The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students: the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity

The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students: the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students: the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity Junping Zhao, Sisi Li, ling Liu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background In the digital age, social media has gradually become an important medium for individuals to showcase their body images. The overwhelming presence of idealized beauty images on these platforms has significantly influenced how individuals perceive and evaluate themselves. Particularly for female college students, they are enthusiastic about beautifying and editing the selfies they upload on social media, so as to quickly obtain an ideal appearance and achieve psychological satisfaction. Therefore, selfie editing has also gradually become an important form of positive self-expression on the Internet. However, the information propagated on social media often does not represent the true image, which is likely to trigger individuals' appearance anxiety. Methods This study aimed to explore the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students, with a particular focus on the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity. This study selected female college students with experience in selfie editing as participants. A questionnaire survey method was adopted to investigate 1,212 female college students from three universities in Tianjin, China (M = 20.10, SD = 1.02). All participants completed the measurements of the internalization of beauty ideals, appearance anxiety, self-concept clarity, and selfie editing. Data analysis was conducted using model establishment in SPSS 26.0. Results The results showed that the internalization of beauty ideals had a direct negative impact on the selfie editing of female college students. The internalization of beauty ideals indirectly had a negative impact on selfie editing through appearance anxiety. In addition, self-concept clarity had a significant moderating effect on this indirect relationship. Individuals with higher self-concept clarity were better able to resist the negative impact brought about by the internalization of ideal beauty and reduce appearance anxiety. Conclusion This study enriches our theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying self-presentation behaviors in a media-saturated environment, clarifies the understanding of the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing, and provides valuable insights for promoting the establishment of a healthy body image and the achievement of self-acceptance among female college students. Internalization of beauty ideals selfie editing appearance anxiety self-concept clarity female college students Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Introduction With the vigorous development of social media platforms and the widespread popularity of various social software, selfie editing has become a popular phenomenon in contemporary culture, particularly among younger generation (Ozimek et al., 2023). To create idealized digital image in the virtual cyber space, individuals routinely employ readily available mobile tools to edit their photos post-production before posting selfies. For example, they apply filters to create a specific atmosphere, enlarge their eyes, remove skin blemishes, or adjust the facial contour through the face-slimming function (Wu, et al., 2024). This trend is particularly pronounced in China, where survey research indicates beauty-editing soft-wares have become standard installations on young women's smartphones (Fardouly et al., 2023). The report released by iResearch Consulting in 2020 indicates that as of December 2019, the number of active users of beauty camera apps reached nearly 300 million.Parallel phenomenons prevail in South Korea, where it has almost become an established habit for women to edit their selfies before uploading them (Burnell et al., 2021), demonstrating the global pervasiveness of this phenomenon across Eastern and Western digital landscapes. Gender differences in these behaviors are well-documented, with women are more likely to use beautification tools such as filters to beautify and retouch the photos they post on social media compared to men (Reed & Saunders, 2020). However, this widespread behavior raises important psychological concerns regarding potential distortions in self-perception and threats to mental well-being. It is essential that we maintain appropriate prudence and reflection while enjoying the convenience of technology. Therefore, understanding and exploring the underlying mechanisms of selfie editing not only helps us gain insights into the changes in contemporary culture but also prompts us to think about how to maintain personal mental health and the authenticity of the self while pursuing beauty. (Saiphoo & Vahedi, 2019). These developments necessitate scholarly attention to both the sociocultural drivers and psychological consequences of selfie-editing behaviors. The current investigation contributes to this discourse by examining how internalized beauty standards translate into digital appearance-modification practices through specific psychological pathways. Among them, internalization of beauty ideals has emerged as a prominent individual characteristic in the era of social media proliferation and is recognized as a significant predictor of selfie-editing behaviors among women (Erchull et al., 2013). Through repeated exposure to idealized beauty portrayals, women gradually assimilate and internalize these aesthetic standards, subsequently engaging in increased photo manipulation to bridge the perceived gap between their actual appearance and these internalized ideals (Bozzola et al., 2024). As a form of internalization of social attractiveness, the internalization of beauty ideals involves individuals adopting and comparing themselves against the idealized body types and facial features proliferated through social media platforms. In order to meet external evaluation standards and avoid negative comments, women take measures to make themselves closer to the standard image. Although they experience appearance anxiety influenced by the ideal images on social media, they also upload their carefully beautified and edited photos to social networking sites, further spreading this anxiety (Wolfe & Yakabovits, 2024). The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing With the advancement of technology, compared with traditional photos taken by others selfies endow the photographers with unprecedented control, allowing individuals to freely adjust their facial expressions, body postures, and composition angles to achieve the most satisfactory results (Ayhan et al., 2022). Selfie editing refers to the process in which an individual uses the built-in beauty function of the camera device or professional image editing software to conduct personalized beautification and editing of the selfie before uploading it to social media (Veldhuis et al., 2020). The process of selfie editing can be regarded as a virtual "cosmetic surgery", enabling individuals to get closer to their inner aesthetic ideals and ideal selves in a low-cost, painless, and instant way (Cohen et al., 2018). Therefore, the rise of selfie editing has opened up a brand-new path for individuals' online self-presentation (Chae, 2017). By means of photo editing software or applications, people are able to retouch the "imperfect" parts in the images before sharing their selfies online, and at the same time add idealized physical features, thus constructing a meticulously crafted self-image in the virtual world (Stefanone et al., 2019). The internalization of beauty ideals is a multi-dimensional psychological process that involves various aspects such as cognition, emotion, and behavior. By internalizing the ideal beauty standards advocated by society and the media, individuals may experience complex psychological changes ranging from self-identity to self-transformation (Mingoia et al., 2017). The study by Veldhuis et al. has demonstrated a close relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and their selfie editing behavior (Veldhuis et al., 2020). Existing research has confirmed that after repeated exposure to idealized beauty standards through social media platforms, individuals will internalize these narrow aesthetic norms as their self-evaluation criteria (Thompson et al., 2001; Fardouly et al., 2017). When they compare their real self-images with the internalized of ideal beauty and perceive the gap between them, they may develop the motivation to change their self-image presentation, and thus the selfie editing behavior increases (Sun, 2021). The Sociocultural Theory provides a fundamental framework for this phenomenon, posits that the triple influence system composed of the media, family, and peers continuously conveys and reinforces specific aesthetic standards. And individuals gradually internalize these external standards as their self-evaluation reference system through observational learning and social comparison (Thompson et al., 1999). In this process, the Objectification Theory further explains that once women internalize the aesthetic standards, they will exhibit continuous self-surveillance behavior. By frequently assessing the gap between themselves and the ideal standards, they are prompted to adopt strategies such as selfie editing to narrow this gap (Moradi & Huang, 2008). In addition, the Social Comparison Theory additionally explains the driving role of upward comparison. That is, after individuals are exposed to idealized images on social media, they will unconsciously compare their own appearances with those images, and the negative emotions generated by such comparison directly trigger selfie editing (Ramli et al., 2024). Empirical studies also show that individuals who deeply internalize these standards often exhibit stronger body dissatisfaction, and further triggering appearance modification behaviors including selfie editing (McLean et al., 2015). Based on this, this study proposes Hypothesis H1: The internalization of beauty ideals positively predicts the selfie editing of female college students. The mediating role of appearance anxiety The internalization of beauty ideals may also have an indirect effect on the selfie editing of female college students through appearance anxiety. When individuals compare with the meticulously designed appearance standards on social media, they may feel dissatisfied with their own appearance and fall into appearance anxiety due to the differences between themselves and these ideal images (Jung et al., 2022). Appearance anxiety, in essence, lies in individuals' excessive worry and compulsive attention to their own appearance, often manifested as repeated self-examination and persistent worry about their perceived imperfect appearance (Duran & Oz, 2022). Related research has shown that the internalization of beauty ideals has a positive predictive effect on appearance anxiety (Bozzola et al., 2024). The cognitive dissonance theory explains that individuals have a tendency to pursue cognitive consistency psychologically. When there is a discrepancy between their actual appearance and the internalized of ideal beauty, it creates a state of cognitive dissonance. Appearance anxiety is the emotional manifestation of this dissonant state (Wu et al., 2024). Individuals begin to overly focus on the inadequacies of their own appearance and may even feel dissatisfied with their originally normal physical features, thus leading to an increase in the level of appearance anxiety (Rodgers et al., 2020). A study by Chae also indicates that in order to meet the popular ideal beauty standards in society, female college students are often guided to examine and judge their own bodies. They will constantly adjust their bodies in the hope of achieving the beauty standards recognized by the public (Chae., 2017). However, this pursuit often leads them to form negative views of their own bodies, exacerbating their dissatisfaction and sense of shame towards their bodies (Gao et al., 2023). These findings collectively suggest that the internalization of beauty ideals systematically increases the susceptibility to appearance anxiety through multiple mechanisms, including the reshaping of individuals' self-cognitive architectures and the reinforcement of their propensities for social comparison. In short, the internalization of beauty ideals enhances female college students' negative evaluations and shame towards their own bodies. In addition, researchers have conducted studies on the influencing mechanisms of appearance anxiety on individuals' social functions and behaviors. The results indicate that appearance anxiety is an important predictive factor for selfie editing (Tiggemann et al., 2020). When individuals experience the specific emotional distress of appearance anxiety, they will develop a strong motivation to alleviate this uncomfortable state. As an immediately available digital coping strategy, selfie editing can temporarily reduce the anxiety experience by altering the visual self-representation (Rodgers et al., 2020). Based on the self-presentation theory, individuals have an innate need to project a positive and favorable image in front of others. When individuals are in a state of appearance anxiety, the unease triggered by the gap in appearance comparison prompts them to urgently seek ways to make up for and correct it (Twomey & O'Reilly, 2017). Selfie editing enables individuals to display a beautified and idealized self-image on virtual social platforms. This behavior fundamentally represents an individual's endeavor to fulfill their self-presentation requirements and mitigate the psychological stress stemming from appearance anxiety by exerting control over how others visually perceive them (Jung et al., 2022). From the perspective of cultural psychology, it is further revealed that in cultural