Peer phubbing and selfie liking: The roles of attention seeking and gender

We explored the relationship between being phubbed by one’s peers and selfie liking, and examined the mediating effect of attention seeking and the moderating effect of gender in this relationship. An online survey was conducted with 427 university students. The results reveal that peer phubbing was positively related to attention seeking and selfie liking. Further, attention seeking was positively related to selfie liking, and attention seeking mediated the relationship between peer phubbing and selfie liking. The indirect pathways involved gender differences, with a stronger indirect effect for men compared to that for women. Thus, gender moderated the relationship between peer phubbing and attention seeking, as well as the relationship between attention seeking and selfie liking. These findings illustrate that selfie-related behaviors may function as a buffer for being phubbed. Moreover, phubbed individuals are prone to engage in attention-seeking behavior and frequent selfie liking.