In recent years, social networking sites (SNSs) have achieved notable popularity all over the world. The popularity of SNSs has raised concerns about the outcomes of SNS use, especially the specific activities on SNSs (Niu et al. 2018; Rosenthal et al. 2016). A “selfie” is a self-portrait picture taken by oneself using a smartphone and posted on SNSs (Qiu et al. 2015). Selfie-posting is one of the most pervasive activities on SNSs (Chua and Chang 2016). Relevant studies showed that 30% of the total photos shared on different SNSs are actually selfies posted by adolescents (Dhir et al. 2016, in Norway), and 69% of teenagers share selfies between three to 20 times daily (Katz and Crocker 2015, in the U.S.).

The pervasiveness of selfie-posting raises attention to the social and psychological motives behind this behavior; for example, several studies have examined the predictive role of individual personality factors (e.g., narcissism, neuroticism, and extraversion) on selfie-posting (Qiu et al. 2015; Sorokowska et al. 2016, in Germany; Weiser 2015, in the U.S.). Thus, more attention should be paid to the influence of selfie-posting on individuals. At the same time, previous studies on SNSs have mainly been conducted in western culture with Facebook (Niu et al. 2018). In China, there are some SNSs similar to Facebook, such as Qzone, which is one of the most widely used SNS in China (China Internet Network Information Center 2014) and the second largest SNS around the world, as measured by the number of registered users (Niu et al. 2018). Therefore, it is necessary to conduct relevant studies in a Chinese sample.

In addition, adolescent users are fairly active on SNSs, and selfie-posting is more popular among female than among male adolescents (Dhir et al. 2016, in Norway). Self-objectification is a great threat to women’s and girls’ health and adaption (Kahumoku et al. 2011; McKay 2013). Thus, it is also necessary to investigate self-objectification in the context of SNSs. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the influence of selfie-posting on self-objectification and a potential internal moderator (imagined audience) among female adolescents in China.

Selfie-Posting and Self-Objectification

Self-objectification has always been the core issue for women’s and girls’ health, as well as the focus of relevant research. It refers to a individual’s internalization of an observer’s perspective as a primary view of her or his own body or physical self, namely, looking at and evaluating oneself on the basis of appearance (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997). As a great threat to women’s health and adaption, self-objectification would create a variety of health risks for women, including the increased likelihood of depression, eating disorders, and sexual dysfunction (Kahumoku et al. 2011; McKay 2013). Due to its serious consequences, the influencing factors of self-objectification have received much attention. Based on relevant studies, objectification theory reveals the underlying process of self-objectification (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997), such that women and girls are gradually socialized to internalize an observer’s perspective from the experience of sexual objectification (being looked at and evaluated by appearance) in daily life, such as sexualizing presentation of women on media (Vandenbosch et al. 2015), sexualized comments, and body evaluation (McKay 2013).

Currently, as a new medium, SNSs have become an essential aspect of adolescents’ social lives (CNNIC 2014; Lenhart 2015, in the U.S.). Thus, it is necessary to examine self-objectification in the context of SNSs. Recent studies have carried out preliminary examinations on the association between general SNS use (time and frequency) and self-objectification and have found inconsistent results: Some have found significant associations (Fardouly et al. 2015, in the U.K.; Manago et al. 2015, in the U.S.) whereas others have found no associations (Ferguson et al. 2013). SNS provides users with various types of functions and applications, which may have different effects on individuals’ psychosocial adaptation (Niu et al. 2018; see also Rosenthal et al. 2016, in the U.S.). Based on these findings, it is necessary to examine the influences of specific SNS activities on young women’s self-objectification in further studies.

SNS provides not only a convenient platform for communication but also a perfect platform for meticulous self-presentation in which users can take time to strategically present their ideal and most desirable traits and images (Fardouly et al. 2015). As a popular activity on SNS, selfie-posting is an important manner for self-presentation (Chua and Chang 2016). In addition, selfies are always self-focused, with attempts to gain attention from others due to one’s appearance, affiliations, or accomplishments (Barry et al. 2015). SNS users can carefully select and even edit selfies according to peer thin-ideal norms before posting (Chae 2017; Fox and Vendemia 2016).

