Mental Health of Geeks

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.