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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1494083

Development and validity test of impression management efficacy scale based on self-presentation behavior of Chinese youth on social media

Provisionally accepted
yixuan Liu yixuan Liu 1Ke Lei Ke Lei 2*
  • 1 Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

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

    With the rapid development of Internet technology, social media has become a significant platform for daily life and social interaction among Chinese youth, and users' self-presentation behaviors on social media and the underlying impression management strategies have increasingly attracted attention. However, there is currently a lack of assessment tools specifically targeting self-efficacy in the domain of impression management theory. This study aims to develop and validate a scale for assessing impression management efficacy (IME) in Chinese youth's self-presentation behaviors on social media, comprehensively evaluating their ability and self-efficacy in impression management within social media environments. Based on relevant theories and qualitative research, this study scientifically validates and measures the relevant categories extracted from grounded theory. Ultimately, five categories—identity management strategy, self-impression management strategy, communication expression efficacy, protection strategy efficacy, and self-presentation efficacy—are identified as measurement dimensions of IME. This study not only enriches the theoretical research on self-presentation behaviors on social media but also provides a reliable measurement tool for empirical research in related fields.

    Keywords: Social Media, self-presentation, Impression management efficacy, scale development, Youth group

    Received: 10 Sep 2024; Accepted: 14 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu and Lei. 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: Ke Lei, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.