Self-perception theory captures the influences of self-presentation on individuals’ self-views and behaviors: When people engage in self-presentation, they infer beliefs about themselves and their behavior by observing themselves from an audience’s perspective (Bem 1972). As a consequence, when people present certain characteristics to others, these characteristics become more salient to the self and are more likely to guide future behavior (Schlenker et al. 1994). Relevant studies have also applied this theory to online self-presentation and found that sexy self-presentation on SNSs predict willingness to engage in sexting (i.e., the sharing of sexual images) (Oosten and Vandenbosch 2017, in Dutch). Thus, combined with the nature of the selfie and objectification theory, posting selfies on SNSs may provide a novel medium through which women can engage in self-objectification (Vries and Peter 2013, in the U.S.).

Based on these findings, we aimed to investigate the association between selfie-posting on SNSs and self-objectification among Chinese female adolescents, as well as explore a potential underlying mechanism. Regarding our first objective, we hypothesized that selfie-posting on SNSs would be positively associated with self-objectification.

The Role of Imaginary Audience Ideation

Imaginary audience ideation is one of the most enduring features of adolescence, reflecting adolescents’ egocentrism (O'Connor 1995). Imaginary audience ideation is the assumption that others are looking at and thinking about oneself at almost all times (Elkind 1978). It is not only a developmental consequence of cognitive advances in adolescence but also developmentally functional. Imaginary audience ideation accounts for a large number of typical adolescent behaviors, such as self-consciousness, daydreaming, shyness, tendency to conform to group norms, and sensitivity to peers’ feedback (Galanaki 2012).

To some extent, SNS has great appeal to adolescents because of its potentially large audience, and studies have found a positive association between imaginary audience ideation and SNS use (Cingel and Krcmar 2014, in the U.S.). In addition, imaginary audience ideation would make adolescents preoccupied with how other people would judge them and their looks so that they may tend to over-emphasize their positive images and traits with strategic presentation (Ranzini and Hoek 2017, in Netherlands; Vandenbosch and Eggermont 2012, in Belgium). We predict that imaginary audience ideation may be positively associated with adolescents’ selfie-posting on SNS.

At the same time, having an audience is also a risk factor for self-objectification because it may position women to scrutinize their own image from an observer’s perspective (Calogero 2004). Indeed, Vries and Peter (2013) found that the influence of portraying the self online on U.S. college women’s self-objectification was stronger in an audience condition than in a no-audience condition. For imaginary audience ideation, it also would increase adolescents’ focus on their appearance and attempts to improve how they look to audiences (Ranzini and Hoek 2017, in Netherlands). Based on these findings and considering the nature of imaginary audience ideation—the preoccupation that personal appearance and behavior is shared by everyone else (Elkind 1978)—imaginary audience ideation may moderate the association between selfie-posting and self-objectification such that adolescents with high imaginary audience ideation may be more likely to engage in self-objectification.

In summary, the purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of selfie-posting and imaginary audience ideation on self-objectification among female adolescents in China, as well as the moderating role of imaginary audience ideation in the relationship between selfie-posting and self-objectification. We hypothesized that both (a) selfie-posting and (b) imaginary audience ideation are positively associated with self-objectification and (c) imaginary audience ideation would moderate the effect of selfie-posting on self-objectification.

Method

Participants

The current survey study was conducted at a large public and economically diverse high school in central China under the approval of school authorities and the Academic Committee for Scientific Research. All 1124 female students who had an active Qzone account in this school were recruited to participate voluntarily in our research, and a signed consent form was collected from each participant. Finally, 963 female adolescents completed the survey. The average age of the participants was 14.72 (SD = 1.75), with a range of 12 to 18 years-old.

Measures

Selfie-Posting on Qzone

An item used by Weiser (2015) to measure the selfie-posting frequency on Qzone was adopted in our study. Participants responded to the item: “How often would you say that you share selfies on Qzone?” Response options were: “less than once a year”; “once a year”; “several times per year, but less than once a month”; “once a month”; “a few times a month, but less than once a week”; “once a week”; “a few times per week”; “once a day”; and “more than once a day”, which were coded into 0–8 such that higher scores reflect greater self-reported frequency.

Self-Objectification

The Chinese version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (SOQ) (Wei et al. 2017) was used to assess to measure adolescents’ self-objectification by asking participants to rank ten body traits from 1 (most important) to 10 (least important) (Noll and Fredrickson 1998), testing whether they are appearance-based (e.g., sex appeal, physical attractiveness) or competence-based (e.g., energy level, health). The scores for each category were then summed and competency items were subtracted from appearance items. Total scores range from −25 to +25, with higher scores signifying greater self-objectification.

