Honesty Narratives in the Negotiation of Religious Identity among Muslim Female Public Figures in Digital Media

Abstract This article examines how three Indonesian Muslim female public figures Marshanda, Rina Nose, and Camillia Laetitia Azzahra used public narratives of honesty while negotiating changes in visible religious identity. Rather than diagnosing an internal psychological state, the study analyzes publicly available statements and their media circulation. A qualitative multiple-case design was applied to ten traceable data units published between 2017 and 2024, consisting of video interviews, Instagram statements reproduced by established news outlets, and follow-up media reports. Reflexive thematic analysis combined deductive concepts from cognitive dissonance theory with inductive coding of the subjects’ own language. Four themes were identified: perceived inconsistency between public symbols and inner conviction; honesty as a moral counterframe; personal agency in religious searching; and intensified public judgment through digital visibility. The findings show that honesty narratives do not prove that dissonance was eliminated. They function as public meaning-making devices that reframe contested decisions, protect a coherent moral self, and negotiate audience expectations. The three cases also differ: Marshanda foregrounded self-recognition and the consequences of public stigma; Rina Nose emphasized autonomous inquiry and resistance to hostile judgment; and Azzahra explicitly linked honesty to a self-directed religious search. The study therefore proposes a limited interpretive model of narrative reframing while avoiding clinical inference and population-level generalization. Keywords: Cognitive Dissonance, Honesty Narrative, Muslim Women, Religious Identity, Social Media

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Artikel ini menganalisis bagaimana tiga publik figur muslimah Indonesia Marshanda, Rina Nose, dan Camillia Laetitia Azzahra menggunakan narasi kejujuran ketika menegosiasikan perubahan identitas religius yang terlihat di ruang publik. Penelitian tidak mendiagnosis keadaan psikologis internal, tetapi menelaah pernyataan publik dan sirkulasinya di media. Desain studi kasus jamak kualitatif diterapkan pada sepuluh unit data yang dapat ditelusuri, terbit pada 2017–2024, berupa wawancara video, pernyataan Instagram yang direproduksi media arus utama, dan laporan media lanjutan. Analisis tematik refleksif memadukan konsep deduktif dari teori disonansi kognitif dengan pengodean induktif terhadap bahasa yang digunakan subjek. Empat tema ditemukan: ketidakselarasan yang dipersepsikan antara simbol publik dan keyakinan batin; kejujuran sebagai bingkai moral tandingan; agensi personal dalam pencarian religius; serta menguatnya penilaian publik akibat visibilitas digital. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa “narasi kejujuran” bukan bukti bahwa disonansi telah hilang. Narasi tersebut berfungsi sebagai perangkat pemaknaan publik untuk membingkai ulang keputusan yang diperdebatkan, mempertahankan diri moral yang koheren, dan menegosiasikan ekspektasi audiens. Ketiga kasus juga berbeda: Marshanda menekankan pengenalan diri dan konsekuensi stigma publik; Rina Nose menonjolkan pencarian mandiri dan penolakan terhadap penghakiman; sedangkan Azzahra secara eksplisit menghubungkan kejujuran dengan pencarian religius yang diarahkan diri sendiri. Karena itu, studi ini menawarkan model interpretatif terbatas mengenai pembingkaian ulang naratif tanpa membuat inferensi klinis atau generalisasi populasi. Kata Kunci: Disonansi Kognitif, Narasi Kejujuran, Perempuan Muslim, Identitas Religius, Media Sosial