Public Self Research Articles

Social anxiety in culturally diverse young people: An insight into lived experiences

AbstractObjectivesThere is little research exploring the subthreshold social anxiety (SSA) in culturally diverse young people. This study addresses this gap and provides an insight into the vivid world of this ‘hidden’ population.DesignFour participants from England were interviewed using semi‐structured interviews. Four superordinate themes and their corresponding subordinate themes emerged from the transcripts: Excessive self‐consciousness—The inner critic and Feeling judged by others; Influences of social and cultural norms—The impact of dress‐code rules and The pressure of high expectations; Embracing a false reality—Patterns of avoidance and The public self; and Coping strategies—Breaking the wall of cultural norms, Pushing the bubble out and Know that you are not alone. Due to the vastness of the data, this study presents only the first two superordinate themes and their corresponding subordinate themes.MethodsThe author chose interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). This allowed the participants to describe thoroughly their lived experiences and enabled the researcher to adopt a scientific approach.ResultsThe results revealed that the socio‐cultural background of this population played a pivotal role in the prevalence and expression of SSA.ConclusionsThe participants' experiences were significantly influenced by the social and cultural norms of their country of origin as well as the characteristics of modern society in England. The predominant factors were the pressure of high expectations from family and society, transgenerational trauma, socio‐cultural norms, uncertainty about the future and lack of opportunities to secure employment. Future research could examine the socio‐cultural influences shaping contemporary British society and their impact on youth's mental health.

초기 성인의 공적 자의식이 사회불안에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study was to verify moderated mediating effects of Cognitive Flexibility through Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness in the relationship between Public Self Consciousness and Social Anxiety of early adult. Methods To this end, a self-reporting survey consisting of Public Self Consciousness Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, Social Phobia Scale, Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire-K, and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory was distributed and conducted to 309 early adults aged 20 to 29. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, mediating effects, moderating effects, and moderated mediating effects were verified through SPSS 22.0 and SPSS PROCESS Macro. Results The main results of this study are as follows. First, Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between Public Self Consciousness, Social Anxiety, Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness and Cognitive Flexibility. Second, It was confirmed that Public Self Consciousness influenced Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness, and it had partial mediating effected by influencing Social Anxiety. Third, it was confirmed that Cognitive Flexibility had a moderating effect in the relationship between Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness and Social Anxiety. That is, it mean that in the relationship between Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness and Social Anxiety, even if Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness Increases Social Anxiety, Social Anxiety can be decrease by Cognitive Flexibility. Fourth, It was confirmed that there was a moderated mediating effect of Cognitive Flexibility through Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness in the relationship between Public Self Consciousness and Social Anxiety. Finally, the significance and limitations of this study were discussed. Conclusions The results of this study provided implications for the understanding of social anxiety and treatment strategies in early adults, by confirming the role of Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness and Cognitive Flexibility in the influence of early adults' Public Self Consciousness on Social Anxiety.

Streets in Suburbia as Spheres of Comfort

How to manage the “self” on the streets of suburbia when everybody knows each other? Due to the social and spatial manageability of suburban spaces, contact with more or less (un)known others is to be expected. Through repeated and continuous contact, residents are automatically and reciprocally assigned the role of acquaintances. This situation requires finding the right distance. The positioning of oneself and others, the perception and practice of distance, results in comfort and freedom from conflict. This coping strategy for public (street)spaces reflects a socio-spatial (con)figuration that is enacted as street management. Although street life is dominated by the notion of nothingness, everyone campaigns to stay private in public by setting up a “public self”. The research findings I refer to are based on two case studies in suburban spaces on the outskirts of Hanover (the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany). In order to understand and explain the life-worlds of suburbanites in general and their manifestation on streets in particular, I conducted exploratory interviews, go-alongs and field observations. To create an atmosphere of comfort, convivial as well as conflictual situations are to be avoided, which is achieved by the residents positioning themselves and others at a distance. Since street life in the suburbs is uneventful and provides a sense of security and familiarity, living together in coexistence is routine. The delegation of responsibility for everything public enables suburbanites to be indifferent to others and the setting. The minimal sympathetic way of interacting with each other is symbolised by greetings, which both facilitates and hinders communication. In the end, the life-world suburbia and its streets are spheres of comfort because they are manageable, expectable and knowable.