Imaginary Audience Ideation

The New Imaginary Audience Scale (NIAS; Lapsley et al. 1989) was used in our study. The NIAS measures how often individuals engage in object relational ideations or interpersonal fantasies with 42 items (e.g., Imagining what everyone will think if you became famous; Imagining how others would feel if you were gone), and participants are required to respond on a 4-point scale from 1 (never) to 4 (often). Scores are summed across the 42 items to yield a total score, and higher scores indicate higher imaginary audience ideation. This scale has been applied to Chinese adolescents and has been found to have good reliability and validity indicators (Guo and Lei 2009). For the present sample, this scale was also found to have good internal consistency and construct-convergent validity: Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit, χ2/df = 4.29, RMSEA = .06, TLI = .92, CFI = .94; Cronbach’s alpha for the whole scale was .84.

General Qzone Use Time

One item used by Nesi et al. (2017) was adopted to assess the average time that participants spent on Qzone per day, answered on a 7-point scale from 1 (less than 10 min) to 7 (4 or more hours).

Statistical Analyses

Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated between selfie-posting, imaginary audience ideation, and self-objectification. Subsequently, a hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to investigate the effects of selfie-posting and imaginary audience ideation on self-objectification, as well as the moderating effect of imaginary audience ideation. General Qzone use time and age were entered as control variables in Block 1. In Block 2, selfie-posting (mean-centered variable) and imaginary audience ideation (mean-centered variable) were entered. The interaction between selfie-posting and imaginary audience ideation was added in Block 3. For statistically significant interactions, simple slope analyses were performed. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS 18.0.

Results

Examination of absolute values for skewness (range = .10–1.54) and kurtosis (range = .13–1.69) for each variable indicated sufficient normality. As to the Qzone use, about 19.54% of the participants used Qzone more than one hour a day, and 42.15% of the participants post selfies on Qzone more than once a week. Descriptive statistics and correlations between all study variables are shown in Table 1. Both selfie-posting frequency and imaginary audience ideation were positively correlated with self-objectification, and selfie-posting frequency was also positively correlated with imaginary audience ideation.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables
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To further examine the effects of self-objectification and imaginary audience on adolescents’ selfie-posting on SNS, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. In the first block, control variables (SNS use time and age) were entered into the regression equation to control their influence on the outcomes; in the second block, self-objectification and imaginary audience were entered into the regression equation to predict adolescents’ selfie-posting on SNS; and in the third block, the interaction term (imaginary audience × self-objectification) was entered. In Block 3, both selfie-posting and imaginary audience ideation showed a significant positive association with self-objectification (see Table 2). The selfie-posting × imaginary audience ideation was also significant, which revealed the moderating effect of imaginary audience ideation in the relationship between selfie-posting and self-objectification.

Table 2 Hierarchical multiple regression predicting self-objectification
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To probe the interaction, a simple slope test for the association between self-objectification and selfie-posting was conducted for lower (−1 SD) and higher (+1 SD) levels of imaginary audience (see Fig. 1). The results showed a larger effect of selfie-posting on self-objectification for the group with a higher level of imaginary audience ideation (b = 3.687, β = .305, p = .0004) than for the group with a lower level of imaginary audience ideation (b = 1.844, β = .127, p = .012).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Simple slopes analysis of the interaction between selfie-posting and imaginary audience ideation on self-objectification. Selfie-posting is reported at −1 (lower) and + 1 (higher) SDs

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Discussion

We aimed to examine the influence of selfie-posting (a specific activity on SNS) on self-objectification among Chinese female adolescents and the moderating role of imaginary audience ideation in this association. First, consistent with objectification theory, our study revealed that selfie-posting was positively associated with self-objectification. This result may help to clarify previous inconsistent results (Fardouly et al. 2015; Manago et al. 2015) by taking the specific activity into consideration —it is selfie-posting, rather than general SNS, use that contributes to young women’s self-objectification. Likely because SNSs provide a perfect platform for meticulous self-presentation, people tend to edit and enhance their images and appearance on SNSs (Manago et al. 2008); selfies are always self-focused, and some selfies are blatant attempts to gain attention from others due to one’s appearance, affiliations, or accomplishments (Barry et al. 2015). Thus, SNS users can carefully select and even edit selfies following peer thin-ideal norms before posting (Chae 2017; Fox and Vendemia 2016), and some women also expect to be evaluated based on their appearance when they portray themselves to a large audience online (Siibak 2009).

