EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IDEALIZED MOTHERHOOD PORTRAYALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, SELF-DISCREPANCY, AND POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION AMONG FIRST-TIME MOTHERS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Going through the process of becoming a first-time mother entails great emotional and identity changes that appear to fall in harmony with the tendencies towards postpartum depression (PPD) that is a critical maternal mental health problem globally. Social media is now firmly entrenched in the current concept of motherhood and can provide mothers with support and information, but can also be indoctrinating them with images of “perfect” motherhood. It is reviewed here to what extent such content could be related to their self-discrepancy and postpartum depressive symptoms of first-time mothers. Based on Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) and Self-Discrepancy Theory (Higgins, 1987), it suggests a model whereby idealized content serves to increase upward social comparison, leading to a discrepancy between actual and ideal/ought selves which can engender feelings of guilt, shame, and depression. This is done particularly in the context of Pakistan where prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the highest in Asia and use of social media is rapidly increasing, while no study has been conducted to explore this association in the Pakistani context.