Tragedy and comedy, outrage and reconciliation: exploring the insurrection of January 6, 2021, through Burkean frames

ABSTRACT In this article, I rhetorically analyze the Final Report by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 th Attack on the United States Capitol, released in January 2023, as a jumping off point to explore possible limitations of and opportunities for rhetorical responses to political crises in the wider U.S. public discourse. In contrast to the Report’s tragic centering of Trump as agent, I argue that using a comic frame in the wider political discourse could help bring the scene, or the state of democracy, to a place of interrogation, and allow for a broader accounting of agents and agency, as well as their relationships to one another. Rather than deny an ultimate reckoning of a tragic situation, this article examines the importance of comic processing in service of elevated democratic discourse. By providing a space to reinterpret and resituate the pentadic motives underlying an act of democratic crisis like the insurrection, a comic frame’s pentadic vision can potentially open up new and transformative ways of understanding citizens’ public selves, their political relationships, and democracy, while still allowing for the expression of warrantable outrage.

Development of public self-government within the framework of public administration of physical culture and sports in the system of higher education

The article deals with approaches to public self-government within the framework of public administration of physical culture and sports in the system of higher education. Based on the study of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” and the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”, the provisions on public self-government in general in education and in higher education in particular are summarized. Consideration of the subjective component of the Law of Ukraine “On Physical Culture and Sports” allowed for the identification of public self government institutions at: the level of a higher education institution - student sports centers of higher education institutions; local (territorial) level - public associations of pupils and students with a physical culture and sports orientation; national (allUkrainian) level – the sports student union of Ukraine, and also for the development of their functions. Thanks to the developed functions of all the above-mentioned public self- government bodies in the field of physical culture and sports of higher education, a synergistic effect is achieved from the development of vertical reverse management links between the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports in Higher Education and the latter. In order to legitimize the proposed provisions, it is proposed to amend the Law of Ukraine “On Physical Culture and Sports” in part of Article 26 “Physical Culture in Education” by supplementing it with Part 9 in the corresponding author's wording.

From Moral Therapy to Political Defiance: Public Self‐Reflections on Russian YouTube

AbstractDuring the first months of the Russian war in Ukraine, millions of Russian‐language viewers both within Russia and elsewhere, including ourselves, became addicted to a type of YouTube format that presented 1–2‐hour videos staged as dialogues between a journalist and prominent figures in the public life of contemporary Russia. The interviews are grounded in personal reflexive accounts of broad national rupture and rifts in identity resulting from the recent political events and Russian military aggression. This format is formed by an overlap between the personal and the public, and it combines private conversation with political expression in a manner novel for Russian‐language media. In this essay we follow the emergence of the format as a particular genre of public self‐reflection, focusing on the YouTube channel “Skazhi Gordeevoi.” Interpreting a contemporary script of personal reflection of the public Self coming from a liberal antiwar milieu in Russia, we discuss the role of emotional expressions in moral political accounts of collective ruptures. We find that this format of emotional self‐reflection serves as collective “moral therapy” for those in this milieu, both real and imaginary, and simultaneously creates a community of dissenters, thereby becoming an act of defiant talk and civil dissent.

“A constant negotiation”: A qualitative exploration and preliminary model of sexual orientation disclosure among gay Chinese/Chinese American male emerging adults

Introduction Disclosing one’s sexual minority identity, known as “coming out,” can be challenging for gay Chinese/Chinese Americans due to cultural values such as collectivism, filial piety, and adherence to traditional gender roles. Method A mixed methods exploratory study was conducted with gay Chinese/Chinese American male emerging adults in New York City. Result Nine participants, average age 22.6 years (SD 2.2, range: 19–25), were interviewed; five were raised in a Western country, four were raised in China. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data yielded five themes: (1) discovery and acceptance of sexual orientation, (2) concealment, (3) deciding to disclose, (4) disclosing to others, and (5) consequences of disclosure. Most participants easily accepted their gay identity though concealed this identity from their families. Participants raised in China took longer to disclose their sexual orientation compared to those raised in Western countries. A preliminary, culturally-tailored model of sexual orientation disclosure is proposed with two parallel processes: the personal self (identity awareness, identity acceptance) and public self (identity concealment, identity negotiation). Conclusion Chinese cultural values influence the expression of sexual minority identities. Disclosure is not static, but rather a “constant negotiation” dependent on context. Clinicians should facilitate exploration of sexual orientation alongside racial/ethnic identity.

