Social Influence
Social influence entails the way people impact the behaviours, beliefs, and feelings of other individuals. Everyday people are faced by numerous attempts from others that can influence their actions. Conformity and obedience are some of the main distinguished types of social influence. Conformity is a passive type of control where the group members are not actively trying to persuade others into following their actions. People observe the practices or beliefs of a particular group and choose to adjust the views or behaviours accordingly. Contrary, obedience entails a change of practices or belief resulting from a given command from an authority figure. The overt behaviour is the main focus of the commands. Example of social conformity is taking selfies and posting them online expecting to receive likes from strangers. People can be affected by the behaviours and thoughts of others; thus, leading them to engage in the same for the idea of being accepted or liked.
Selfitis: The Need for Social Conformity
Studies have established that “Selfitis” is a mental disorder making people feel compelled to take and post photos of themselves on Instagram, Facebook, and other social platforms regularly. People feel the need to take selfies due to subjective conformity that is taking the selfies to fit in with specific social peers and groups. Though they might differ from one individual to the next, there are many motivations for taking selfies (Griffiths 2018). People engage in such to develop a sense of belonging. Social media like Instagram or Facebook among others allow users to create a variety of groups hence some people feel a sense of belonging to a particular group. A greater possibility is that those who take selfies adopt specific ‘online’ selfie rules to accomplish a degree of social acceptance by the peers.
Situational Influences and Selfies
Among several factors that may lead a person into taking and posting selfies is situational influences. In such a case a person might be seeking attention hence end up taking selfies to feel more popular. It is evident that social media is an excellent platform to gain attention due to the large audience involved (Caildini and Goldstein 2004). Besides, it is likely that people take selfies to boost their self-confidence. Especially with the editing applications, it is possible for people to enhance selfies before posting to obtain a photo that is closer to their ideal self.
An Exploratory Study of “Selfitis”
Balakrishnan and Griffith’s article, “An Exploratory Study of “Selfitis” and the Development of the Selfitis Behavior Scale,” support this paper’s position on taking selfies as social conformity (2018). The recent study confirms that although there is no certain reasons, it is a fact that people take selfies more and more every day and if an individual takes about three selfies a day and posts them on social media, they may be suffering from “acute selfitis,” which is a mental disorder (Balakrishnan and Griffiths 2018). Relatively, the article explores six factors identified that lead to this behaviour, and one of the elements is social conformity or the need to feel a sense of belonging to specific peers of the group. Thus, such information makes the article a relevant source for this essay.
Conclusion
Summarizing, selfies remain hugely popular both for the audience and the people taking them. But, the reasons why people participate in taking and posting selfies are alarming, especially if an individual is doing it to fit in or boost their self-confidence. Although it appears to be a condition necessitating further studies, many psychologists and scholars claim that obsession with taking and posting might be a mental disorder.
References
Balakrishnan, J. and Griffiths, M.D., 2018. An Exploratory Study of “Selfitis” and the Development of the Selfitis Behavior Scale. International journal of mental health and addiction, 16(3), pp.722-736.
Cialdini, R.B. and Goldstein, N.J., 2004. Social influence: Compliance and conformity. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 55, pp.591-621.
Griffiths, M., 2005. A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance use, 10(4), pp.191-197.
