Selfie Syndrome: A Study of Selfitis and Narcissism Among Young Adults

Abstract

The study explores the selfie-taking behavioural pattern and the relationship between selfitis (obsessive–compulsive desire to take selfies and post them on social media) and narcissism. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among young Indian social media users aged between 18 and 30 years selected through referral sampling technique. The Selfitis Behaviour Scale was used to measure the level of selfitis, and the NPI-16 scale to measure narcissism. The study observed that taking selfies and posting them on social media is common among young social media users. Narcissism was found to be strongly correlated with selfitis and its six dimensions, indicating that people who exhibit narcissistic qualities are more likely to engage in excessive selfie behaviour. As SBS is a newly developed and not widely used scale, the study also assessed the validity and reliability of the scale. The results showed that the scale has excellent internal consistency and satisfactory convergent validity, and discriminant validity.