关键词: 网络小说阅读, 自我概念清晰性, 角色认同, 沉浸感

Abstract: With the development of Internet technology, Internet has been widely and frequently used in people’s daily life. The rich, interactive and entertained Internet information, in particular, expose individuals to an atmosphere of online pan-entertainment. Internet fiction is the typical example of the pan-entertainment industry. It creates information and stories for the pan-entertainment industry with its rich resources all the time, and links films, televisions, games, cartoons etc., to each other through IPs. With its multiple manifestations, Internet fiction can meet different needs that different users have, and promote the development of Internet literature in adolescents. As an important part of the Internet popular culture and a phenomenal cultural industry, the impact that the fast development of Internet fiction may exert on the self-development of adolescents has been a focus of our country, society, and families. The concern whether adolescents are lost in Internet literature （i.e., whether the Internet fiction reading influences adolescents’ self-concept clarity） is the primary question to be addressed in the present study. Under the theoretical framework of Internet self-concept fragmentation hypothesis, examined the impact of Internet fiction reading behaviors on self-concept clarity and its underlying mechanism. This study tested whether Internet fiction reading behavior would exert an effect on adolescent self-concept clarity, and whether this effect would be consistent with the self-concept fragmentation hypothesis. If there would be a link between Internet fiction reading and self-concept clarity, this study would further explore how Internet fiction reading influences self-concept clarity, as tested the potential mediating roles of character identity and flow experience. To investigate the relationship between the Internet fiction reading, character identity, flow experience and self-concept clarity, a survey research method was used in the form of the scales for the Internet literature reading, character identity, flow experience and self-concept clarity which were administered to 480 adolescents. Data were collected and analyzed with SPSS 23.0. The results were as followings: (1) The association between Internet fiction reading behavior and adolescent self-concept clarity coincided with the self-concept fragmentation hypothesis. That was to say, reading Internet fiction would lead to low levels of self-concept clarity in adolescents. (2) The analyses of the underlying mechanisms showed that character identity and flow experience played multiple mediating roles in the association between Internet fiction reading behavior and adolescent self-concept clarity. Specifically, Internet fiction reading behavior can influence self-concept clarity through the simple mediating effects of character identity, flow experience, and through the chain-mediating role of character identity and flow experience. In conclusion, the present study theoretically provides a new perspective for studying the association between Internet fiction reading and adolescent self-concept clarity based on self-concept fragmentation hypothesis, identity theory and flow theory. It deepens previous studies on the impacts of Internet on individual self-concept. In addition, the present study practically clarifies the psychological features of adolescents’ Internet fiction reading, and the questions such as how Internet fiction reading influences adolescent self-concept clarity. These findings help provide society, families and school a better understanding of Internet fiction reading among adolescents, and guide adolescents properly read Internet literature.

Key words: Internet fiction reading, self-concept clarity, character identity, flow experience