The Motivation and Psychological Mechanism of Generation Z's Self-Presentation in Social Media
Abstract
Generation Z's self-presentation behavior on social media has been widely concerned by the academic community, but most of the existing studies focus on the results and impact of self-presentation behavior, and there are still deficiencies in the analysis of its pre-motivational and psychological mechanisms. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this paper analyzes the motivation and the underlying psychological mechanism of Generation Z's self-presentation behavior on social media. This paper concludes that the self-presentation behavior of Generation Z on social media is not simply positively correlated with the three variables of the planned behavior theory, but is characterized by contradiction and instability due to the influence of complex factors such as social comparison, social pressure, platform algorithms and rules. Based on this, this paper puts forward the following suggestions: improve self-identity at the individual level and reduce the impact of external evaluation on oneself. At the platform level, the algorithm mechanism needs to be optimized to alleviate social comparison and social pressure. At the educational level, media literacy courses can be introduced to help Generation Z youth establish a correct view of information and sharing.
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