CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Selfies are beyond informal they are not meant to stand alone as a single message or withstand

the passage of time. Selfie intimately represent a personal, experience that is also social, taken

for the express purposes of sharing ( Pamela B. Rutledge ).

In international setting, language research is conducted by Oxford Dictionary stated that selfie

is named Oxford Dictionaries word of the year 2013, which means a photograph that one has

taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social

media website. Today Oxford Dictionaries announces selfie as their international word of the

year 2013. The Oxford Dictionaries word of the year is a word or expression that has attracted a

great deal of interest during the year to date. Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002 when it

was used in an Australian online form. The word gained momentum throughout the english

speaking word in 2013 as if evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for

a self-portrait photograph.

In national setting, Research is conducted by public domain view organization stated that

although the rampant proliferation of the technique is quite recent, the “selfie” itself ( it
defined as being a photograph one takes of oneself ) is far from being a strictly modern

phenomenon. Indeed , the photographic self-portrait is surprisingly common in the very early

days of photography exploration and invention, when it was often more convenient for the

exploration and invention, when it was often more convenient for the experimenting

photographer to act as model as well. In fact, the picture considered by many to be the first

photographic portrait ever taken was a “ selfie.” The image in question was taken in 1839 by an

amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia named Robert Cornelius.

Setting up his camera at the back of the family store in Philadelphia, Cornelius took the image

by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before

covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote “the first light picture ever taken

.8939.”

THEORETICAL LENS

Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and personal worth

based on how they stack up against others they perceive as somehow faring better or worse.

People sometimes compare themselves to others as a way fostering self- improvement, self

motivation, and a positive self- image. As a result, humans are constantly evaluating themselves

and others across a variety of domains, such as attractiveness, wealth, and intelligence. These

evaluations can also promote judgement, biased, and overly competitive or superior attitudes.

Most people have the social skills and impulsive control to keep envy and standards for social
comparison quiet, but someone true feelings may come out in other ways. Some research

shows that people who regularly compare themselves to others often experience negative

feelings of deep dissatisfaction, and engage in destructive behaviors, like lying and disordered

eating.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The study was conducted to determine how selfie affects one’s behavior including their

personality factors to indicate the students motivation of taking pictures. Specifically, it sought

to answer to the following question:

How the tendency of taking selfie is related to other personality factors ?

What drives people to take pictures of their own,as if that have not seen enough of themselves

already

Why do people take selfies is it because they see other doing the same?

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

To analyse the impact of selfies and uploading it to social media website to the students of Holy

Child College of Davao.

To identify the student’s motivation in taking pictures.

To develop an explanatory theory that associates selfie with other indicators such as

personality factors and behavior.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The result of this study will serve as a basis of identifying impact and effects of taking pictures

to students of Senior High in Holy Child College of Davao. The findings of the study may be

beneficial to the following:

The teacher, information and methods of the study could be use as a help for them to

determine the effects of selfie with the student’s behavior.

The students, it will serve as a reference or resources for the present and new student

researchers.

The Holy Child College of Davao students may help the school to identify the impact of selfies

and to have some lectures about the awareness of taking selfies.

The parents, may help their children to have awareness of the effects of taking pictures and

uploading to any social media website.

DELIMITATION AND LIMITATION

This study will confine itself to interviewing and observing the students of Holy Child College of

Davao. This study will not be generalizable to all areas of Holy Child College of Davao. The

possible challenges that researcher may encounter are, finding study participants, time

management and interviewing respondents. To overcome this challenges the researcher try to

manage and make sure to reach out for this study.

REFERENCE

Pamela B. Rutledge Ph.D.,M.B.D ,(2013),Making Sense of Selfies:Taking selfie feels problematic

because we aren’t used them.

Richard Holden, (2015), Oxford dictionary: Word of the year of 2013: Selfie is named Oxford

Dictionaries Word of the year 2013.

Robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-(1839),Public domain review 2011.

Psychology Today/Social Comparison Theory: What is social comparison theory?(2015)

Chapter 2

Review Related Literature

The purpose of this chapter is to review relevant literature and studies on effects of selfie in

individual's personality.

INDIVIDUAL'S MOTIVATION OF SELFIE

Baumeister (1982) proposed two basic human motives for selfie, and these are:

A. Attention from others-Most people depend their selfie or self-presentation from the others,

which they have almost gone in pleasing others.

B. Sharing a particular image of oneself- the reason why people are motivated to share their

selfie pictures. People need an opinion of others or compliments from the others with special

knowledge so that he would feel tremendous relief and happiness.

IMPACT OF SELFIE
According to Steele (2014),

There is always a possibility that could affect or change our behavior in taking picture of

ourselves and these changes are:

A. Taking high number of selfies may show that you have shallower personal relationships.

Shallow people have little depth to their own personalities. They are the people who everyone

know as an acquaintance but never as a friend. But they're obsessively concerned about

keeping up their physical appearance for the viewers.

B. Some people may not react positively to your selfies. In research, there's a doctor who

named Dr. David Houghton believes that other than your very close friends and family, people

generally do not relate as to other people who are constantly sharing selfies. He notes that the

information that people past with their Facebook wall is viewed by many types of people,

friends, family, colleagues, acquaintance and strangers. Each group may take a very different

view of your selfie for which there may be criticisms about your selfie.

