The Digital Mirror: Self-Concept Clarity and Body Image in the Highly Visual Social Media Era

DOI

https://www.doi.org/10.59256/ijrtmr.20260604037

Published In

Volume 6, Issue 4 (2026)

Published Online

July-August 2026

Pages

338-346

Article Type

Original Article

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Highly visual social media (HVSM) platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat immerse young people in a continuous stream of idealized, curated appearance content. While quantitative research consistently links HVSM use to body dissatisfaction, comparatively little qualitative work has examined how individual differences in self-concept clarity (SCC) shape these experiences, and almost none has done so outside Western settings. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019, 2022), this study explored how 15 college students (aged 18–25) in India experienced HVSM in relation to body image and self-concept clarity. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed inductively, yielding four themes: (1) The Digital Mirror: Negotiating Appearance Through Visual Comparison; (2) Curating the Self: Between Authenticity and Performance; (3) Knowing Who I Am: Self-Concept Clarity as a Psychological Filter; and (4) Reclaiming the Self: Resisting and Redefining Digital Beauty Ideals. Findings suggest that HVSM did not exert a uniform influence on body image; rather, its effects were mediated by the clarity and stability of participants’ self-concept. Participants with clearer self-concepts engaged critically with idealized content and maintained psychological distance from it, whereas those experiencing identity uncertainty were more vulnerable to comparison and internalization. These findings extend Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) and the Identity Disruption Model (Vartanian et al., 2018) to a non-Western cultural context and suggest that interventions strengthening self-concept clarity, alongside critical media literacy, may buffer the adverse body image effects of appearance-focused social media among Indian youth.