environments that emphasize appearance management (such as South Korea and China), the effect of appearance anxiety on selfie editing reflects the shaping role of social norms on individuals' behavioral decisions (Lee & Lee, 2023). As the level of appearance anxiety increases, individuals will engage in selfie editing more frequently and intensively in order to imitate social examples. Previous experimental studies have also demonstrated that the activation levels of the anterior insula (responsible for processing physical discomfort) and the amygdala (the fear emotion center) in individuals experiencing appearance anxiety are significantly enhanced. However, selfie editing behavior can effectively reduce the activity levels of these brain regions, and at the same time activate the striatum (the reward center) to generate a sense of pleasure, leading to more frequent selfie editing behavior (Boursier & Gioia, 2022). Based on this, this study proposes Hypothesis H2: Appearance anxiety plays a mediating role between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing. The moderating role of self-concept clarity However, in reality, not all female college students who frequently internalize the ideal beauty standards will develop appearance anxiety (Yao et al., 2024). This suggests that the triggering of appearance anxiety by the internalization of beauty ideals may also be moderated by other factors. Previous studies have shown that when individuals are exposed to internalize the ideal beauty standards promoted by society, there are significant differences in the responses of individuals with different levels of self-concept clarity (Vartanian & Dey, 2013). Self-concept clarity refers to the degree of definiteness and consistency in an individual's self-cognition. This cognition is not only coherent within the individual but also demonstrates stability across different time periods (Campbell et al., 1996). Self-concept clarity plays a crucial role in an individual's psychological adjustment. It not only promotes the enhancement of positive psychological states but also acts as a buffer against stress, influencing the individual's interpretation of and coping strategies for stressful events (Carter & Vartanian, 2022). Empirical studies have indicated that individuals with higher self-concept clarity exhibit a more rational information processing pattern when confronted with the ideal beauty information disseminated on social media. They are able to distinguish the boundaries between social aesthetic standards and personal values, thereby reducing the frequency and intensity of upward social comparison (Vartanian & Dey, 2013). This cognitive buffering effect significantly weakens the predictive strength of the internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety. Furthermore, self-concept clarity plays a key regulatory function of the self-cognitive structure on emotional responses in the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. According to the self-discrepancy theory, individuals have three self-states: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self (Skowron, 2000). The actual self is the individual's cognition of the traits and attributes that they actually possess; the ideal self is the traits and attributes that the individual wishes to have, representing the goals and ideals that the individual pursues; the ought self is the traits and attributes that the individual believes they should possess, which are usually influenced by social norms and the expectations of others (Józefczyk, 2023). When individual perceives a discrepancy between the actual self and the ideal self, they will generate negative emotions. In the process of internalizing ideal beauty, individuals incorporate the ideal beauty standards advocated by society into their own ideal self or ought self (Watson, 2022). For individuals with high self-concept clarity, they can clearly distinguish between the actual self and the internalized ideal beauty standards. Even if they are aware of the differences, they can view them more objectively because they have a clear and stable cognition of their actual self, and thus will not develop excessive appearance anxiety (Saadat et al., 2017). In contrast, individuals with low self-concept clarity have difficulty distinguishing between the actual self and the ideal beauty standards. They tend to directly equate the ideal beauty standards with the state that they should achieve. When they find that the actual self does not match these standards, they will arise a large self-discrepancy, and lead to appearance anxiety (Dijk et al., 2014). Therefore, even if individuals have internalized the ideal beauty standards, those with higher self-concept clarity possess a more stable and consistent self-schema. This cognitive structure can effectively filter out the intrusive influence of external aesthetic standards, and they will not experience appearance anxiety due to the gap between their own appearance and the ideal beauty (Wang & Yu, 2023). Empirical research results also show that after internalizing the ideal images on social media, individuals with higher self-concept clarity experience fewer negative emotions such as appearance anxiety (Vartanian et al., 2025). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis H3: Self-concept clarity may moderate the pathway which the internalization of beauty ideals influences appearance anxiety. To sum up, the impact of the internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing is a complex process, involving the influence of multiple factors such as appearance anxiety and self-concept clarity. Therefore, exploring why female college students are so enthusiastic about editing their selfies, as well as the psychological motivations and social impacts behind this behavior, holds significant research value. This not only pertains to individuals' self-expression and self-presentation strategies but also relates to the ways of interaction and communication on social media. Understanding these behavioral patterns can help us gain a better understanding of the construction of self-identity in the digital age, and it plays an important role in deeply understanding women's selfie editing behavior, as well as their manifestations and impacts within the group of female college students. Method Participant The study employed a convenience sampling method to recruit female college students from three universities in Tianjin, China. Participants completed an anonymous online survey administered through the Wenjuanxing platform. A total of 1,240 questionnaires were distributed, with 1,212 valid responses retained after data screening (valid response rate = 98%). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 23 years (M = 20.10, SD = 1.02). Exclusion criteria included having any chronic or acute physical illnesses that might significantly affect body image perceptions. Demographic characteristics collected included age, academic year, geographical origin (urban/rural), and only-child status, as detailed in Table 1 . All participants provided informed consent prior to completing the survey. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Taiyuan University in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Participants were informed of their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis Variable 1 2 3 4 Internalization of beauty ideals 1 Selfie editing 0.32 *** 1 Appearance anxiety 0.64 *** 0.42 *** 1 Self-concept clarity -0.29 *** –0.28 *** –0.37 *** 1 Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 Measures Sociocultural attitudes towards appearance questionnaire The current study employed the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ), originally developed by Thompson et al. (1999) and subsequently translated and adapted into Chinese by Liu (2009). This 15-item scale comprises two distinct subscales: Items 1–6 measure Media Influence, while items 7–15 assess Internalization. Responses were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with items 3, 5, 6, 10, and 11 being reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate greater internalization of beauty ideals. In the present study, the scale demonstrated good reliability, with Cronbach's α coefficients of 0.78 for the Media Influence subscale, 0.81 for the Internalization subscale, and 0.84 for the full scale. Selfie editing questionnaire The Selfie-Editing Questionnaire, originally developed by Fox and Rooney (2015) and later adapted into Chinese by Meng et al. (2017), was used to assess the frequency of editing selfies before posting them on social media platforms. This 3-item instrument utilizes a 5-point response format (1 = never edit, 5 = always edit), with higher scores indicating more frequent selfie-editing behaviors. The questionnaire showed acceptable internal consistency in our sample (α = 0.67). Youth appearance anxiety scale Appearance anxiety was measured using the Youth Appearance Anxiety Scale revised by Luo et al. (2023). This 25-item instrument consists of four subscales: Facial Appearance Anxiety (items 1, 3–7), Body Shape Anxiety (items 8, 11, 14, 15, 17), Skin Anxiety (items 19–22), and Behavioral Engagement (items 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 23–25). Responses were recorded on a 7-point scale, with higher scores reflecting greater appearance-related anxiety. Excellent reliability was observed for all subscales: Facial Appearance Anxiety (α = 0.858), Body Shape Anxiety (α = 0.89), Skin Anxiety (α = 0.90), and Behavioral Engagement (α = 0.90). The full scale demonstrated exceptional internal consistency (α = 0.96). Self-concept clarity scale Self-concept clarity was assessed using the 12-item Self-Concept Clarity Scale (Campbell et al., 1996), which was culturally adapted and validated for Chinese adolescents by Niu et al. (2016). Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), with items 6 and 11 being positively scored and all other items reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate greater self-concept clarity. The scale showed good reliability in our sample (α = 0.88). Procedure The study protocol was implemented through the following steps: First, we programmed the survey using Wenjuanxing platform, incorporating all four measures (Youth Appearance Anxiety Scale, Selfie-Editing Questionnaire, SATAQ, and Self-Concept Clarity Scale). Subsequently, recruitment advertisements were distributed across multiple channels including social media platforms, university campuses, and online forums to attract participants with diverse demographic backgrounds. The recruitment materials explicitly stated the study purpose, content, estimated completion time, and participant rights to ensure informed consent. All responses were collected anonymously to protect participant confidentiality. Data Analysis The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Initial analyses included descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, independent samples t-tests, and regression analyses. For mediation analysis and moderated mediation analysis, we utilized the SPSS macro-PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), which employs bootstrapping procedures to test indirect effects. All statistical tests were two-tailed with α set at 0.05. Result Common Method Bias Test As this study employed self-report questionnaire measures, potential limitations related to consistency in testing environments and participant homogeneity warrant consideration. To rigorously assess the possible influence of common method bias, we conducted Harman's single-factor test. The results indicated that the first factor accounted for 17.51% of the total variance, which falls below the conventional threshold of 40%. This suggests that no single factor dominated the variability across observed measures, thereby indicating that common method bias did not constitute a substantial concern in the present study. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis Descriptive statistics and pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among demographic variables, internalization of beauty ideals, selfie-editing behaviors, appearance anxiety, and self-concept clarity in female college students (see Table 1 ). Results revealed a significant positive correlation between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing ( r = 0.32, p < 0.001), indicating that higher levels of internalization of beauty ideal were associated with more frequent selfie editing. Internalization of beauty ideals also showed a significant positive correlation with appearance anxiety ( r = 0.64, p < 0.001), suggesting that greater internalization of beauty ideals was related to more severe appearance anxiety. Appearance anxiety was significantly positively correlated with selfie editing ( r = 0.42, p < 0.001), demonstrating that individuals with higher levels of appearance anxiety engaged in more frequent selfie editing. Self-concept clarity was significantly negatively correlated with internalization of beauty ideals ( r = -0.29, p < 0.001), appearance anxiety ( r = -0.28, p < 0.001), and selfie-editing behaviors ( r = -0.37, p < 0.001). These significant correlations among selfie-editing and related variables support further model testing in subsequent analyses. Mediation Analysis After controlling for demographic variables, we examined the mediating role of appearance anxiety using Model 4 from Hayes' (2013) PROCESS macro. The analysis followed three steps: First, we tested the direct effect of internalization of beauty ideals (independent variable) on selfie editing (dependent variable). Second, we examined the effect of internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety (mediator). Third, we included both internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety as predictors of selfie editing. Results are presented in Table 2 . The analysis revealed that internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted selfie editing ( β = 0.57, p < 0.001). When appearance anxiety was included in the model, internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted higher levels of appearance anxiety ( β = 1.50, p < 0.001). Then, appearance anxiety significantly predicted more frequent selfie editing ( β = 0.29, p < 0.001). The direct effect of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing remained significant ( β = 0.14, p = 0.032), indicating that appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing. The mediation model is illustrated in Fig. 1 . Table 2 Analysis of the mediating effect of appearance anxiety in the influence of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Selfie editing Appearance anxiety Selfie editing β t β t β t Only child state 0.07 1.24 0.03 0.46 0.06 1.24 geographical origin –0.26 –4.66 *** –0.05 –0.95 –0.24 –4.66 *** Age 0.05 1.85* –0.01 –0.21 0.05 1.85 * Internalization of beauty ideals 0.57 10.92 *** 1.50 *** 28.10 *** 0.14 2.14 * Appearance anxiety 0.29 10.72 *** R 2 0.12 0.41 0.20 F 40.64 *** 210.61 58.56 Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 To further validate the mediation model, we conduct the test using the Bootstrap method (see Table 3 ). Results indicated that the direct effect accounted for 25% of the total effect, while the indirect effect through appearance anxiety accounted for 75%. The indirect effect of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie-editing through appearance anxiety was significant, with the effect size is 0.43. and a 95% bias-corrected confidence interval of [0.34, 0.53] that did not include zero. After accounting for the mediation effect, the direct effect remained significant (effect size = 0.14, 95% CI [0.01, 0.26]). These findings confirm that appearance anxiety partially mediates the relationship between beauty ideal internalization and selfie-editing behaviors among female college students, thereby supporting Hypothesis 2. Table 3 Significance test of the mediating effect: Bootstrap analysis Path Effect SE 95% confidence interval Relative effect size BootLLCI BootULCI Direct effect 0.14 0.06 0.01 0.26 0.25 Indirect effect 0.43 0.05 0.34 0.53 0.75 Total effect 0.57 0.05 0.47 0.67 Moderated Mediating Analysis We examined the moderated mediation model using PROCESS Model 7 (Hayes, 2013) with set the number of Bootstrap samples to 5000 times and the confidence interval to 95%. As presented in Table 4 , the analysis revealed that internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted appearance anxiety ( β = 2.85, p < 0.001). Importantly, the interaction term between internalization of beauty ideals and self-concept clarity significantly predicted appearance anxiety ( β = -0.52, p < 0.001), indicating that self-concept clarity moderated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. Specifically, these results demonstrate that self-concept clarity serves as a significant moderator in the indirect pathway from internalization of beauty ideals to selfie-editing behaviors through appearance anxiety. The negative coefficient of the interaction term suggests that higher levels of self-concept clarity attenuate the positive association between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. Table 4 Analysis of the moderated mediating effect Appearance anxiety Selfie editing β SE t β SE t geographical origin –0.04 0.05 –0.73 –0.24 0.05 –4.58 ** Age –0.02 0.02 –0.85 0.05 0.02 2.00 Only child state 0.05 0.05 0.88 0.06 0.05 1.15 Internalization of beauty ideals 2.85 0.22 12.84 *** 0.14 0.06 2.14 * Appearance anxiety 0.29 0.03 10.72 *** Internalization of beauty ideals×Self-concept clarity –0.52 0.08 –6.88 *** R 2 0.47 0.20 F 178.77 58.56 Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 To further elucidate the moderating role of self-concept clarity, we conducted a conditional process analysis examining the mediation effects at three levels of self-concept clarity: mean level, one standard deviation below the mean (low), and one standard deviation above the mean (high). As presented in Table 5 , the analysis revealed significant conditional indirect effects across all levels: For participants with low self-concept clarity (1 SD below mean), the indirect effect of beauty ideal internalization on selfie-editing through appearance anxiety was significant (effect = 1.64, SE = 0.07, 95% CI [1.51, 1.77]). Similarly, for those with high self-concept clarity (1 SD above mean), the indirect effect remained significant though attenuated (effect = 1.00, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.85, 1.14]). The index of moderated mediation was − 0.15 (95% CI [-0.14, -0.05]), confirming that self-concept clarity significantly moderated the mediation pathway. The negative coefficient indicates that higher self-concept clarity weakens the strength of the indirect effect of beauty ideal internalization on selfie-editing behaviors through appearance anxiety. These results support Hypothesis 3, demonstrating statistically significant moderated mediation. The conceptual model is illustrated in Fig. 2 . Table 5 Analysis of the effect of the internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety at different levels of self-concept clarity 95% confidence interval Self-concept clarity Effect SE BootLLCI BootULCI M – 1 SD 1.64 0.07 1.51 1.77 M 1.38 0.05 1.28 1.48 M + 1 SD 1.00 0.08 0.85 1.14 To further explicate the nature of the interaction between internalization of beauty ideals and self-concept clarity, we conducted simple slopes analysis (see Fig. 3 and Table 5 ). Results demonstrated that the positive association between beauty ideal internalization and appearance anxiety was significantly attenuated at higher levels of self-concept clarity. Specifically, under conditions of low self-concept clarity (1 SD below mean), beauty ideal internalization showed a strong positive association with appearance anxiety (Bsimple = 1.64, t = 24.81, p < 0.001). In contrast, this relationship was significantly weakened (though still positive) among participants with high self-concept clarity (1 SD above mean; Bsimple = 1.00, t = 13.22, p < 0.001). Discussion The impact of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing The correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing. Even after controlling for demographic variables (only-child status, geographical origin, and age), internalization of beauty ideals remained a significant positive predictor of selfie-editing, indicating that individuals with stronger internalization of beauty standards are more likely to engage in selfie editing to approximate their idealized self-presentation. This finding aligns with hypothesis 1 and previous research (Duan et al., 2022) and supports sociocultural theory that cultural norms significantly shape individual behaviors (Thompson et al., 1999). In the contemporary digital landscape, selfie editing has emerged as a prevalent means of self-expression and shape ideal image (Hao, 2024). The internalization of beauty ideals often correlates with body dissatisfaction and perfectionistic strivings (Ayhan et al., 2022), with research has shown that individuals who have highly internalized the standards of ideal beauty are more likely to manipulate their digital self-presentation to approach these idealized appearance standards (Duan et al., 2022). This phenomenon may stem from multiple psychological factors including appearance-related insecurity, evaluation apprehension, and the pursuit of digitally perfected ideals. Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1957) provides a framework for understanding this relationship, individuals have an innate desire to compare themselves with others. In social media environments, female college students engage in constant upward comparisons between their actual appearance .and internalized ideals through both posting selfies and viewing others' photos, potentially leading to self-objectification and increased appearance anxiety that motivates photo editing behaviors (Deng & Jiang, 2023). Social media is replete with a variety of highly retouched images of perfect appearances -when individuals internalize these unrealistic standards, they not only use them as evaluation criteria but also actively employ technological means to approximate these ideals in their self-presentation. Furthermore, feedback mechanisms such as likes, comments, and shares on social media platforms reinforce individuals' pursuit of ideal beauty. This is because selfies that are deemed to be more in line with the standards tend to receive more positive feedback, thus creating a positive incentive cycle and further triggers more selfie editing behavior among women. In conclusion, considering the complexity of the internalization of ideal beauty, which is one of the negative individual factors, and the complexity of the group of female college students, the formation mechanism of their selfie editing is actually more complex and diverse. Based on the current understanding of the main path from the internalization of ideal beauty to selfie editing, it is necessary for current research to combine with the cognitive dissonance theory and conduct an in-depth exploration of the mechanism of action of the mediating process. The mediating role of appearance anxiety The mediation analysis revealed that appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing behaviors among female college students. That suggest that internalization of ideal beauty can also have an indirect impact on selfie editing by influencing appearance anxiety. These findings position appearance anxiety as a critical mediating mechanism linking maladaptive traits (beauty ideal internalization) with negative behavioral outcomes (excessive selfie-editing), consistent with hypothesis 2 and previous research (Duan et al., 2022). The psychological process underlying this mediation appears multifaceted. When individuals internalize sociocultural beauty standards as personal aesthetic benchmarks (Gao et al., 2023), they frequently develop diminished satisfaction with their actual appearance, resulting in appearance anxiety (Jung et al., 2022). This anxiety stems from concerns about failing to meet idealized standards and fears of negative social evaluation, creating the "appearance discrepancy-anxiety cycle." Empirical studies have also shown that when women are unable to achieve their own ideal images, this internalization may lead to individuals' dissatisfaction and anxiety about their own appearance (White & Warren, 2014). Importantly, such anxiety extends beyond mental health implications, potentially influencing social interactions, career development, and daily decision-making (Mingoia et al., 2017). In this context, selfie-editing emerges as a prevalent coping strategy. Individuals employ various digital tools (e.g., skin smoothing, body reshaping, facial contouring) to bridge the gap between their actual and idealized appearance (Lau & Idang, 2022). This behavior is consistent with the self-presentation theory, which posits that individuals have a need to present a positive image of themselves in front of others (Dakanalis et al., 2016). Appearance anxiety drives individuals to attempt to bridge the gap between their actual appearance and the ideal beauty through selfie editing, in the hope of gaining the recognition of others and thereby alleviating the anxiety within them (Boursier & Gioia, 2020). This behavior reflects individuals seeking external validation psychologically, thereby enhancing positive self-evaluation and self-affirmation. In addition, female college students are in a crucial period of self-identity construction and value formation. They are highly active on social media platforms and are more likely to be exposed to the single and extreme images of ideal beauty promoted by various media (Terán et al., 2020). Consequently, they tend to internalize these standards into their self-cognitive systems. Moreover, due to the innate high level of attention that females pay to their own appearance, appearance anxiety is more prevalent and pronounced among them. As one of the main groups that post selfies on social media, when faced with appearance anxiety, individuals tend to focus their attention on their own appearance flaws, thereby enhancing their pursuit of a perfect appearance, that is manifested through the editing selfies (Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2021). Therefore, the mediating role of appearance anxiety inspires us to assist female college students in identifying and challenging the negative cognitions that arise from the internalization of ideal beauty, such as the notion that "beauty is only defined by meeting specific standards." By doing so, we can reduce the occurrence of appearance anxiety. Social media platforms can optimize their algorithms to decrease the promotion of excessively idealized beauty images, thereby preventing the further reinforcement of the internalization of ideal beauty among female college students. Meanwhile, it is advisable to encourage female college students to participate in offline social activities, which can divert their excessive attention from their appearance, broaden their social horizons, and enable them to reconstruct a positive self-cognition through diverse interpersonal interactions. This approach can weaken appearance anxiety and, in turn, reduce the behavior of overly relying on selfie editing to meet psychological needs. Moderating role of self-concept clarity The current findings demonstrate that self-concept clarity serves as a significant negative moderator in the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. Specifically, the analysis revealed a conditional effect whereby internalization of beauty ideals showed a stronger positive association with appearance anxiety at lower levels of self-concept clarity compared to higher levels. This pattern suggests that self-concept clarity buffers the detrimental psychological effects of internalization of beauty ideals, consistent with hypothesis 3 and previous research (Ozimek et al., 2023). This may be because self-concept clarity is closely related to women's psychological and social functions, reflecting