Self-expression is the expression of
one’s feelings, thoughts, or ideas. It is a reflection of a person’s
individuality and autonomy, and is about behaving in line with ones states and
traits. It enables one to distinguish oneself from others, reflect on ones
beliefs and needs, and leads to self-empowerment.
Self-expression has been found to have
a positive influence on individuals. It leads to self-empowerment and plays an
important role in self-concept development. Suppression or lack of self-expression
can lead to negative consequences on mental health. Therefore, self-expression
is a highly significant aspect of behavior and has major implications on development
and wellbeing.
There are specific types of people
such as introverts, shy individuals, and individuals experiencing loneliness,
who are known to have difficulties in self-expression. Introverts due to their physiological
structure (high brain arousal) get easily stimulated that causes discomfort in situations
that require a lot of social interactions. This makes them to keep to
themselves and have reluctance in being involved in social situations.
Shyness is determined by the inhibited
temperament often found to be associated with an overly sensitive amygdala
(brain area known to be the seat of emotions). The inhibited temperament is
characterized fear and distress in relation new situations, people or objects. Due
to this, individuals have high levels of physiological activity in response to unfamiliar
social situations that makes them to avoid such situations.
The feeling of loneliness, which is an
unpleasant experience due to an unfulfilled need for intimacy, often occurs
because of a lack of social skills that does not allow individuals to have
satisfying interpersonal interactions.
In these cases, self-expression,
especially in face-to-face social interactions, becomes difficult. They are
highly hesitant in face-to-face interactions making them have very little
interaction with people around them. The lack of or very limited social
interactions that these individuals have, further, develops to a heightened and
highly unfulfilled need for self-expression. The inability in self-express
creates a discomforting experience leading to stress, anxiety, and other mental
health issues.
For such individuals, the internet or
cyberspace turns out to be a comforting space. Cyberspace becomes a platform
for such individuals to express themselves. Specific features of the cyberspace
enable such individuals to be involved in self-expression, something that they
are unable to do so in face-to-face scenarios.
A major feature of the cyberspace is
the aspect of anonymity. Anonymity is referred to the inability to identify an
individual or the inability for others to identify oneself. In the time when
people are very active on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram, and tend to share information about themselves, including their own
picture, complete anonymity is rarely possible on the internet. However,
individuals on the internet have a feeling of social anonymity. Social anonymity
refers to the perception of being anonymous, rather than actual or true
anonymity.
Social distance, lack of interpersonal
cues, and interacting with someone in a different space, instead of being
face-to-face, develops a sense of obscurity, which makes the individual perceive
him/herself to be relatively anonymous. Being on the internet, despite
revealing information about oneself, there is a sense of impersonality,
self-control, and liberty, which are characteristics of anonymity. Such anonymity
has been found to be associated with privacy, catharsis, and autonomy.
Privacy is the ability to control the
amount of contact with others. This may not necessarily mean to in terms of
physical presence, but the ability to exert boundary control upon others to
interact with oneself. This proves to be very helpful for introverts and shy
individuals. Such people often have the feeling of violation of privacy during
face-to-face interaction. Having a sense of control over privacy in cyberspace
gives a lot of comfort, which makes it easier to interact with others, leading
to better self-expression.
Catharsis, the unhindered expression
of ones thoughts and feelings to others, is a major aspect of self-expression. Social
anonymity makes catharsis easier as compared to face-to-face interaction. Especially
for lonely individuals, this feature becomes very helpful. Individuals often
hesitate to share their emotional pain of loneliness with others, thinking that
it will further drive people away. Anonymity enabling catharsis works perfectly
well for lonely individuals. It works well for introverts and shy individuals
also, as they do not have to experience discomfort of being with individuals
while sharing their thoughts and beliefs.
Autonomy involves being able to behave
as freely as possible without worrying about social consequences. Social anonymity
almost negates the idea of being judged by others. Introverts and shy and
lonely individuals often become very hesitant in front of others. They tend to
become highly self-conscious. Especially, shy individuals persistently have the
feeling of being negatively scrutinized by others. The feature of autonomy due
to social anonymity allows such individuals to be themselves without the fear
of being judged others, which further helps in self-expression.
Anonymity on the internet with respect
to privacy, catharsis, and autonomy, therefore, becomes very helpful when it
comes to introversion, shyness, and loneliness. It makes it easier for such
people to express themselves as compared to face-to-face interactions.
