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Repercussions of Selfie Taking on Attitudes of Undergraduate Medical Students a Cross Sectional Study

Journal of Research in Medical and Dental Science
eISSN No. 2347-2367 pISSN No. 2347-2545

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Research - (2022) Volume 10, Issue 1

Repercussions of Selfie Taking on Attitudes of Undergraduate Medical Students a Cross Sectional Study

Kiran Khan1*, Ghazala Nasim Pasha2, Ata ur Rehman3, Sadia Sundus4, Fizza Tariq5 and Sonia Joseph6

*Correspondence: Kiran Khan, Department of Community Medicine Iqra Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan, Email:

Author info »

Abstract

Background: The first use of word selfie was recorded in 2002 however, selfie became popular from 2013. First selfie tag on Instagram “#selfie” was emerged in 2011 since then selfie word has become popular on Instagram and tagged 57 million times. Everyone uses social media to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Several mental and health issues such as lower back ache, wrong posture of body, frozen shoulder & many other health complications are associated with selfie. In order to find weather narcissists people, follow other narcissists people on Instagram and people treat them narcissistic or not, a study has been conducted online. Results of experiments shows that selfies and group-selfies are considered narcissistic than other photos. Methodology: It was a cross sectional study conducted from June 2021 to July 2021 in different medical universities of Karachi. The calculated sample was 250 however, 500 students of age 16-28 were recruited by simple random sampling technique. A Likert scale-based questionnaire was developed to identify the attitude, behavioural intention and narcistic behavior that was validated by initial pilot study on a small group of students. Results: When students were asked about number of selfies taken by them. Among 500 students 43.2% (216) take selfie 1-2 times in a day, 18% (92) often take 1 to 5 selfies daily,90(18%) of them take selfie more than 5 times a day and 102(20.4%) never took selfie. Out of 500, 43.8% found easy to manipulate people, 63.2% responded as they try to avoid show off and 48% told that they think they have authority on other people. Conclusion: the selfie taking trend is more common in age group of 16-20 years that may fall with increase in age. The attitude was seemed to be more introvert and responses of individuals showed Narcissistic behavior.

Keywords

Narcissism, Selfie, Medical students, Social media

Introduction

In the modern society, we are getting dependent on internet world and social media. It was said that first selfie was taken by American amateur photographer named Robert Cornelius, in 1840 [1]. The popularity of sharing photos of oneself or some occasion on SNS gains popularity from recent years. Posting a self-taken photograph of oneself also known as ‘selfie’ is most popular trend from recent years [2]. Selfie was awarded as “name of the year” in the 2013 due to its admiration. Samsung found that among photos taken by youth of 18-24 years 30% of them are selfies [3,4]. The first use of word selfie was recorded in 2002 however, selfie became popular from 2013. First selfie tag on Instagram “#selfie” was emerged in 2011 since then selfie word has become popular on Instagram and tagged 57 million times. Due to its popularity oxford dictionary added selfie name on their dictionary. Social Media is no offense become a community and gained popularity from recent years [5].

Now a day, everyone uses social media to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Several mental and health issues such as lower back ache, wrong posture of body frozen shoulder & many other health complications are associated with selfie. A new term selfie elbow came into existence; it is similar to tennis elbow and also known as overuse injury [6]. In selfie elbow abnormal strain leads to inflammation and acute or chronic pain in elbow. Selfie is also major cause of many physiological problems. In April 2014, A man spent 10 hours a day trying to take the “Perfect selfie”, but failed and attempted suicide [6,7]. It is an act that is linked with narcissism, perfect capturing of picture leaves in worrying that leads to lower selfesteem. 14,15 As narcissist people tends to seek others attention and try to look better than other. They are very much concerned about the selection of profile picture [8]. According to dynamic regularity block of narcissism (A framework for narcissism) narcissists attempt to gain feedback about them regarding their physical appearance by their acts, which leads to the goals of preserving impressive and affirmative feedback about self [9].