the degree to which women understand and cognize themselves (Carter & Vartanian, 2022). From a cognitive perspective, self-concept clarity serves as a cognitive filter that reduces susceptibility to external aesthetic standards (Saadat et al., 2017). When individuals have a relatively clear self-concept, they may be more capable of resisting the influence of external ideal beauty standards on their self-worth, thereby reducing the negative impact of the internalization of ideal beauty on appearance anxiety (Dijk et al., 2014). That is to say, individuals with higher self-concept clarity are likely to adhere more firmly to their own values and aesthetic standards, and will not be easily swayed by the ideal beauty propagated in social media or social culture. This helps them maintain a more stable self-image and a lower level of appearance anxiety. Moreover, self-concept clarity not only provide a stable reference point for self-evaluation that diminishes reliance on appearance-based feedback, but also facilitate more adaptive social media engagement patterns where users actively share authentic self-presentations rather than passively consuming idealized content (Bechtoldt et al., 2010). Empirical evidence supports this interpretation. Women with higher self-concept clarity demonstrate more purposeful and selective engagement with beauty-related content, suggesting they process such information through existing self-knowledge frameworks rather than uncritical internalization. Conversely, individuals with lower self-concept clarity show increased appearance management behaviors, likely reflecting attempts to compensate for self-uncertainty through external validation (Saadat et al., 2017). Clinical implications highlight the potential for interventions targeting self-concept development as a protective factor against appearance-related distress (Vartanian et al., 2025). Limitations and future research First, this study mainly employed the questionnaire survey method to obtain data by collecting the subjective reports of the participants. Its inherent subjective biases may affect the accuracy of the research results. Future studies could consider using diverse research methods, such as the interview method, experimental designs, and mixed methods. These approaches can capture the inner worlds of the participants from different perspectives, providing more objective and comprehensive data viewpoints. Second, inherently static nature of the cross-sectional research design restricts our exploration of the causal relationships between variables and our in-depth understanding of the changing trajectories of psychological characteristics during different developmental stages of adolescents. Future research could make a longitudinal tracking design, repeatedly observing the same group of participants over a long-time span. This would enable an in-depth exploration of the dynamic psychological development of adolescents during the growth process and the changes in the relationships among various variables over time. Third, this study primarily selected female college students as the research subjects. However, existing literature indicates that the scope of the influence of the internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing is gradually expanding to younger age groups. That is, middle school students and even primary school students are starting to exhibit selfie editing behavior, and the underlying mechanisms are also worthy of in-depth exploration. In the future, the sample size can be expanded, and research can be conducted on differences among different age groups, school types (vocational schools, private schools), and countries to test the generalizability of the experimental results. Fourth, this study only explored the occurrence of selfie editing behavior from the perspective of individual factors. In the future, in-depth exploration can be carried out from other different angles, such as family factors (parental parenting, parent-child relationships) and social factors (peer relationships, school connection), further enriching the internal mechanisms between them. Conclusion (1) Female college students with a more severe internalization of beauty ideals tend to edit their selfies more frequently. (2) Female college students who have internalized the beauty ideals will develop appearance anxiety, which in turn leads them to edit their selfies. (3) Female college students with a higher level of self-concept clarity are able to mitigate the negative impact of the internalization of ideal beauty on appearance anxiety. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was authorized by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. The approval date is 2024, and the ethical approval number is TYLL2024[K] No. 055. This study strictly adhered to the ethical guidelines outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided written informed consent prior to data collection, which explicitly detailed the research purpose, voluntary participation principles, and data anonymization procedures. Participants retained the right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Personally identifiable data (e.g., questionnaire responses) were stored in encrypted formats accessible only to the research team. Analytical results were aggregated to ensure individual identities remained untraceable. Consent for publication All participants explicitly consented to the publication of anonymized research data collected during this study. Individual identifiers (e.g., names, contact information) were permanently removed from the dataset prior to analysis, and results are reported in aggregated form to ensure participant confidentiality. No personally identifiable details, images, or direct quotations are included in the manuscript. The authors affirm that all co-authors have reviewed the final version of the manuscript and approved its submission for publication. Availability of data and material The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions and ethical considerations as required by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Declaration of Helsinki. However, de-identified data can be shared with researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal and meet the criteria for access to confidential data. The data will be shared for the sole purpose of reproducing the results presented in this study and will be subject to a data sharing agreement that outlines the terms and conditions of use. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper. No financial support or benefits were received from any organization or entity that could be perceived as influencing the design, conduct, analysis, or reporting of this study. All authors affirm that the research was conducted in an unbiased manner, and the findings are presented objectively without any external influence. Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The study was conducted using institutional resources and the personal contributions of the authors. All aspects of the research, including design, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation, were independently carried out without external financial support. Author contributions Statement LL, JPZ conceived and designed the study, participated in data collection, conducted the statistical analysis, and drafted the initial manuscript. SSL contributed to the study design, provided valuable insights in the data analysis. JPZ, SSL assisted in data collection, verified the accuracy of the data, and participated in the interpretation of the results. LL reviewed and edited the manuscript, and contributed to the final version with important suggestions regarding the discussion and conclusion sections. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript, and have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Acknowledgement We extend our sincere gratitude to all participants who generously contributed their time and insights to this study, making this research possible. We also thank Taiyuan University for their logistical support and access to resources during data collection. Special thanks to Ling Liu for their invaluable assistance in statistical analysis and methodological guidance. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6381601","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":455791856,"identity":"89dd8be5-2a48-43e3-92e7-0c2304e77b8e","order_by":0,"name":"Junping Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"taiyuan university","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Junping","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":455791857,"identity":"fd6e9693-468b-477c-864a-c3baa6be32f5","order_by":1,"name":"Sisi Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sisi","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":455791858,"identity":"68080288-765f-4264-a9b6-13932e149fb5","order_by":2,"name":"ling Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNvnzjx98MPhXv7+9+eCDhIoawlr4JHjYDGcUHGDcwHMs2eDBmWOEtchJ8DBIc3wAapHwMZN82MJMhMOkew8YMxjcYTaXYDCrSGxgY+Bv707Ar0XmXMLjAoNnbJazG9JuJO6QYZA4c3YDfi0MCQbGMwyYeRjuHDh2I/EMG4OBRC5hLdI8BswSDDcS2woS25iJ0CKRA9Jy2MDgRjIbA3FaeI6lGc4wSEuQ7DnGLJFw5hgPQb/ItzcffvDhj00CP3v/x48/Kmrk+Nt78WvBADykKR8Fo2AUjIJRgBUAAAp1TQv6Mz7MAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"ling","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-05 10:53:26","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82795724,"identity":"dd428ce1-4a3e-4382-9969-a99908cd5065","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-15 10:36:17","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":32361,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe mediating effect model\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6381601/v1/9054a819adadd65517d67f5f.png"},{"id":82795726,"identity":"da71f77e-8561-4f2d-96a3-ce0e44ea0233","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-15 10:36:17","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":41345,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe moderated mediating model\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6381601/v1/8c7613852d1692454c300c35.png"},{"id":82795725,"identity":"a2a6d4ba-a5f8-4232-8b63-54456d7e8321","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-15 10:36:17","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":69097,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe moderating role of appearance anxiety in the influence of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6381601/v1/b9725d7837174d31d13ff02f.png"},{"id":82799626,"identity":"5a9b04c6-9bfe-4bc0-8fde-8444d28577d0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-15 11:00:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1187298,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6381601/v1/48561a0d-b1f4-42a9-b7d0-f6f3837dceea.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students: the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eWith the vigorous development of social media platforms and the widespread popularity of various social software, selfie editing has become a popular phenomenon in contemporary culture, particularly among younger generation (Ozimek et al., 2023). To create idealized digital image in the virtual cyber space, individuals routinely employ readily available mobile tools to edit their photos post-production before posting selfies. For example, they apply filters to create a specific atmosphere, enlarge their eyes, remove skin blemishes, or adjust the facial contour through the face-slimming function (Wu, et al., 2024). This trend is particularly pronounced in China, where survey research indicates beauty-editing soft-wares have become standard installations on young women's smartphones (Fardouly et al., 2023). The report released by iResearch Consulting in 2020 indicates that as of December 2019, the number of active users of beauty camera apps reached nearly 300\u0026nbsp;million.Parallel phenomenons prevail in South Korea, where it has almost become an established habit for women to edit their selfies before uploading them (Burnell et al., 2021), demonstrating the global pervasiveness of this phenomenon across Eastern and Western digital landscapes. Gender differences in these behaviors are well-documented, with women are more likely to use beautification tools such as filters to beautify and retouch the photos they post on social media compared to men (Reed \u0026amp; Saunders, 2020). However, this widespread behavior raises important psychological concerns regarding potential distortions in self-perception and threats to mental well-being. It is essential that we maintain appropriate prudence and reflection while enjoying the convenience of technology. Therefore, understanding and exploring the underlying mechanisms of selfie editing not only helps us gain insights into the changes in contemporary culture but also prompts us to think about how to maintain personal mental health and the authenticity of the self while pursuing beauty. (Saiphoo \u0026amp; Vahedi, 2019).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese developments necessitate scholarly attention to both the sociocultural drivers and psychological consequences of selfie-editing behaviors. The current investigation contributes to this discourse by examining how internalized beauty standards translate into digital appearance-modification practices through specific psychological pathways. Among them, internalization of beauty ideals has emerged as a prominent individual characteristic in the era of social media proliferation and is recognized as a significant predictor of selfie-editing behaviors among women (Erchull et al., 2013). Through repeated exposure to idealized beauty portrayals, women gradually assimilate and internalize these aesthetic standards, subsequently engaging in increased photo manipulation to bridge the perceived gap between their actual appearance and these internalized ideals (Bozzola et al., 2024). As a form of internalization of social attractiveness, the internalization of beauty ideals involves individuals adopting and comparing themselves against the idealized body types and facial features proliferated through social media platforms. In order to meet external evaluation standards and avoid negative comments, women take measures to make themselves closer to the standard image. Although they experience appearance anxiety influenced by the ideal images on social media, they also upload their carefully beautified and edited photos to social networking sites, further spreading this anxiety (Wolfe \u0026amp; Yakabovits, 2024).