-to-face, making them feel competent. Search for more papers by this author. here. Yet in the disembodied world of the virtual community, identity is also ambiguous. Apart from self-discrepancy theory, self-determination theory, which also focuses on how human behaviors are motivated, is adopted in this study to better understand individuals’ needs of identity reconstruction in anonymous environment. By hiding the corporal body behind the screen, the way people express themselves has found a new dimension. One key step in reducing online fraud and identity theft is to increase the level of trust associated with The results are also interpreted based on self-determination theory. "I would not call what you have on Facebook 'authentic' identity," says Christopher Poole, the 24-year-old creator of 4Chan, an online community founded in … While actual self reflects the current state of an individual, ideal self and ought self reflects an individual’s wishes and responsibilities, respectively. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. In other words, the … People can hide and/or fabricate their personal information online, such as hiding their educational backgrounds or even faking their gender. Identity: Vol. Compared to the physical world, most people regard the virtual setting as anonymous, free and open environment, which provides a better platform to act out true self (especially negative true self). Where is the id, ego, and superego dynamics of the internet? In other words, people are motivated to align their actual self in accordance with ideal and ought self to reduce the self-discrepancy between their identity and self-guide [6,7]. I don’t have to meet anyone directly.” People are no longer inhibited by physical cues (e.g. However, the anonymity of the virtual setting enables people to express negative true self with less fear of negative social evaluation and disapproval by others [13,31]. Citation: Hu C, Kumar S, Huang J, Ratnavelu K (2017) Disinhibition of negative true self for identity reconstructions in cyberspace: Advancing self-discrepancy theory for virtual setting. (2017). Is Protecting Your Online Identity Important? Content analysis reveals four factors that motivate people to express more true self (especially negative true self) when reconstructing their online identity and involve true self as a part of their self-guide in anonymous environment. For instance, one of the participants mentioned: “There is less restraints on the Internet, so there is not much to worry about. Online identity also allows one to play around different ways of presenting oneself to others. In introjection, an external regulation is partially internalized, which means an individual “takes in” the regulation, but doesn’t accept it as his/her own [47]. Historians believe Van Gogh’s Facebook timeline was comprised of mostly selfies. However, it is likely that an individual’s identity (actual self) and self-guides (ideal self and ought self) are not consistent, in other words, different kinds of discrepancy may exist between the identity and self-guides. In face-to-face communications, to avoid sanctions and disapproval from others, people are more likely to hide negative aspects of their true self (such as socially undesirable personalities, minds, beliefs and consciousness) to avoid conflict with social norms and laws. For example, a participant mentioned that: “On the Internet, you don’t have to face anyone. The results revealed that unambiguously positive personality traits were classified into not only ought self and ideal self, but also positive true self. Finally, the contributions of this study, its possible limitations, and future research are discussed. Therefore, by incorporating true self, the current study proposed an advanced self-discrepancy theory in which true self is also an important part of individuals’ identity and self-guide. Just as mentioned by another respondent: “They (other Internet users) can’t find me. Regarding true self as a two-dimensional concept, this study investigates true self from the perspective of individuals’ self-guide and identity reconstruction in both online and offline world. It was suggested that individuals’ true self is more likely to be active in the virtual setting than in the real world [13]. As a consequence, in physical world, most people have to hide those intrinsic negative personality traits [35]. The Translation of Art in Virtual Worlds. In some cases, the duties, wishes and aspirations are also the ideas that people intrinsically wish to achieve. Because in this study, the label “not face to face” emphasizes on the fact that physical cues are absent. Consequently, individuals’ self-expression and self-guide in physical world are mostly positive, aiming to build a good image and obtaining positive evaluations from others [9]. Identity … Multiple identities have been increased by the creation of cyberspace communications according to "Cyberspace and Identity" by Sherry Turkle. ... and the different roles people tend to take on and embody across cyberspace. Even if a person does some deviant actions (e.g. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175623.g001. Strauss and Corbin [51] also proposed that qualitative research methods were suitable ways to understand and study social reality. Generally, identity is defined as a certain “kind of people” that an individual expresses and be recognized by others in a given context [2,3]. 2003). However, changes such as unbundling identity into discrete traits and providing multiple identities to the same person require the public to comprehend their own identity in new and complex ways. Future research could be conducted to explore whether individuals’ ought-self guide and ideal-self guide in online environment differ from those in real life. I won’t get myself in trouble when I express my negative true self online.”, Ten participants regarded other Internet users as good listeners for what they really think and believe. This process is referred to as internalization [72]. In the virtual setting, individuals are able to express more negative true self, when reconstructing their identity and self-guide. 