Consumer’s Personal and Social Factors on Purchase Intentions of Counterfeit Luxury Products

There are several studies to answer the question of why consumers make purchases of counterfeit luxury goods. However, researchers have not studied the impact of consumer’s personal and social factors on purchasing counterfeit luxury products yet. The current study examines how consumers’ personal (face and public self-consciousness) and social factors (informative and normative suspective) influence their purchase intention towards counterfeit luxury products. Quantitative research methodology was used to measure consumers’ buying behavior of counterfeit luxury products by conducting an online survey of 254 consumers. The collected data were further analyzed by SPSS-28 and SMART-PLS 4 software. The findings indicate that social factors, such as informational susceptibility, strongly influence the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury products. Furthermore, consumer personal factors such as public self and face consciousness significantly influence fake luxury product purchasing intention. This study has implications for firms that import luxury goods and policymakers responsible for creating policies and marketing plans to deter consumers from buying counterfeit luxury goods.

The therapist's evolving public self in a digitally disrupted marketplace.

The therapist's evolving public self in a digitally disrupted marketplace.

:Last Words: The Public Self and the Social Author in Late Medieval England

:<i>Last Words: The Public Self and the Social Author in Late Medieval England</i>

Validation of the Adolescent Social Identity Measure: Adolescents’ Perception of Themselves in a Social Context

&lt;p style="text-align:justify"&gt;Social identity is an important social determinant of student outcomes such as mental health and well-being. Currently, no validated social identity measures exist for adolescents in secondary school settings. A new ‘Adolescent Social Identity’ measure was developed by adapting two social identity dimensions from a validated reputation enhancement scale. The Social Identity Measure comprises two scales of 10 items each to measure how adolescents think their peers view them (e.g., reputational status) in terms of their conforming and nonconforming behaviour (Self-perception of Public Self) and how adolescents would ideally like to be viewed (Ideal Public Self) by peers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted along with assessments of reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. Conforming and Nonconforming subscales for both scales were shown to be reliable, valid, and invariant across age and gender groupings. There were significant but small differences in the latent means for gender.&lt;/p&gt;

Ask forgiveness, not permission: Busking, community and contempt

Who would choose to be a busker and why? How are buskers positioned by, and in relation to, state, commercial and social formations that configure public spaces and public selves? I approach busking through the concept of micropolitics, developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, which argues that life and politics are immanent: inseparable from and coextensive with one another. I take Zygmunt Bauman’s pessimistic vision of ‘liquid modernity’ – a chimeric analysis that maps the coercive and alienating conditions of postmodernism and neo-liberalism – as a fitting backdrop for highlighting the significance of street music. To facilitate this discussion, I draw on memories of my background as a busker, documentary sources and autoethnographic fieldwork conducted in ten locations across regional New South Wales (Australia) between June and August 2022. I adopt a storytelling approach, foregrounding the experience of busking for the busker, and combine this with documentary analysis of regulatory frameworks and quantitative analysis of my busking sessions and earnings in different locations. In contrast to recent studies that applaud the efficacy of regulations, and that represent buskers as rational agents pursuing commercial and artistic interests, I argue that busking, as a way of life, makes little sense except as micropolitical resistance to the alienating conditions of liquid modernity. Moreover, expressions of state, economic and social power frequently manifest contempt for buskers and busking, sometimes to the point of precluding buskers from effectively conducting their livelihoods within the scope of the law. I draw on Macalester Bell’s theorization of contempt as an indispensable ethical position that manifests disregard for its object, to consider the ways in which busking appeals to the humanity of state, commercial and social agents. ‘Ask forgiveness, not permission’ is an idiom of conventional wisdom for buskers, signalling, on the one hand, an internalization of the contempt they are accustomed to receiving from those in a position to facilitate ‘permission’ and, on the other, the ideal that, if things go well, they might inspire human agents to condemn the regulatory pedantry that would proscribe their livelihoods.