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the advancement of technology, compared with traditional photos taken by others selfies endow the photographers with unprecedented control, allowing individuals to freely adjust their facial expressions, body postures, and composition angles to achieve the most satisfactory results (Ayhan et al., 2022). Selfie editing refers to the process in which an individual uses the built-in beauty function of the camera device or professional image editing software to conduct personalized beautification and editing of the selfie before uploading it to social media (Veldhuis et al., 2020). The process of selfie editing can be regarded as a virtual \"cosmetic surgery\", enabling individuals to get closer to their inner aesthetic ideals and ideal selves in a low-cost, painless, and instant way (Cohen et al., 2018). Therefore, the rise of selfie editing has opened up a brand-new path for individuals' online self-presentation (Chae, 2017). By means of photo editing software or applications, people are able to retouch the \"imperfect\" parts in the images before sharing their selfies online, and at the same time add idealized physical features, thus constructing a meticulously crafted self-image in the virtual world (Stefanone et al., 2019).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe internalization of beauty ideals is a multi-dimensional psychological process that involves various aspects such as cognition, emotion, and behavior. By internalizing the ideal beauty standards advocated by society and the media, individuals may experience complex psychological changes ranging from self-identity to self-transformation (Mingoia et al., 2017). The study by Veldhuis et al. has demonstrated a close relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and their selfie editing behavior (Veldhuis et al., 2020). Existing research has confirmed that after repeated exposure to idealized beauty standards through social media platforms, individuals will internalize these narrow aesthetic norms as their self-evaluation criteria (Thompson et al., 2001; Fardouly et al., 2017). When they compare their real self-images with the internalized of ideal beauty and perceive the gap between them, they may develop the motivation to change their self-image presentation, and thus the selfie editing behavior increases (Sun, 2021). The Sociocultural Theory provides a fundamental framework for this phenomenon, posits that the triple influence system composed of the media, family, and peers continuously conveys and reinforces specific aesthetic standards. And individuals gradually internalize these external standards as their self-evaluation reference system through observational learning and social comparison (Thompson et al., 1999). In this process, the Objectification Theory further explains that once women internalize the aesthetic standards, they will exhibit continuous self-surveillance behavior. By frequently assessing the gap between themselves and the ideal standards, they are prompted to adopt strategies such as selfie editing to narrow this gap (Moradi \u0026amp; Huang, 2008). In addition, the Social Comparison Theory additionally explains the driving role of upward comparison. That is, after individuals are exposed to idealized images on social media, they will unconsciously compare their own appearances with those images, and the negative emotions generated by such comparison directly trigger selfie editing (Ramli et al., 2024). Empirical studies also show that individuals who deeply internalize these standards often exhibit stronger body dissatisfaction, and further triggering appearance modification behaviors including selfie editing (McLean et al., 2015). Based on this, this study proposes Hypothesis H1: The internalization of beauty ideals positively predicts the selfie editing of female college students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eThe mediating role of appearance anxiety\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe internalization of beauty ideals may also have an indirect effect on the selfie editing of female college students through appearance anxiety. When individuals compare with the meticulously designed appearance standards on social media, they may feel dissatisfied with their own appearance and fall into appearance anxiety due to the differences between themselves and these ideal images (Jung et al., 2022). Appearance anxiety, in essence, lies in individuals' excessive worry and compulsive attention to their own appearance, often manifested as repeated self-examination and persistent worry about their perceived imperfect appearance (Duran \u0026amp; Oz, 2022). Related research has shown that the internalization of beauty ideals has a positive predictive effect on appearance anxiety (Bozzola et al., 2024). The cognitive dissonance theory explains that individuals have a tendency to pursue cognitive consistency psychologically. When there is a discrepancy between their actual appearance and the internalized of ideal beauty, it creates a state of cognitive dissonance. Appearance anxiety is the emotional manifestation of this dissonant state (Wu et al., 2024). Individuals begin to overly focus on the inadequacies of their own appearance and may even feel dissatisfied with their originally normal physical features, thus leading to an increase in the level of appearance anxiety (Rodgers et al., 2020). A study by Chae also indicates that in order to meet the popular ideal beauty standards in society, female college students are often guided to examine and judge their own bodies. They will constantly adjust their bodies in the hope of achieving the beauty standards recognized by the public (Chae., 2017). However, this pursuit often leads them to form negative views of their own bodies, exacerbating their dissatisfaction and sense of shame towards their bodies (Gao et al., 2023). These findings collectively suggest that the internalization of beauty ideals systematically increases the susceptibility to appearance anxiety through multiple mechanisms, including the reshaping of individuals' self-cognitive architectures and the reinforcement of their propensities for social comparison. In short, the internalization of beauty ideals enhances female college students' negative evaluations and shame towards their own bodies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn addition, researchers have conducted studies on the influencing mechanisms of appearance anxiety on individuals' social functions and behaviors. The results indicate that appearance anxiety is an important predictive factor for selfie editing (Tiggemann et al., 2020). When individuals experience the specific emotional distress of appearance anxiety, they will develop a strong motivation to alleviate this uncomfortable state. As an immediately available digital coping strategy, selfie editing can temporarily reduce the anxiety experience by altering the visual self-representation (Rodgers et al., 2020). Based on the self-presentation theory, individuals have an innate need to project a positive and favorable image in front of others. When individuals are in a state of appearance anxiety, the unease triggered by the gap in appearance comparison prompts them to urgently seek ways to make up for and correct it (Twomey \u0026amp; O'Reilly, 2017). Selfie editing enables individuals to display a beautified and idealized self-image on virtual social platforms. This behavior fundamentally represents an individual's endeavor to fulfill their self-presentation requirements and mitigate the psychological stress stemming from appearance anxiety by exerting control over how others visually perceive them (Jung et al., 2022). From the perspective of cultural psychology, it is further revealed that in cultural environments that emphasize appearance management (such as South Korea and China), the effect of appearance anxiety on selfie editing reflects the shaping role of social norms on individuals' behavioral decisions (Lee \u0026amp; Lee, 2023). As the level of appearance anxiety increases, individuals will engage in selfie editing more frequently and intensively in order to imitate social examples. Previous experimental studies have also demonstrated that the activation levels of the anterior insula (responsible for processing physical discomfort) and the amygdala (the fear emotion center) in individuals experiencing appearance anxiety are significantly enhanced. However, selfie editing behavior can effectively reduce the activity levels of these brain regions, and at the same time activate the striatum (the reward center) to generate a sense of pleasure, leading to more frequent selfie editing behavior (Boursier \u0026amp; Gioia, 2022). Based on this, this study proposes Hypothesis H2: Appearance anxiety plays a mediating role between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe moderating role of self-concept clarity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, in reality, not all female college students who frequently internalize the ideal beauty standards will develop appearance anxiety (Yao et al., 2024). This suggests that the triggering of appearance anxiety by the internalization of beauty ideals may also be moderated by other factors. Previous studies have shown that when individuals are exposed to internalize the ideal beauty standards promoted by society, there are significant differences in the responses of individuals with different levels of self-concept clarity (Vartanian \u0026amp; Dey, 2013). Self-concept clarity refers to the degree of definiteness and consistency in an individual's self-cognition. This cognition is not only coherent within the individual but also demonstrates stability across different time periods (Campbell et al., 1996). Self-concept clarity plays a crucial role in an individual's psychological adjustment. It not only promotes the enhancement of positive psychological states but also acts as a buffer against stress, influencing the individual's interpretation of and coping strategies for stressful events (Carter \u0026amp; Vartanian, 2022). Empirical studies have indicated that individuals with higher self-concept clarity exhibit a more rational information processing pattern when confronted with the ideal beauty information disseminated on social media. They are able to distinguish the boundaries between social aesthetic standards and personal values, thereby reducing the frequency and intensity of upward social comparison (Vartanian \u0026amp; Dey, 2013). This cognitive buffering effect significantly weakens the predictive strength of the internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFurthermore, self-concept clarity plays a key regulatory function of the self-cognitive structure on emotional responses in the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. According to the self-discrepancy theory, individuals have three self-states: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self (Skowron, 2000). The actual self is the individual's cognition of the traits and attributes that they actually possess; the ideal self is the traits and attributes that the individual wishes to have, representing the goals and ideals that the individual pursues; the ought self is the traits and attributes that the individual believes they should possess, which are usually influenced by social norms and the expectations of others (J\u0026oacute;zefczyk, 2023). When individual perceives a discrepancy between the actual self and the ideal self, they will generate negative emotions. In the process of internalizing ideal beauty, individuals incorporate the ideal beauty standards advocated by society into their own ideal self or ought self (Watson, 2022). For individuals with high self-concept clarity, they can clearly distinguish between the actual self and the internalized ideal beauty standards. Even if they are aware of the differences, they can view them more objectively because they have a clear and stable cognition of their actual self, and thus will not develop excessive appearance anxiety (Saadat et al., 2017). In contrast, individuals with low self-concept clarity have difficulty distinguishing between the actual self and the ideal beauty standards. They tend to directly equate the ideal beauty standards with the state that they should achieve. When they find that the actual self does not match these standards, they will arise a large self-discrepancy, and lead to appearance anxiety (Dijk et al., 2014). Therefore, even if individuals have internalized the ideal beauty standards, those with higher self-concept clarity possess a more stable and consistent self-schema. This cognitive structure can effectively filter out the intrusive influence of external aesthetic standards, and they will not experience appearance anxiety due to the gap between their own appearance and the ideal beauty (Wang \u0026amp; Yu, 2023). Empirical research results also show that after internalizing the ideal images on social media, individuals with higher self-concept clarity experience fewer negative emotions such as appearance anxiety (Vartanian et al., 2025). