"We live in a world where it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell where reality ends and virtual life begins. Whether you're donning a VR headset to explore new identities or endlessly scrolling through polished images on your social media feed, the lines between self-expression and self-distortion can get blurry. Studies from psychology and neuroscience show that when these boundaries fade, our self-esteem, body image, and mental health can become vulnerable."
"She creates a version of herself that's always confident and flawless. Yet, after stepping back into the offline world, Jen often feels anxious and dissatisfied with her actual appearance. This real-life discomfort has been called "self-discrepancy" by researchers to describe the gap between who we are and who we wish or pretend to be online. Studies show that the larger this gap, the more likely we are to experience anxiety, low self-esteem, and even depression (Hu and colleagues, 2022)."
Virtual and online environments increasingly blur the boundary between real and virtual selves, creating gaps between how people present themselves and how they actually feel. Extensive customization of avatars and polished social media profiles can produce idealized identities that contrast with everyday appearance, leading to self-discrepancy and emotional distress. Larger gaps between online and real selves correlate with higher rates of anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. Teens frequently compare their lives to curated images, fostering dissatisfaction and reduced self-worth. Virtual reality identity exploration may offer short-term boosts but can undermine coherence between virtual and real identities and increase vulnerability to negative self-evaluation. Immersive experiences can also provoke feelings of depersonalization and derealization.
Read at Psychology Today
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