Selfie Expectancies Among Adolescents: Construction and Validation of an Instrument to Assess Expectancies Toward Selfies Among Boys and Girls

Abstract

Selfie-taking and posting is one of the most popular activities among teenagers, an important part of online self-presentation that is related to identity issues and peer relations. The scholarly literature emphasizes different yet conflicting motivations for selfie-behavior, stressing deeper analysis of psychological factors and the influence of gender and age. Expectancies are “explanatory device[s]” that can help us study adolescent behavior. However, no instruments have been devised that specifically explore the expectations teenagers have about selfies and their influence on selfie-frequency. The current study proposes a short and reliable instrument to identify teen expectancies about selfie-behavior. This instrument was validated using a sample of 646 Italian adolescents (14 to 19 years old) by means of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). We also explore the relationship between selfie expectancies and selfie-frequency, as well as the role of gender in shaping selfies. Our results point toward a 7-factor model that characterizes expectations toward selfies as a multi-dimensional construct linked to both positive and negative perceptions of the nature and consequences of selfies. The overall model fitted the data sufficiently (χ2 = 5067.051, p 0.0000; CFI = 0.962; TLI = 0.954; RMSEA ≤ 0.05: 0.035; SRMR = 0.046), showing an adequate reliability of the scale (α = 0.830). Bivariate correlations between selfie expectancies and selfie-frequency (r = 0.338, p < 0.001) confirmed the convergent validity of the tool. Selfie-sharing is a common practice that is widespread among the participants in this study. Self-promotion represents a positive function of selfies. Selfies promote self-presentation and self-confidence, both in boys and girls. Moreover, selfie expectancies address sexual self-attractiveness, especially among boys. Despite the positive aspects of selfies, our results stress adolescent awareness of the negative consequences of this type of web-exposure. This is especially true among girls, whose selfie-behavior is, paradoxically, more frequent than boys. Self-management through selfie-posting is a positive outcome of selfie-behavior that plays a key role among adolescents, even though the dangers of manipulating selfies in order to garner approval from one’s peers need to be considered. The positive psychometric properties of the measure point toward the need for further research on both generalized and specific selfie-behaviors.

Objectified Body Consciousness, Body Image Control in Photos, and Problematic Social Networking: The Role of Appearance Control Beliefs

“…These findings appeared in line with several previous studies that found a strong association between females' engagement in social media use and depressive mood, low self-esteem, and other psychological distress, leading to their greater problematic social networking (McCrae et al, 2017;Nowland et al, 2018;Raudsepp and Kais, 2019). However, the negative outcomes due to problematic social networking appeared to affect more boys than girls, likely due to males' higher attention for sexual aspects of online body image-related activities and engagement in online sexual behaviors (Jonsson et al, 2014;Bianchi et al, 2018;Boursier and Manna, 2018b) and/or due to a higher online disinhibition (Casale et al, 2015) despite other studies finding that females were more engaged in online self-disclosure (Schouten et al, 2007). No statistically significant difference between girls' and boys' preferences for online social interactions was found.…”

“…However, in accordance with previous findings (Griffiths et al, 2014;Andreassen et al, 2017;Boursier and Manna, 2019), the present study also showed higher engagement by girls relating to time spent on SNSs and BICP, investing more time than boys in creating selfportraits as a way to express their identity and to manage own positive and negative images, promoting their best selfpresentation and applying privacy restrictions to moderate relational exchanges via photos. On the contrary, boys used greater body image control to improve their sexual attractiveness, confirming the males' great attention for sexual aspects of online body images that might promote sexual exploration experiences (Boursier and Manna, 2018b). Moreover, in terms of problematic social networking, female adolescents were significantly more likely than males to use SNSs to regulate their mood states, with higher cognitive preoccupation and poorly self-regulated SNS use.…”

“…As previous studies have highlighted, the investment and control over individuals' own body image in photos pay great attention to picture quality, concerns about self-image shared online (McLean et al, 2015), and strategies in taking and choosing self-pictures before sharing on SNSs (Boursier and Manna, 2019). The asynchronous nature of SNS use might promote the editing utility and an overinvestment of individuals' body image (Fox and Vendemia, 2016), allowing them to construct and share online the best version of themselves (Fox and Rooney, 2015;Manago et al, 2015;McLean et al, 2016;Casale and Fioravanti, 2017;Boursier and Manna, 2018b;Cohen et al, 2018;Lonergan et al, 2019). This great visual attention directed toward body appearance might trigger behaviors such as body image control and monitoring, potentially related to self-objectification (Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2012;de Vries and Peter, 2013;Fox and Vendemia, 2016;Butkowski et al, 2019).…”

Longitudinal effect of emotional processing on psychological symptoms in women under 50 with breast cancer

“…From a clinical point of view, the use of diachronic narrative devices that can promote the expression, sharing and containment of emotions (Boursier and Manna, 2018; Dicé et al, 2019; Margherita et al, 2017; Tessitore and Margherita, 2017), especially the negative ones, starting from the diagnosis (T1), may help maintain psychological adjustment in the face of the disease during the different phases of treatment (Martino et al, 2019). Furthermore, actively processing and expressing emotions enhance the adjustment and health status of patients with breast cancer (Weihs et al, 2008), and poor EP predicts more rapid disease progression (Reynolds et al, 2000).…”

Selfie-Viewing and Facial Dissatisfaction among Emerging Adults: A Moderated Mediation Model of Appearance Comparisons and Self-Objectification

“…Of particular relevance to the present study, existent studies show that women tend to take more selfies than men [3,[49][50][51] and feel worse after engaging in appearance-related comparisons [50]. However, according to Liziliziduanxin [52], there is a growing number of males using photo-beautification apps, which may be representative of males' facial concerns.…”