Along with social or perceived anonymity,
facets of self-awareness in the context of the internet play a significant role
in self-expression. Self-awareness refers to conscious self-knowledge. It is a focus,
attention on features of the self. The self-awareness
perspective suggests that in different circumstances an individual’s attention
is directed to different features of the self. When attention is directed to
external factors such as people or surroundings then it is referred to as
public self-awareness. When attention is directed to internal aspects such as
beliefs, thoughts, feelings, personal memories, etc., then it is referred to as
private self-awareness.
Both of these facets or features of
self-awareness become important in the cyberspace, especially with respect to
self-expression. Public self-awareness makes a person conscious of one’s
surroundings and makes the individual behave as per the norms or in ways that
are expected. In cyberspace, social anonymity, in terms of social distance and obscurity,
reduces this sense of public self-awareness.
This means that the individual does
not feel conscious of his/her surroundings and there is little evaluation
apprehension and pressure of self-presentation. Apart from this, there are lack
of accountability concerns. The person feels that whatever he/she does or says
is in the cyberspace and has little to do in their actual life where they have
face-to-face interactions.
The cyberspace with little pressure
for self-presentation and the lack of accountability concerns is coupled with a
sense of comfort where the individual is in his/her own private space, during
online interaction. This comfort and high sense of privacy leads to a heightened
sense of private self-awareness.
This means that the individual becomes
more aware and tends to have greater access to inner thoughts, feelings, and
emotions. The heightened sense of private self-awareness will enable the person
to be involved in more self-disclosure, that is, revealing of more private and
personal information.
Both reduced public sense of
self-awareness and heightened private sense of self-awareness work together
during online interaction, which is almost the opposite in face-to-face
interaction. A heightened public sense of self-awareness and a reduced private
sense of self-awareness in face-to-face interactions are often the reasons why
introverts, and shy and lonely individuals have difficulties in
self-expression. Together a reduced and heightened attention on the public and
private aspects of self, in the cyberspace, makes it easier for such individuals
to express themselves.
The aspect of deindividuation, a sense
of loss of individuality and personal identity, in cyberspace, also enables
individuals to be involved in more self-expression, as compared to face-to-face
interactions.
Social distance and a lack of
interpersonal cues during online interaction result in the deindividuation
process. Interpersonal cues are referred to aspects that distinguish one from
the other. These cues are very much visible in face-to-face interactions and
are not present in online interaction (or are limited in case of video chats).
The deindividuation process reduces
personal identity and heightens more of a social identity. During online
interactions, this social identity develops with respect to the more salient
features, which is being a part of the larger group of cyberspace. In such
cases norms develop in accordance to the larger group and individuals tend to
adhere to those norms.
The reduced personal identity and
heightened social identity with respect to the cyberspace enables the
individual to behave and say whatever he/she feels like, with very little
hesitation. This little hesitation works well for introverts, and shy and
lonely individuals for whom hesitation becomes a major deterrent for
self-expression, in face-to-face interaction. The lack of hesitation in
cyberspace, due to the process of deindividuation, makes them involved in
self-expression in a much better way.
It is due to the aforementioned
features of the cyberspace that it has been found that individuals, especially
who are hesitant in face-to-face interactions, indulge in more self-disclosure,
during online interactions. They feel lesser hesitancy and diminished social
awkwardness, in the cyberspace, giving them a greater sense of comfort,
enabling them to express themselves in a better manner.
In the past few years, people who have
difficulties in self-expression in face-to-face interactions, have been using
the cyberspace as a platform to express themselves. There are a number online forums
or groups in which people discuss their personal issues and difficulties. They share
their experiences in such forums, giving them ample opportunities for
self-expression.
In this regard, blogging has become a
very useful medium. Especially, a lot of introverts, and shy and lonely
individuals write blogs, in which they either share their personal experiences
or write on topics they find to be interesting, something they are unable to do
so during face-to-face interactions.
Social networking sites like Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram have also become very helpful for self-expression. Simple
activities like tweeting ones opinions, writing a status, or sharing pictures
with creative captions are all aspects of self-expression. They in some way
represent the identity and personality of the individual. This works very well
for individuals like introverts and those experiencing shyness and loneliness,
who are unable to express themselves properly in face-to-face interactions.
Self-expression is a highly
significant aspect of behavior. It is associated with positive mental health
and self-concept development. Due to its specific features like social or
perceived anonymity, reduced public sense of self-awareness, heightened private
sense of self-awareness, and the aspect of deindividuation, the cyberspace has
become a very useful medium for self-expression. The cyberspace can, thus, be
used as a platform to help people like introverts, and shy and lonely
individuals, who have difficulties in self-expression in face-to-face
interactions.
No comments:
Post a Comment