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis H3: Self-concept clarity may moderate the pathway which the internalization of beauty ideals influences appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo sum up, the impact of the internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing is a complex process, involving the influence of multiple factors such as appearance anxiety and self-concept clarity. Therefore, exploring why female college students are so enthusiastic about editing their selfies, as well as the psychological motivations and social impacts behind this behavior, holds significant research value. This not only pertains to individuals' self-expression and self-presentation strategies but also relates to the ways of interaction and communication on social media. Understanding these behavioral patterns can help us gain a better understanding of the construction of self-identity in the digital age, and it plays an important role in deeply understanding women's selfie editing behavior, as well as their manifestations and impacts within the group of female college students.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Method","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eParticipant\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study employed a convenience sampling method to recruit female college students from three universities in Tianjin, China. Participants completed an anonymous online survey administered through the Wenjuanxing platform. A total of 1,240 questionnaires were distributed, with 1,212 valid responses retained after data screening (valid response rate = 98%). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 23 years (M = 20.10, SD = 1.02). Exclusion criteria included having any chronic or acute physical illnesses that might significantly affect body image perceptions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic characteristics collected included age, academic year, geographical origin (urban/rural), and only-child status, as detailed in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. All participants provided informed consent prior to completing the survey. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Taiyuan University in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Participants were informed of their right to withdraw at any time without penalty.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics and correlation analysis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternalization of beauty ideals\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelfie editing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.32\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.64\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.42\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-concept clarity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.29\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.28\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.37\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"5\"\u003eNote: \u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.05, \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMeasures\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSociocultural attitudes towards appearance questionnaire\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe current study employed the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ), originally developed by Thompson et al. (1999) and subsequently translated and adapted into Chinese by Liu (2009). This 15-item scale comprises two distinct subscales: Items 1–6 measure Media Influence, while items 7–15 assess Internalization. Responses were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with items 3, 5, 6, 10, and 11 being reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate greater internalization of beauty ideals. In the present study, the scale demonstrated good reliability, with Cronbach's α coefficients of 0.78 for the Media Influence subscale, 0.81 for the Internalization subscale, and 0.84 for the full scale.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSelfie editing questionnaire\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Selfie-Editing Questionnaire, originally developed by Fox and Rooney (2015) and later adapted into Chinese by Meng et al. (2017), was used to assess the frequency of editing selfies before posting them on social media platforms. This 3-item instrument utilizes a 5-point response format (1 = never edit, 5 = always edit), with higher scores indicating more frequent selfie-editing behaviors. The questionnaire showed acceptable internal consistency in our sample (α = 0.67).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eYouth appearance anxiety scale\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety was measured using the Youth Appearance Anxiety Scale revised by Luo et al. (2023). This 25-item instrument consists of four subscales: Facial Appearance Anxiety (items 1, 3–7), Body Shape Anxiety (items 8, 11, 14, 15, 17), Skin Anxiety (items 19–22), and Behavioral Engagement (items 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 23–25). Responses were recorded on a 7-point scale, with higher scores reflecting greater appearance-related anxiety. Excellent reliability was observed for all subscales: Facial Appearance Anxiety (α = 0.858), Body Shape Anxiety (α = 0.89), Skin Anxiety (α = 0.90), and Behavioral Engagement (α = 0.90). The full scale demonstrated exceptional internal consistency (α = 0.96).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSelf-concept clarity scale\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-concept clarity was assessed using the 12-item Self-Concept Clarity Scale (Campbell et al., 1996), which was culturally adapted and validated for Chinese adolescents by Niu et al. (2016). Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), with items 6 and 11 being positively scored and all other items reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate greater self-concept clarity. The scale showed good reliability in our sample (α = 0.88).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eProcedure\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study protocol was implemented through the following steps: First, we programmed the survey using Wenjuanxing platform, incorporating all four measures (Youth Appearance Anxiety Scale, Selfie-Editing Questionnaire, SATAQ, and Self-Concept Clarity Scale). Subsequently, recruitment advertisements were distributed across multiple channels including social media platforms, university campuses, and online forums to attract participants with diverse demographic backgrounds. The recruitment materials explicitly stated the study purpose, content, estimated completion time, and participant rights to ensure informed consent. All responses were collected anonymously to protect participant confidentiality.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eData Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Initial analyses included descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, independent samples t-tests, and regression analyses. For mediation analysis and moderated mediation analysis, we utilized the SPSS macro-PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), which employs bootstrapping procedures to test indirect effects. All statistical tests were two-tailed with α set at 0.05.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e "},{"header":"Result","content":"\u003ch2\u003eCommon Method Bias Test\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs this study employed self-report questionnaire measures, potential limitations related to consistency in testing environments and participant homogeneity warrant consideration. To rigorously assess the possible influence of common method bias, we conducted Harman's single-factor test. The results indicated that the first factor accounted for 17.51% of the total variance, which falls below the conventional threshold of 40%. This suggests that no single factor dominated the variability across observed measures, thereby indicating that common method bias did not constitute a substantial concern in the present study.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDescriptive statistics and correlation analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics and pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among demographic variables, internalization of beauty ideals, selfie-editing behaviors, appearance anxiety, and self-concept clarity in female college students (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Results revealed a significant positive correlation between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = 0.32, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), indicating that higher levels of internalization of beauty ideal were associated with more frequent selfie editing. Internalization of beauty ideals also showed a significant positive correlation with appearance anxiety (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = 0.64, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), suggesting that greater internalization of beauty ideals was related to more severe appearance anxiety. Appearance anxiety was significantly positively correlated with selfie editing (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = 0.42, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), demonstrating that individuals with higher levels of appearance anxiety engaged in more frequent selfie editing. Self-concept clarity was significantly negatively correlated with internalization of beauty ideals (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.29, p \u0026lt; 0.001), appearance anxiety (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.28, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), and selfie-editing behaviors (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.37, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001). These significant correlations among selfie-editing and related variables support further model testing in subsequent analyses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMediation Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter controlling for demographic variables, we examined the mediating role of appearance anxiety using Model 4 from Hayes' (2013) PROCESS macro. The analysis followed three steps: First, we tested the direct effect of internalization of beauty ideals (independent variable) on selfie editing (dependent variable). Second, we examined the effect of internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety (mediator). Third, we included both internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety as predictors of selfie editing. Results are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. The analysis revealed that internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted selfie editing (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = 0.57, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001). When appearance anxiety was included in the model, internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted higher levels of appearance anxiety (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = 1.50, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001). Then, appearance anxiety significantly predicted more frequent selfie editing (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = 0.29, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001). The direct effect of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing remained significant (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = 0.14, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.032), indicating that appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing. The mediation model is illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnalysis of the mediating effect of appearance anxiety in the influence of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelfie editing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelfie editing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnly child state\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003egeographical origin\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–4.66\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.95\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–4.66\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.85*\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.85\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternalization of beauty ideals\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.92\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.50\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.10\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.14\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.72\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40.64\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e210.61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"7\"\u003eNote: \u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.05, \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further validate the mediation model, we conduct the test using the Bootstrap method (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). Results indicated that the direct effect accounted for 25% of the total effect, while the indirect effect through appearance anxiety accounted for 75%. The indirect effect of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie-editing through appearance anxiety was significant, with the effect size is 0.43. and a 95% bias-corrected confidence interval of [0.34, 0.53] that did not include zero. After accounting for the mediation effect, the direct effect remained significant (effect size = 0.14, 95% CI [0.01, 0.26]). These findings confirm that appearance anxiety partially mediates the relationship between beauty ideal internalization and selfie-editing behaviors among female college students, thereby supporting Hypothesis 2.