Gender Differences in Motivations for Identity Reconstruction on Social Network Sites

ABSTRACT

Social network sites provide people a unique opportunity for self-presentation. Due to various reasons, people may build an online identity that is partly or even completely different from their identity in the real world. Adopting social role theory as the theoretical foundation, the current study investigated gender differences in the motivations for virtual identity reconstruction on QQ, a social network site based in China. A total of 418 respondents participated in the study. As hypothesized, the results showed that men and women are motivated differently when reconstructing their identity – while women focus more on physical vanity, men emphasize achievement vanity. The authors also identified gender differences in other motivations for online identity reconstruction: bridging social capital, disinhibition, and privacy concerns. The results, which suggest that men and women behave in gender-specific ways, are in line with the propositions made in social role theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity reconstruction
• gender difference
• social role theory
• vanity
• bridging social capital
• disinhibition

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This work was supported by the International Graduate Research Assistantship in University of Malaya [RP020D-14AFR].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Graduate Research Assistantship in University of Malaya [RP020D-14AFR].

Notes on contributors

Jiao Huang

Jiao Huang is a PhD student at University of Malaya. She received her bachelor’s degree in information management and information systems in China and master’s degree in information processing science in Finland. Her research interests are online identity, self-presentation, gender differences, and culture.

Sameer Kumar

Dr. Sameer Kumar has a PhD in Social Networking and is presently working as Senior Lecturer at University of Malaya. His current research interests are social networks, social media, and academic networks. He has several papers published in ISI indexed journals and supervises candidates both at master’s and PhD levels.

Chuan Hu

Chuan Hu is a PhD student at University of Malaya. He holds bachelor’s degree in information management and information systems and master’s degree in information processing science. His research interests are social media, identity reconstruction, and self-discrepancy theory.