4, No. Secondly she states that online identity is a consequence-free moratorium. No, PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175623, http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2014/proceedings/track14/3, http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2015/SocialComputing/GeneralPresentations/4, http://www.tencent.com/en-us/content/at/2016/attachments/20160518.pdf, http://fluidsurveys.com/university/comparing-closed-ended-and-open-ended-questions, http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2014/proceedings/track11/4. Since the communications online are mostly text-based, there is no face to face contact. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175623.s001, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175623.s002. However, since the expression of true self (especially the negative true self) is sensitive, some participants may feel inhibited to answer related questions in personal interviews. Expressing my true self to these people makes me feel supported.”. Even though this study has valuable contributions, it also has limitations. Just like one participant indicated: “It’s not face to face. No official consent (written/oral) was provided, since all the data were collected and analyzed anonymously in this research. This individual does something because s/he feels that s/he has to do it, not because s/he wants to do it, such as the duties, responsibilities and obligations in ought self. Because participants were required to select answers from pre-selected options, unique or unanticipated answers are not allowed in this kind of questions. 4, pp. They are not doing it for separable consequences [43]. Content analysis is a widely used method in qualitative research. Although cyberspace is often discussed in terms of networked individualism ( Castells, 2001) and personalized networking ( Wellman, 2001 ), it is now widely accepted that "being online may be fully social" (van Dijk, 2006, p. 168). As mentioned above, true self was defined as the self that people intrinsically think and believe [14]. 321-335. Self-discrepancy theory proposed three domains of self: actual, ideal and ought self [6]. Yes People can obtain some positive experience from daydreams. Christian Roesler. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. This suggests that people think negative true self is not suitable to be expressed in physical world. They have the freedom to reconstruct their virtual identity and behave according to their true self in anonymous environment. Additionally, some participants are looking for support from others. However, we found that, in addition to ought self and ideal self, people are also willing to behave in accordance with their true self in anonymous online world. Moreover, people are able to reconstruct their online identity based on their own ideas [5]. This paper presents an exemplification and discussion of the contemporaneity of Erving Goffman’s work and of its applicability to the analysis of identity and presentation of self in the blogging and Second Life (SL) contexts. IDENTITY IN CYBERSPACE. Journal of Legal Medicine: Vol. Eventually, four factors were summarized, namely anonymity, less restraints, online-offline dissociation, and online listeners. Just like one participant indicated: “In real world, sometimes I am pressured to hold back my real thoughts.” People usually have to behave themselves, and can’t express their true self freely [13], especially when the intrinsic personalities, minds, beliefs and consciousness are not socially desirable (such as negative true self). One can decide how to express themselves in this networked era (Davis, 2012). The unit of analysis was the thematic unit. Identity … Like the "self" of groups or an individual, the cyberworld consists of various subcomponents that collaborate, conflict, dissociate, and develop over time. To protect privacy, some members will choose to reconstruct their online identities when interacting with a large amount of strangers in QQ community by hiding or even faking personal information in their online profiles, such as setting a carton picture as his or her profile photo and using an obvious pseudonym instead of revealing real name. These five personality traits are slightly negative personalities; hence, some people may think the expression of these personalities will not cause huge damage to their life. For the voluntary participants who are willing to take part in this study and attending our interview, they can choose two different ways to conduct interviews (through telephone or online chat) based on their needs. The seven personality trait adjectives in the third category located in the bottom of Anderson’s [60] personality trait list, indicating that most people hold negative attitude towards them. The current study also found four factors that motivate people to express more true self in anonymous environment. The generalizability of the findings may be limited by the specific context. PLoS ONE 12(4): It is likely that the self-guide can be fulfilled more easily if an individual is able to reconstruct an online identity based on his/her own ideas. None of these studies regarded true self as a two-dimensional concept; neither did they investigate the expression of true self from the perspective of online identity reconstruction in anonymous environment. The experience of being connected to, and superego: the identity of “ ”. ( ICTs ) have been accompanied by an increase in criminal activities and future research, try meet! 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