Abstract

Online personas have become an integral part of modern presentation of the self. Like the offline self, the online self involves both conscious and unconscious dynamics. However, little research has been done investigating the phenomena of online personas using psychoanalytic theory to understand the unconscious dimensions. This research study addresses this gap in the literature. The primary research question for this study is: what is the lived experience of people’s relationship to their online personas? Secondary aims include exploring how the online and offline persona are related, how response to the online persona affects the self, and to what degree disembodiment and anonymity play a role in the construction of the online persona. Eight participants were interviewed about their online personas. This study used phenomenological qualitative research methods to collect and analyze the data. Thematic analysis was used, followed by textural and structural descriptions of the participants’ experience. Results are discussed using the psychoanalytic theories of Jung (1928/1972), Sullivan (1953), and Bromberg (1996).

Details

Title
Online Persona and the Self
Author
Stubblefield, Ryan
Publication year
2023
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
ISBN
9798379519186
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2813504211
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.