C. Taking selfies may damage self-esteem. Selfies can be detrimental to self-esteem. According

to, Lucie Hemmen a Santa Cruz clinical psychologist. She believes that there is a continuum of

health and authenticity in what you shoot and post. A mature and secure person will post
spontaneous selfies that are not staged, and they won’t do it very often. A more insecure

person will post staged, or even sexualized photos. These people can become consumed by the

practice, as well as by the comments they get on social media.

D. One's self-esteem may be dictated by selfie feedback or comments. There will be a time that

can sometimes minimize your self-esteem when you are no longer receiving feedback about

your selfie or when you are too much obsessed in pleasing others.

E. Selfies may damage your personality into narcissism. According to Muslim's website, which is

the dean show. Narcissistic personality disorder involves a preoccupation with self and how one

is perceived by others. Narcissists pursue gratification from vanity and the admiration of their

own physical and intellectual attributes. These are possible signs of narcissism and these

includes:

1. Unilateral listening- Instead of listening in order to respond, Narcissists listen in order to

dismiss, negate, ignore, minimize or otherwise make someone else's concerns irrelevant.

2.Pre-occupied with self-Narcissists act selfishly and, even if being generous, are generally only

responsive to their own concerns.

3.Being above the rules-Narcissists feel that they are above others and that the rules don't

apply to them.

4.Inability to take criticism-While narcissists have an inflated idea of their own importance, they

can be quickly deflated by negative criticism.

5.Refusal to take responsible-

Narcissists have tendency to blame others for things that go wrong.

6.Quick to anger- Narcissists may become easily angered by critical comments or being ordered

what to do.

As the previous study showed by Lobo and Gowda (2016) in Mangalore, Karnataka. The present

generation is technology-addicted and selfie-obsessed. Efforts need to be made to educate all

about how social networking is leading to the culture of "popularity" based on materialism and

giving way to unreal standards of physical appearance. The feelings of loneliness arise in

adolescents who spend several hours on social networking sites waiting for someone to

communicate with them and brooding over the active lives of others. However, In the end, the

result of the study showed that the usage of selfies and its posting has an impact on the self-

presentation among youngsters. They expressed a strong need for awareness on the negative

implications.
In another study by Shin et al. (2017) in Seoul, South Korea showed that even in the past,

people took a picture and kept it for various reasons to record and remember. Today is

different this significant phenomenon of the selfie is wide-spread in everyday context.

Especially “millennials” reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century, take a lot of selfies

and share them with others whenever they want (Halpren et al., 2016). However, must people

just conclude that the main reason for the popularity of the selfie results from the advance of

technology like smart devices and various social networking medium. In the end, these findings

support the previous studies that the selfie is an action where various social motives (aspects of

social comparison) are reflected and individuals are influenced by psychological impacts

(formation of self-awareness and self-concept) as consequences of that behavior.

Another related study by de lima (2015) in Piaui, showed that with the consolidation of cyber

culture, part of the consumer culture, the internet has become a breeding field and subjective

of expression. More recently, social media have become the stage for the “spectacle” of

everyday life, in profusion of images shared instantly via computers and mobile devices.

Contemporary visibility thus becomes legitimate facts and event through publication/display.

This process that changes day to day in a show affects a large number of people and, in a way,

“presses” individuals to have online social networks. In 2010, the first picture with selfie tag is

posted on social media Instagram. This photo, shared by writer Jennifer Lee, brought a legend

that made mention of “love” that this user had for a new piece of clothing. Since then the
selfies, mostly made through webcam and smartphones, have multiplied, appearing in various

situations and published faster and faster.

Accordingly using the ideas of Christopher Lash (1983), it was found that the selfie

phenomenon is one form of expression of contemporary narcissism. Narcissist people aims to

overcome your insecurities with the vision of the self-reflected in other people's attention such

attention is measured from the positive comments and the amount of people who “likes”

images, so, that, “validate” the exposed happiness on the photo. However, as the body

discoursed this work, the other is on erased in the selfie context. Therefore, the shared self-

portraits contribute to the proliferation of narcissistic culture and keep close relationships with

other aspects of contemporary society.

In summary, several studies provide insights regarding the effects of selfie. The researcher

conclude that most people rely on other's perceptions or appraisals which may lead to the

point that individuals desire to maintain an image that is accepted by society before one's self.

REFERENCE

Steele, A. (2014). The top 5 psychologies of why we must selfie. Pick the brain.
Sung, Y., Lee, J. A. & Choi, S.M. (2016). Why we must post selfies: Understanding motivation for

posting pictures of oneself. Pluto Network, Scinapse.

Lobo, S. S. & Gowda, P.C. (2016). The selfie phenomenon: Self-presentation and its implications.

International Journal of Computational Research and Development, Volume 1, Issue 1, page

number 147-153.

De lima, C. C. (2015). The selfie as expression of contemporary fashion and narcissism. Federal

University of Piaui- UFPI- Teresina- PI.

Shin, Y. et al. (2017). Selfie and self: The effects of selfies on self- esteem and social sensitivity.

Research gate Publication/313513255

Diefenbach, S. & Christoforakos, L. (2017). The selfie paradox: Nobody seems to like them yet

everyone has reasons to take them. Frontiers Psycho. 8:7.

Nguyen, Amy J., " Exploring the selfie phenomenon: The idea of self-presentation and its

implication among young women" (2014). Smith Scholar Works.