To find physiological and socio-economic effects taken by selfie among youth of Dera Ghazi Khan a research has been conducted.160 participants between age group of 15-30 years are randomly selected from educational institutes and examined through interview. Results indicate that youth were highly involved in taking selfie at different events [10]. In order to investigates how narcissism relates with selfie-related behavior, a study has been conducted that includes 315 Korean individuals who actively posts selfie photographs on public mass media. Results indicate that individuals having higher level of narcissism post more selfies on social media [11]. In order to find weather narcissists people, follow other narcissists people on Instagram and people treat them narcissistic or not, a study has been conducted online. Results of experiments shows that selfies and groupselfies are considered narcissistic than other photos [12]. In the prevailing period, we didn’t notice cross sectional study about the hazards of selfie and their narcissistic trait’s according to age thus this opportunity is taken to initiate this study and compare the consequences with prior studies.

Materials and Methods

It was a cross sectional study conducted from June 2021 to July 2021 in different medical universities of Karachi. At 94% confidence level with error rate of 6% and prevalence level of 70% the calculated sample was 250 however, 500 students of age 16-28 were recruited by simple random sampling technique. All volunteers taking part in the study were briefly communicated about the study protocols and objectives. A Likert scale-based questionnaire was developed to identify the attitude, behavioural intention and narcistic behavior that was validated by initial pilot study on a small group of students. Data was analyzed by using SPSS v.24 results of numerical variables are depicted in mean and standard deviation; categorical variables are represented in frequencies and percentages.

Results

A total of 500 students participated in the study the majority students belonged to 16-20 age group (Figure 1). When students were asked about number of selfies taken by them. Among 500 students 43.2% (216) take selfie 1-2 times in a day, 18% (92) often take 1 to 5 selfies daily,90(18%) of them take selfie more than 5 times a day and 102(20.4%) never took selfie (Table 1). On analyzing trend of selfie taking in different age groups in current study the data showed that age group 16-20 have increased interest in selfie taking however after age 20 the trend came minimal level at the age of 28years Figure 2.

medical-dental-students

Figure 1: Frequency of age groups of students participated in study.

Usage of Mobile Phone for taking selfie Frequency Percent
Rarely (1-2 Times Per Day) 216 43.2
Often (1-5 Times Per Day) 92 18.4
Frequently (More than 5 Times) 90 18
Never 102 20.4

Table 1: Number of selfies taken by students.

medical-dental-selfie

Figure 2:Trend of selfie taking among different age groups.

Different questions were asked from volunteers related to their behavior. These questions were further divided into different categories based on their relation with them. Attitude, Behavioral Intension, Narcissistic Behavior and Behavioral Intension. Table 2 shows the sentences categorized into different categories and frequency of people who believe on these sentences.

Behavior Questions Asked Frequency Percentage
Attitude I find easy to manipulate people 219 43.8
I usually get the respect that I deserve 215 43
I am more capable then other people 180 36
Behavioral Intension Sometime I am not sure of what I am doing 285 57
I try not to be show off 316 63.2
People always seems to recognize my authority 230 46
I expect a great deal from other people 216 43.2
I hope I am going to be successful 255 51
I prefer to blend in which the crowd 289 57.8
When people compliment me i some time get embarrassed 335 67
People sometime believe what i tell them 266 53.2
Narcissistic Behavior Everybody likes to hear my story 204 40.8
I think having authority our people 240 48
I can make anybody believe anything I want them to 234 46.8
I am extraordinary person 225 45
I think having authority our people 240 48
I really like to be the counter of attention 173 34.6
Actual Behavior I am much like everybody else 275 55
I like to do things for other people 284 56.8
Sometime I tell good stories 296 59.2

Table 2: Questions asked and sentences categorized into different categories.

