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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1435691

Navigating Virtual Selves: Validation of the German Version of the Presentation Of Online Self Scale

Provisionally accepted
Lynne M. Stöven Lynne M. Stöven *Philipp Y. Herzberg Philipp Y. Herzberg Fabio Ibrahim Fabio Ibrahim
  • Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    �e Presentation of Online Self Scale for Adults (POSSA), originally developed by Strimbu and colleagues (2021), is a well-regarded instrument for assessing online self-presentation. �is study evaluated the factorial structure, reliability, and validity of the German adaptation of POSSA. A CFA analysis confirmed a satisfactory fit for the proposed three-factor model, as evidenced by a CFI of .919, a TLI of .902 and a RSMEA of .075. �e subscales of the German POSSA demonstrated high internal consistency. Additionally, convergent validity was established through significant correlations with the Impostor-Profile 30 (IPP), affirming the interpretive accuracy of the subscale scores. Specifically, the Adaptable Self and Freedom of Self Online subscales positively correlated with IPP measures of Alienation and Other-Self-Divergence, whereas the Authentic Self subscale inversely correlated with these measures. Moreover, the German POSSA scores accounted for variance in the number of Instagram followers, surpassing the predictive power of self-esteem alone.Notably, the Adaptable Self factor was positively associated with the follower count, while the Freedom of Self Online factor displayed a negative association. Collectively, these findings underscore the DE-POSSA as a robust tool for assessing self-presentation behaviors in Germanspeaking populations and highlight its potential for cross-cultural research in online interpersonal interactions.* p<.05, ** p<.01 * p<.05, ** p<.01

    Keywords: online self-presentation1, social media behavior2, online self-presentation assessment3, POSS German version4, Instagram followers5, online identity6, authentic self7

    Received: 20 May 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Stöven, Herzberg and Ibrahim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lynne M. Stöven, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany

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