Appearance Anxiety’s Effect on Teen Self-perception on Social Media

Abstract

Digital media has deeply permeated daily life, and social media has become a core domain for shaping the values and self-awareness of teenagers. Appearance anxiety has evolved into a widespread issue affecting their mental health and self-identity. During adolescence, self-awareness awakens, and teenagers are highly sensitive to external evaluations, peer feedback, and social aesthetic standards. The visualized aesthetic environment created by social media has a two-way shaping effect on their self-perception: positive interactions and diverse aesthetics can enhance self-acceptance and solidify healthy self-identity; while a single appearance-level orientation, normalized comparisons, and algorithmic recommendations intensify negative self-examination, inducing cognitive biases and self-denial. This article takes appearance anxiety as the entry point, combining the social media environment, peer interaction, and social cultural orientation, and through case analysis, explores the internal mechanism by which appearance anxiety affects teenagers’ self-perception. It also constructs optimization paths from four aspects: schools, families, society, and individuals, providing theoretical basis and practical references for alleviating appearance anxiety among teenagers and guiding healthy self-perception.