An Exploratory Study of “Selfitis” and the Development of the Selfitis Behavior Scale

Abstract

In 2014, stories appeared in national and international media claiming that the condition of “selfitis” (the obsessive taking of selfies) was to be classed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association and that the condition could be borderline, acute, or chronic. However, the stories were a hoax but this did not stop empirical research being carried out into the concept. The present study empirically explored the concept and collected data on the existence of selfitis with respect to the three alleged levels (borderline, acute, and chronic) and developed the Selfitis Behavior Scale (SBS). Initially, focus group interviews with 225 Indian university students were carried out to generate potential items for the SBS. The SBS was then validated using 400 Indian university students via exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Six factors were identified in the EFA comprising environmental enhancement, social competition, attention seeking, mood modification, self-confidence, and social conformity. The findings demonstrate that the SBS appears to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing selfitis but that confirmatory studies are needed to validate the concept more rigorously.

Evaluation of the Selfitis Behavior Scale Across Two Persian-Speaking Countries, Iran and Afghanistan: Advanced Psychometric Testing in a Large-Scale Sample

“…The findings across the two studies are in agreement although the testing methods were not identical. More specifically, Balakrishnan and Griffiths (2018) reported the six-factor structure for the SBS using exploratory factor analysis, whereas the present study confirmed the six-factor structure for the SBS using CFA. In addition, Balakrishnan and Griffiths reported satisfactory internal consistency using the traditional Cronbach's α (range between 0.752 and 0.838), and the present study also observed acceptable internal consistency using a more advanced method (i.e., McDonald's ω with range between 0.71 and 0.92).…”

“…More specifically, the Persian SBS can be used widely and can provide information concerning selfitis for healthcare providers to consider timely and early intervention for those who perceive their selfitis to be problematic. Given the only previous psychometric testing was in the original study among Indian university students (i.e., Balakrishnan and Griffiths 2018), the present study can only compare its results to those of that study. The findings across the two studies are in agreement although the testing methods were not identical.…”

“…Selfitis Behavior Scale The SBS is a newly developed instrument to assess the subdomains of selfitis. In the original study, after carrying out focus group interviews with 225 Indian university students, six domains were identified, which are as follows: environment enhancement, social competition, attention seeking, mood modification, self-confidence, and subjective conformity (Balakrishnan and Griffiths 2018). Following this, an exploratory factor analysis utilizing 400 Indian students was applied to examine the SBS structure.…”

Determining Symptomatic Factors of Nomophobia in Peruvian Students from the National University of Engineering

“…After the meeting, we concluded that some of the survey questions were improved in our research. There are several authors [31,32] who use the focus group techniques.…”

Comparative Study of Emojis and Filters for Enhancing Presence on Social Media

“…This has led to chain of reactions leading to a complex addiction disorder which can be called as Selfie addiction disorder. [2][6] [12]…”