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSignificance test of the mediating effect: Bootstrap analysis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePath\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95% confidence interval\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelative effect size\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBootLLCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBootULCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDirect effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndirect effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.53\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ch2\u003eModerated Mediating Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe examined the moderated mediation model using PROCESS Model 7 (Hayes, 2013) with set the number of Bootstrap samples to 5000 times and the confidence interval to 95%. As presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, the analysis revealed that internalization of beauty ideals significantly predicted appearance anxiety (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = 2.85, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001). Importantly, the interaction term between internalization of beauty ideals and self-concept clarity significantly predicted appearance anxiety (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.52, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), indicating that self-concept clarity moderated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. Specifically, these results demonstrate that self-concept clarity serves as a significant moderator in the indirect pathway from internalization of beauty ideals to selfie-editing behaviors through appearance anxiety. The negative coefficient of the interaction term suggests that higher levels of self-concept clarity attenuate the positive association between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnalysis of the moderated mediating effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelfie editing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003egeographical origin\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.04\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–4.58\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnly child state\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternalization of beauty ideals\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.84\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.14\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppearance anxiety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.72\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternalization of beauty ideals×Self-concept clarity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–0.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e–6.88\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e178.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"7\"\u003eNote: \u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.05, \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further elucidate the moderating role of self-concept clarity, we conducted a conditional process analysis examining the mediation effects at three levels of self-concept clarity: mean level, one standard deviation below the mean (low), and one standard deviation above the mean (high). As presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, the analysis revealed significant conditional indirect effects across all levels: For participants with low self-concept clarity (1 SD below mean), the indirect effect of beauty ideal internalization on selfie-editing through appearance anxiety was significant (effect = 1.64, SE = 0.07, 95% CI [1.51, 1.77]). Similarly, for those with high self-concept clarity (1 SD above mean), the indirect effect remained significant though attenuated (effect = 1.00, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.85, 1.14]). The index of moderated mediation was − 0.15 (95% CI [-0.14, -0.05]), confirming that self-concept clarity significantly moderated the mediation pathway. The negative coefficient indicates that higher self-concept clarity weakens the strength of the indirect effect of beauty ideal internalization on selfie-editing behaviors through appearance anxiety. These results support Hypothesis 3, demonstrating statistically significant moderated mediation. The conceptual model is illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnalysis of the effect of the internalization of beauty ideals on appearance anxiety at different levels of self-concept clarity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95% confidence interval\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelf-concept clarity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBootLLCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBootULCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e – 1 \u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.51\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM +\u003c/em\u003e 1 \u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further explicate the nature of the interaction between internalization of beauty ideals and self-concept clarity, we conducted simple slopes analysis (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e and Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). Results demonstrated that the positive association between beauty ideal internalization and appearance anxiety was significantly attenuated at higher levels of self-concept clarity. Specifically, under conditions of low self-concept clarity (1 SD below mean), beauty ideal internalization showed a strong positive association with appearance anxiety (Bsimple = 1.64, t = 24.81, p \u0026lt; 0.001). In contrast, this relationship was significantly weakened (though still positive) among participants with high self-concept clarity (1 SD above mean; Bsimple = 1.00, t = 13.22, p \u0026lt; 0.001).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eThe impact of internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing. Even after controlling for demographic variables (only-child status, geographical origin, and age), internalization of beauty ideals remained a significant positive predictor of selfie-editing, indicating that individuals with stronger internalization of beauty standards are more likely to engage in selfie editing to approximate their idealized self-presentation. This finding aligns with hypothesis 1 and previous research (Duan et al., 2022) and supports sociocultural theory that cultural norms significantly shape individual behaviors (Thompson et al., 1999). In the contemporary digital landscape, selfie editing has emerged as a prevalent means of self-expression and shape ideal image (Hao, 2024). The internalization of beauty ideals often correlates with body dissatisfaction and perfectionistic strivings (Ayhan et al., 2022), with research has shown that individuals who have highly internalized the standards of ideal beauty are more likely to manipulate their digital self-presentation to approach these idealized appearance standards (Duan et al., 2022). This phenomenon may stem from multiple psychological factors including appearance-related insecurity, evaluation apprehension, and the pursuit of digitally perfected ideals. Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1957) provides a framework for understanding this relationship, individuals have an innate desire to compare themselves with others. In social media environments, female college students engage in constant upward comparisons between their actual appearance .and internalized ideals through both posting selfies and viewing others' photos, potentially leading to self-objectification and increased appearance anxiety that motivates photo editing behaviors (Deng \u0026amp; Jiang, 2023). Social media is replete with a variety of highly retouched images of perfect appearances -when individuals internalize these unrealistic standards, they not only use them as evaluation criteria but also actively employ technological means to approximate these ideals in their self-presentation. Furthermore, feedback mechanisms such as likes, comments, and shares on social media platforms reinforce individuals' pursuit of ideal beauty. This is because selfies that are deemed to be more in line with the standards tend to receive more positive feedback, thus creating a positive incentive cycle and further triggers more selfie editing behavior among women. In conclusion, considering the complexity of the internalization of ideal beauty, which is one of the negative individual factors, and the complexity of the group of female college students, the formation mechanism of their selfie editing is actually more complex and diverse. Based on the current understanding of the main path from the internalization of ideal beauty to selfie editing, it is necessary for current research to combine with the cognitive dissonance theory and conduct an in-depth exploration of the mechanism of action of the mediating process.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eThe mediating role of appearance anxiety\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe mediation analysis revealed that appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie-editing behaviors among female college students. That suggest that internalization of ideal beauty can also have an indirect impact on selfie editing by influencing appearance anxiety. These findings position appearance anxiety as a critical mediating mechanism linking maladaptive traits (beauty ideal internalization) with negative behavioral outcomes (excessive selfie-editing), consistent with hypothesis 2 and previous research (Duan et al., 2022). The psychological process underlying this mediation appears multifaceted. When individuals internalize sociocultural beauty standards as personal aesthetic benchmarks (Gao et al., 2023), they frequently develop diminished satisfaction with their actual appearance, resulting in appearance anxiety (Jung et al., 2022). This anxiety stems from concerns about failing to meet idealized standards and fears of negative social evaluation, creating the \"appearance discrepancy-anxiety cycle.\" Empirical studies have also shown that when women are unable to achieve their own ideal images, this internalization may lead to individuals' dissatisfaction and anxiety about their own appearance (White \u0026amp; Warren, 2014). Importantly, such anxiety extends beyond mental health implications, potentially influencing social interactions, career development, and daily decision-making (Mingoia et al., 2017).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this context, selfie-editing emerges as a prevalent coping strategy. Individuals employ various digital tools (e.g., skin smoothing, body reshaping, facial contouring) to bridge the gap between their actual and idealized appearance (Lau \u0026amp; Idang, 2022). This behavior is consistent with the self-presentation theory, which posits that individuals have a need to present a positive image of themselves in front of others (Dakanalis et al., 2016). Appearance anxiety drives individuals to attempt to bridge the gap between their actual appearance and the ideal beauty through selfie editing, in the hope of gaining the recognition of others and thereby alleviating the anxiety within them (Boursier \u0026amp; Gioia, 2020). This behavior reflects individuals seeking external validation psychologically, thereby enhancing positive self-evaluation and self-affirmation. In addition, female college students are in a crucial period of self-identity construction and value formation. They are highly active on social media platforms and are more likely to be exposed to the single and extreme images of ideal beauty promoted by various media (Ter\u0026aacute;n et al., 2020). Consequently, they tend to internalize these standards into their self-cognitive systems. Moreover, due to the innate high level of attention that females pay to their own appearance, appearance anxiety is more prevalent and pronounced among them. As one of the main groups that post selfies on social media, when faced with appearance anxiety, individuals tend to focus their attention on their own appearance flaws, thereby enhancing their pursuit of a perfect appearance, that is manifested through the editing selfies (Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2021).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTherefore, the mediating role of appearance anxiety inspires us to assist female college students in identifying and challenging the negative cognitions that arise from the internalization of ideal beauty, such as the notion that \"beauty is only defined by meeting specific standards.