Social Psychiatry, Vol. 50 No. 3, 2022.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2022.271
Mental Health of Geeks
Una Mikac
orcid.org/0000-0001-9369-6462
; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Being a geek, i.e., an expert heavily invested in an interest related to pop culture or invented worlds, is becoming more
common these days. There are negative stereotypes concerning geeks implying they might have mental health issues
due to their geek activities, the assumption this study explores. First, geeks are compared to the general population
on mental health – both the psychological distress and life satisfaction. Second, the relationships of mental health
to three motivations for geek activities (need for belongingness, desire for engagement and great fantasy migration)
are explored. The data were collected via an online questionnaire from 1219 Croatian individuals who participate in
geek activities. Geeks had the same amount or less mental health issues compared to general population samples from
the previous studies. Acceptance of geek activities by others, lower grandiose narcissism and entitlement predicted
lower psychological distress and/or higher life satisfaction in geeks, as expected, while more engagement in creative
geek activities unexpectedly predicted higher psychological distress. This implies that the need for belongingness as a
motivation for geek activities is a protective factor and that the migration to the fantasy world as a motivation for geek
activities is a risk factor for mental health.
Keywords
Geek; Dual Factor Model of Mental Health; Subjective Well-Being; Psychological Distress; Geek Engagement
Hrčak ID:
292586
URI
Publication date:
31.1.2023.
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