Discussions

In recent years, major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, twitter, WhatsApp’s and snap chat has become a major approach for interaction, discussion, advertisement and news [13]. The crucial reason of social media dependency in young teens is their engagement in visual content sharing [14]. One of the major activity associated with young social media users is capturing and posting selfies over social media to increase their self-presentation among others [15]. Literature has reported that the aberrant use of visual content or selfies through social media might lead to social comparisons and concerns related to appearance [16]. The decline in physical interactions and increase in social media visual communications has led to a surge in mental health problems in adolescents [17]. A study has reported that the teens that spend more than 3 hours on social media per day are at a higher risk of mental health problems and depressive symptoms, specially internalizing problems [18]. The social phenomenon of selfie taking has been an increasing trend in recent times, particularly in young population (19). Teen age group is most vulnerable to fall prey to behavioural addictions such as selfie taking, as majority of them are mobile phone users [19]. Excessive selfie posting on different social media sites is now a popular activity among younger age groups [20].

It is necessary to study the phenomenon of selfie taking in population of different age groups. Thus, we aimed to study the effect of selfies on narcissism, behavior and attitude of undergraduate medical students of Karachi through a self-made questionnaire. In our study, the youngest age group i.e. 16 to 20 years old undergraduate medical students, were more habitual of taking selfies as compared with the elder age groups. According to another study by McLean et al., the practice of selfie taking is more common in young adolescents as compared with the elder people [21]. Another study describing the selfie behavior of women in USA has reported that young aged women are more habitual of taking multiple selfies a day [22].

Our study has shown a significant impact on the behavioural attitudes of people taking multiple selfies. There was a great number of medical students in this study who think that they are some-how less capable than others. It has been reported in previous literature that people who are habitual of selfie posting are more attracted towards other people’s selfies and follow them more [5]. Being in a race of selfies, comparing other people’s selfies with your own has a great negative impact on self-confidence and body satisfaction. Such people spend a lot of time in editing their selfies and picking up the best one from multiple pictures [23]. A study conducted by Butkowski et al. reported that the women posting frequent Instagram selfies are more likely to exhibit disordered eating attitudes and intentions according to the audience responses on their posted selfies. Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in women is influenced through indirect body surveillance on social media networks [24].

In this study about half of the participants showed narcissistic properties that indicates the relationship of selfie posting with narcissism and self-esteem. Results of an online survey conducted by Taylor et al., suggested that narcissism and envy is likely to increase in travellers posting repeated selfies [25]. A hierarchical regression analysis done by wang et al., showed a positive relationship of selfie-editing frequency with narcissism and extraversion [26]. Another study showed the positive and negative impact of frequent selfie-taking on the attitude, self-esteem and narcissistic behavior of people [9]. A study by Hart et al., highlighted the positive impact of narcissism as being prosocial, confident and selfesteemed [27]. Contrarily in another study, increased number of taking selfies may also put young people at risk of indulging in negative social interactions online and young females having public followers may face sexualisation of femininity leading to aggressive outcomes [28].

Conclusion

In conclusion we approached to know that the selfie taking trend is more common in age group of 16-20 years that may fall with increase in age. The attitude was seemed to be more introvert and responses of individuals showed Narcissistic behavior.

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Author Info

Kiran Khan1*, Ghazala Nasim Pasha2, Ata ur Rehman3, Sadia Sundus4, Fizza Tariq5 and Sonia Joseph6

1Department of Community Medicine Iqra Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan
2Department of Community Medicine United Medical and Dental College, Pakistan
3Department of Pharmacology Hamdard College of Medicine & Dentistry Karachi, Pakistan
4Department of Community Medicine Iqra Medical & Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan
5Department of Physiology, Baqai Medical University Karachi, Pakistan
6Faculty of Niursing science, Ziauddin University, Pakistan
 

Citation: Kiran Khan, Ghazala Nasim Pasha, Ata ur Rehman, Sadia Sundus, Fizza Tariq, Sonia Joseph, Repercussions of Selfie Taking on Attitudes of Undergraduate Medical Students a Cross Sectional Study, J Res Med Dent Sci, 2022, 10(1): 350-354

Received: 06-Dec-2021, Manuscript No. Jrmds-21-43540; , Pre QC No. Jrmds-21-43540 (PQ); Editor assigned: 08-Dec-2021, Pre QC No. Jrmds-21-43540 (PQ); Reviewed: 22-Dec-2021, QC No. Jrmds-21-43540; Revised: 27-Dec-2021, Manuscript No. Jrmds-21-43540 (R); Published: 03-Jan-2022

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