\" By doing so, we can reduce the occurrence of appearance anxiety. Social media platforms can optimize their algorithms to decrease the promotion of excessively idealized beauty images, thereby preventing the further reinforcement of the internalization of ideal beauty among female college students. Meanwhile, it is advisable to encourage female college students to participate in offline social activities, which can divert their excessive attention from their appearance, broaden their social horizons, and enable them to reconstruct a positive self-cognition through diverse interpersonal interactions. This approach can weaken appearance anxiety and, in turn, reduce the behavior of overly relying on selfie editing to meet psychological needs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eModerating role of self-concept clarity\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe current findings demonstrate that self-concept clarity serves as a significant negative moderator in the relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and appearance anxiety. Specifically, the analysis revealed a conditional effect whereby internalization of beauty ideals showed a stronger positive association with appearance anxiety at lower levels of self-concept clarity compared to higher levels. This pattern suggests that self-concept clarity buffers the detrimental psychological effects of internalization of beauty ideals, consistent with hypothesis 3 and previous research (Ozimek et al., 2023). This may be because self-concept clarity is closely related to women's psychological and social functions, reflecting the degree to which women understand and cognize themselves (Carter \u0026amp; Vartanian, 2022). From a cognitive perspective, self-concept clarity serves as a cognitive filter that reduces susceptibility to external aesthetic standards (Saadat et al., 2017). When individuals have a relatively clear self-concept, they may be more capable of resisting the influence of external ideal beauty standards on their self-worth, thereby reducing the negative impact of the internalization of ideal beauty on appearance anxiety (Dijk et al., 2014). That is to say, individuals with higher self-concept clarity are likely to adhere more firmly to their own values and aesthetic standards, and will not be easily swayed by the ideal beauty propagated in social media or social culture. This helps them maintain a more stable self-image and a lower level of appearance anxiety. Moreover, self-concept clarity not only provide a stable reference point for self-evaluation that diminishes reliance on appearance-based feedback, but also facilitate more adaptive social media engagement patterns where users actively share authentic self-presentations rather than passively consuming idealized content (Bechtoldt et al., 2010). Empirical evidence supports this interpretation. Women with higher self-concept clarity demonstrate more purposeful and selective engagement with beauty-related content, suggesting they process such information through existing self-knowledge frameworks rather than uncritical internalization. Conversely, individuals with lower self-concept clarity show increased appearance management behaviors, likely reflecting attempts to compensate for self-uncertainty through external validation (Saadat et al., 2017). Clinical implications highlight the potential for interventions targeting self-concept development as a protective factor against appearance-related distress (Vartanian et al., 2025).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eLimitations and future research\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst, this study mainly employed the questionnaire survey method to obtain data by collecting the subjective reports of the participants. Its inherent subjective biases may affect the accuracy of the research results. Future studies could consider using diverse research methods, such as the interview method, experimental designs, and mixed methods. These approaches can capture the inner worlds of the participants from different perspectives, providing more objective and comprehensive data viewpoints.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecond, inherently static nature of the cross-sectional research design restricts our exploration of the causal relationships between variables and our in-depth understanding of the changing trajectories of psychological characteristics during different developmental stages of adolescents. Future research could make a longitudinal tracking design, repeatedly observing the same group of participants over a long-time span. This would enable an in-depth exploration of the dynamic psychological development of adolescents during the growth process and the changes in the relationships among various variables over time.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThird, this study primarily selected female college students as the research subjects. However, existing literature indicates that the scope of the influence of the internalization of beauty ideals on selfie editing is gradually expanding to younger age groups. That is, middle school students and even primary school students are starting to exhibit selfie editing behavior, and the underlying mechanisms are also worthy of in-depth exploration. In the future, the sample size can be expanded, and research can be conducted on differences among different age groups, school types (vocational schools, private schools), and countries to test the generalizability of the experimental results.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFourth, this study only explored the occurrence of selfie editing behavior from the perspective of individual factors. In the future, in-depth exploration can be carried out from other different angles, such as family factors (parental parenting, parent-child relationships) and social factors (peer relationships, school connection), further enriching the internal mechanisms between them.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003e(1) Female college students with a more severe internalization of beauty ideals tend to edit their selfies more frequently.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(2) Female college students who have internalized the beauty ideals will develop appearance anxiety, which in turn leads them to edit their selfies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(3) Female college students with a higher level of self-concept clarity are able to mitigate the negative impact of the internalization of ideal beauty on appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was authorized by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. The approval date is 2024, and the ethical approval number is TYLL2024[K] No. 055. This study strictly adhered to the ethical guidelines outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided written informed consent prior to data collection, which explicitly detailed the research purpose, voluntary participation principles, and data anonymization procedures. Participants retained the right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Personally identifiable data (e.g., questionnaire responses) were stored in encrypted formats accessible only to the research team. Analytical results were aggregated to ensure individual identities remained untraceable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll participants explicitly consented to the publication of anonymized research data collected during this study. Individual identifiers (e.g., names, contact information) were permanently removed from the dataset prior to analysis, and results are reported in aggregated form to ensure participant confidentiality. No personally identifiable details, images, or direct quotations are included in the manuscript. The authors affirm that all co-authors have reviewed the final version of the manuscript and approved its submission for publication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAvailability of data and material\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions and ethical considerations as required by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Declaration of Helsinki. However, de-identified data can be shared with researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal and meet the criteria for access to confidential data. The data will be shared for the sole purpose of reproducing the results presented in this study and will be subject to a data sharing agreement that outlines the terms and conditions of use.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper. No financial support or benefits were received from any organization or entity that could be perceived as influencing the design, conduct, analysis, or reporting of this study. All authors affirm that the research was conducted in an unbiased manner, and the findings are presented objectively without any external influence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFunding\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The study was conducted using institutional resources and the personal contributions of the authors. All aspects of the research, including design, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation, were independently carried out without external financial support.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAuthor contributions Statement\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLL, JPZ conceived and designed the study, participated in data collection, conducted the statistical analysis, and drafted the initial manuscript. SSL contributed to the study design, provided valuable insights in the data analysis. JPZ, SSL assisted in data collection, verified the accuracy of the data, and participated in the interpretation of the results. LL reviewed and edited the manuscript, and contributed to the final version with important suggestions regarding the discussion and conclusion sections. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript, and have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe extend our sincere gratitude to all participants who generously contributed their time and insights to this study, making this research possible. We also thank Taiyuan University for their logistical support and access to resources during data collection. Special thanks to Ling Liu for their invaluable assistance in statistical analysis and methodological guidance. Additionally, we acknowledge the constructive feedback provided by our colleagues during the preparation of this manuscript. Finally, we thank the editors and reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions, which significantly improved the quality of this work.\u003c/p\u003e\n"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAyhan, H., Savsar, A., Sahin, S. Y., \u0026amp; Iyigun, E. (2022). Investigation of the relationship between social appearance anxiety and perceived social support in patients with burns. \u003cem\u003eBurns\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e48\u003c/em\u003e(4), 816\u0026ndash;823. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.x\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBoursier, V., \u0026amp; Gioia, F. (2020). 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A closer look at appearance and social media: Measuring activity, self-presentation, and social comparison and heir associations with emotional adjustment. \u003cem\u003ePsychology of Popular Media\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e11\u003c/em\u003e(1), 82\u0026ndash;85. DOI:10.1037/ppm0000277\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Internalization of beauty ideals, selfie editing, appearance anxiety, self-concept clarity, female college students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the digital age, social media has gradually become an important medium for individuals to showcase their body images. The overwhelming presence of idealized beauty images on these platforms has significantly influenced how individuals perceive and evaluate themselves. Particularly for female college students, they are enthusiastic about beautifying and editing the selfies they upload on social media, so as to quickly obtain an ideal appearance and achieve psychological satisfaction. Therefore, selfie editing has also gradually become an important form of positive self-expression on the Internet. However, the information propagated on social media often does not represent the true image, which is likely to trigger individuals' appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to explore the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students, with a particular focus on the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity. This study selected female college students with experience in selfie editing as participants. A questionnaire survey method was adopted to investigate 1,212 female college students from three universities in Tianjin, China (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;20.10, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.02). All participants completed the measurements of the internalization of beauty ideals, appearance anxiety, self-concept clarity, and selfie editing. Data analysis was conducted using model establishment in SPSS 26.0.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results showed that the internalization of beauty ideals had a direct negative impact on the selfie editing of female college students. The internalization of beauty ideals indirectly had a negative impact on selfie editing through appearance anxiety. In addition, self-concept clarity had a significant moderating effect on this indirect relationship. Individuals with higher self-concept clarity were better able to resist the negative impact brought about by the internalization of ideal beauty and reduce appearance anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study enriches our theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying self-presentation behaviors in a media-saturated environment, clarifies the understanding of the relationship between the internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing, and provides valuable insights for promoting the establishment of a healthy body image and the achievement of self-acceptance among female college students.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The relationship between internalization of beauty ideals and selfie editing among female college students: the mediating role of appearance anxiety and the moderating role of self-concept clarity","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-15 10:36:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6381601/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-29T21:22:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"147994794425236976233345053784066847290","date":"2025-05-19T13:34:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-05-12T02:52:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-16T16:07:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-10T21:30:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-10T21:30:11+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Psychology","date":"2025-04-05T10:48:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"35c3b243-50b8-45be-b96c-ad017d42e512","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-15T10:36:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-15 10:36:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6381601","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6381601","identity":"rs-6381601","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}