Flexing Culture and Online Vanity
Ethical Reflections from Hadith and Cyber Psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21154/altahrir.v26i1.12249Keywords:
Flexing Culture, Hadith Studies, Cyber Psychology, Digital EthicsAbstract
This study addresses the limited integration of Hadith studies and cyber psychology in explaining the ethical and psychological implications of flexing culture on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. Existing research has largely examined online self-presentation from either psychological or religious perspectives, leaving a gap in interdisciplinary analysis. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, this research analyzes a corpus of publicly accessible flexing-related digital content and representative user interactions on TikTok and YouTube. The data are interpreted through thematic Hadith analysis alongside Goffman’s self-presentation framework and Festinger’s social comparison theory. The findings demonstrate that the public display of wealth, lifestyle, and personal achievements in digital environments not only risks fostering Riya’ and diminishing sincerity but also intensifies social comparison, envy, and pressure to maintain unrealistic self-images. The study’s novelty lies in proposing an operational ethical-psychological framework that systematically links Hadith principles of sincerity, modesty, and wasathiyah with cyber psychological mechanisms underlying online validation and social comparison. This interdisciplinary perspective extends existing scholarship by offering a value-based analytical framework for understanding digital behavior rather than merely providing normative religious critiques. The study concludes that digital literacy initiatives should integrate Islamic ethical values with mental health considerations and recommends policy interventions to promote responsible content creation and healthier forms of digital engagement.
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