The interplay between ovarian cancer and social relationships: an analysis of patients’ metaphors

Objective Research showed that ovarian cancer poses unique challenges to patients’ care experiences and that patients’ social networks could affect their care path significantly. The present study aimed to analyse the metaphors that patients used to signify the impact of the illness on their social relationships and the role of relationships in dealing with cancer. Design Following a qualitative description approach we conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with Australian (14) and Italian (24) women diagnosed at different stages of ovarian cancer. Results The analysis identified four themes bringing together the meanings expressed by participants’ metaphors: Lack of comprehension and communication; Isolation, marginalisation, and self-isolation; Discrepancy between the private and public self; and Social relationships as empowerment resources. Conclusion The polysemic nature of patients’ metaphors captures both the empowering and especially disempowering role of social relationships in dealing with ovarian cancer. Results also show that metaphors are used to make sense of the impact of ovarian cancer on social relationships and to express different strategies for managing patients’ networks.

"I'm Still Trying Everything to Keep You Looking at Me": Taylor Swift and the Autotheoretical Construction of Public Selves

"I'm Still Trying Everything to Keep You Looking at Me": Taylor Swift and the Autotheoretical Construction of Public Selves

Youth materialism and consumer ethics: do Gen Z adolescents’ self-concepts (power and self-esteem) vary across cultures (China vs. France)?

ABSTRACT Youth materialism excites adolescents’ unethical consumer beliefs (UCB-dishonesty). We develop a second-stage moderated mediation model, investigate the relationships between materialism and Generation Z teenagers’ consumer ethics (UCB-dishonesty), and treat two self-concept mechanisms (power and self-esteem) as dual mediators and culture as a moderator (China vs. France). We theorize that materialism enhances power (public self) and reduces self-esteem (private self). French adolescents’ sense of power increases UCB more than their Chinese counterparts. Chinese teenagers’ self-esteem reduces UCB more than their French counterparts. We challenge the assumption that the interaction effects between consumers’ self-concepts and UCB are the same across cultures. We offer the following discoveries based on 1,005 (409 Chinese and 596 French) adolescents. First, the measurement model of consumer ethics with four subconstructs is superior to the model with one overall construct. Second, a sense of power and self-esteem mediate the relationships between youth materialism and consumer ethics, creating two positive and negative paths for power and self-esteem, respectively. Third, French adolescents display a higher magnitude and positive intensity between adolescents’ power (public self) and UCB-dishonesty than their Chinese counterparts across all four subconstructs. Chinese teenagers illustrate a lower magnitude but a higher negative intensity between self-esteem and UCB than their French counterparts across three subconstructs, with one exception: Adolescents’ self-esteem has no impact on “no harm, no foul” across cultures. Neither buyers nor sellers experience substantial financial gains or losses. Finally, cultures moderate the second-stage mediation effects. Scholars must enhance adolescents’ self-esteem and curb their power to promote honesty. We offer implications for materialism, consumer ethics, self-concepts, and culture for consumers and retailers.

Being a Celebrity: Alienation, Integrity, and the Uncanny

AbstractA central feature of being a celebrity is experiencing a divide between one's public image and private life. By appealing to the phenomenology of Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, we analyze this experience as paradoxically involving both a disconnection and alienation from one's public persona and a sense of close connection with it. This ‘uncanny’ experience presents a psychological conflict for celebrities: they may have a public persona they feel alienated from and that is at the same time closely connected to them and shapes many of their personal interactions. We offer three ways in which a celebrity might approach this conflict: (i) eradicating the divide between their public and private selves, (ii) splitting or separating their private and public selves, or (iii) embracing the arising tension. We argue that it is only this third approach that successfully mitigates the negative effects of the alienation felt by many celebrities.