At the same time, according to self-perception theory (Bem 1972) and due to their focus on appearance in selfie-posting, selfie-posting may foster self-objectification by positioning women to scrutinize their own images from an observers perspective (Barry et al. 2015; Chae 2017). Thus, it is likely that selfie-posting would increase the risk for self-objectification. This finding also deepens our understanding of the outcomes of SNS use and the risk factors of self-objectification in the current information-based society. As a new medium, SNSs differ from traditional media by allowing users to be both passive recipients of content and active content creators (Perloff 2014). Based on relevant results, our study further revealed that not only media coverage but also the creation of content by young women themselves can cause self-objectification. In this case, selfie-posting may be regarded as a new experience of sexual objectification in cyberspace, which would increase the risk for self-objectification.

In addition, our results showed that imaginary audience ideation, one of the most enduring features of adolescence, was positively associated with self-objectification. Imaginary audience ideation makes adolescents assume that their preoccupation with personal appearance and behavior are shared by everyone else (Elkind 1978). At the same time, the assumption that others are evaluating them based on their appearance plays an important role in self-objectification (Calogero 2004), so imaginary audience ideation would increase adolescents’ focus on their physical appearance and facilitate attempts to improve how their body looks to an audience (Ranzini and Hoek 2017). Specifically, imaginary audience ideation may foster self-objectification by positioning women to scrutinize their own image from an observer’s perspective. Thus, imaginary audience ideation is positively associated with adolescents’ self-objectification.

At the same time, our results revealed the moderating effect of imaginary audience ideation in the association between selfie-posting and self-objectification. This effect of selfie-posting on self-objectification was stronger for individuals with higher levels of imaginary audience ideation. Because of their focus on their appearance and the expectation of being evaluated based on appearance accompanying imaginary audience ideation (Elkind 1978; Galanaki 2012), adolescents with higher imaginary audience ideation may place much emphasis on their appearance and enhance the presentation of their bodies and looks. Thus, adolescents with higher imaginary audience ideation would be more likely to be affected by selfie-posting on SNSs and internalize an observer’s perspective to look at their own body or physical selves. Our support for this reasoning reveals that imaginary audience ideation is an important variable moderating the effect of experience of sexual objectification in daily life on self-objectification.

The findings of our study have theoretical contributions. Based on adolescents’ development and SNS use, our study first deepens our understanding of the outcomes of SNS use and the risk factors of self-objectification in our current information-based society. It not only adds to the existing literature investigating SNS use by focusing on specific SNS activities, such as selfie-posting, but also expands relevant studies with a Chinese sample, thus revealing a certain cross-cultural universality in the effects created by SNSs, selfies in particular. However, additional cross-cultural studies should be conducted to investigate this cross-cultural universality.

Practice Implications

Our findings also have practical implications. Although SNS provides a perfect platform for meticulous self-presentation, adolescents, especially young women, should be aware of the potential negative impact of such displays of appearance and avoid being too involved in editing and enhancing images on SNS. Thus, although imaginary audience ideation is a psychological feature of adolescence, a good parent-child relationship and perspective-taking ability could decrease adolescent egocentrism, including imaginary audience ideation (Bester 2011; Galanaki 2012). Thus, such factors could be taken into account to reduce the vulnerability of self-objectification in female adolescents.

Limitations and Future Research Directions

However, a few limitations of our study must be addressed. First, our cross-sectional and correlational design is the main limitation of the present study, and therefore, causal inferences cannot be made. Second, the assessment of selfie-posting frequency and imaginary audience ideation were based on self-reports and could be subject to social desirability. Third, our study was conducted among female adolescents; although selfie-posting and self-objectification are more prevailing among young women, young men are also frequently involved in selfie-posting and self-objectification (Mehdizadeh 2010; Oehlhof et al. 2009). Finally, the potentially limited generalizability of our findings should be acknowledged. Therefore, longitudinal designs, more objective methods (e.g., everyday experience methods), and diverse participants are required in future research.

Conclusions

The present study adds to the extant literature by showing that selfie-posting, rather than general SNS usage, may be a risk factor for female adolescents’ self-objectification. Our study highlights that selfie-posting on SNS may be a new experience of sexual objectification online and that imaginary audience ideation moderates the positive association between selfie-posting and self-objectification, at least among young Chinese women.