When the Private and the Public Self Don’t Align: The Role of Discrepant Moral Identity Dimensions in Processing Inconsistent CSR Information

Inconsistent information between an organization’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments and perceived CSR (in-)action is a big challenge for organizations because this is typically associated with perceptions of corporate hypocrisy and related negative stakeholder reactions. However, in contrast to the prevailing corporate hypocrisy literature we argue that inconsistent CSR information does not always correspond to perceptions of corporate hypocrisy; rather, responses depend on individual predispositions in processing CSR-related information. In this study, we investigate how an individual’s moral identity shapes reactions to inconsistent CSR information. The results of our three studies show that individuals who symbolize—i.e., display—their moral identity to the public more than they internalize moral values react less negatively to inconsistent CSR information. We also show that this weakens their anger and willingness to change company behavior. Furthermore, we find that this effect is amplified for extraverted but weakened for neurotic individuals. Our findings underline the importance of individual predispositions in processing CSR information.

Digital Fashion Revolutions: Supply Chain Transparency, Digitalization and the Non-Disclosure Paradox

The emergence of digital technology as a ‘cure-all’ for sustainable practice has captured the imagination of observers and entrepreneurs alike. Among these technologies, blockchain has been cited as the ideal tool to optimize supply chain transparency. However, despite the abundance of effusively disseminated information in the media, the lack of blockchain applications that are universally accessible, and their negligible uptake raises doubts as to its utility. In particular, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have for several reasons been slow to adopt blockchain technologies. ‘Digital hesitancy’; lack of common data standards; complex and tedious data collection and transfer; immaturity of the technology; no effective universal platform; lack of resources; and reluctance to share data with perceived competitors are common obstacles. This study explores one of these barriers to adoption, that is, the reluctance to disclose supply chain information to potential competitors. Taking a qualitative approach, the study analyses the current perception of blockchain enabled supply chain transparency through interviews with small scale fashion firms and technology start-ups. Applying a lens of technology adoption theories, the study seeks to understand how supply chain transparency might be satisfactorily managed and even accelerated through technology uptake. A misunderstanding of the software’s capabilities is evident. Many firms seem unaware that the software can be applied to provide managed access to information—arguably providing an advantage over extant transparency measures such as public self disclosure or reliance on third party certifications. This study identifies that because of lack of ‘education’, firms are ill-informed and under-utilizing technologies that are potentially more advantageous than current analogue approaches—that could circumvent the information disclosure paradox.

Evolving self-conceptions of Chinese travellers suggested by their travel photo-sharing behaviours

Drawing data from online tourist discussion forums by using a netnographic approach, the aim of the study was to explore the ways that travel photo-sharing behaviours influence the evolution and development of Chinese travellers' self-concepts. Chinese tourists' narratives related to posting travel photos on social network sites (SNS) were analysed, based on the theories of self-concept and self-presentation. Five categories of self-conceptions relating to Chinese travellers’ photo-sharing behaviours on social network platforms were identified, including, public self, possible self, hidden self, unknown self, and filial self. The practical implications of this paper are also discussed.

Temperature Perception in the Blushing Region

Abstract. Background: Individuals with social phobia are characterized by a heightened sensitivity for physical symptom such as blushing. Objectives: We exploratorily examined whether blushing-fearful individuals with / without social phobia were more sensitive to perceiving facial temperature increases compared to healthy controls. Methods: 50 participants were tested using an adaptive two-alternative forced-choice task. A Peltier element was attached to the cheek and repeatedly warmed up in one of two phases. The participants’ task was to indicate in which of the two phases the temperature had increased. Results: Contrary to our hypothesis, blushing-fearful individuals with social phobia ( n = 11) were less sensitive to facial temperature increases, i. e., exhibited higher temperature perception threshold, than the subclinical group ( n = 14) and healthy controls ( n = 23). Limitations: The preliminary nature of our study should be noted, and replication in a larger sample is warranted. Conclusions: The findings may be best understood within a predictive coding framework: Individuals with social phobia may rely on priors when assessing their physical symptoms to form an impression of their public self in social situations.