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Social Media Sadfishing Questionnaire

Do you secretly seek sympathy on social media? Take this test to find out.

Mark Travers, Ph.D.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D.

June 3, 2024

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, responsible for new client intake and placement. Mark received his B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. His academic research has been published in leading psychology journals and has been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other popular publications. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Psychology Today, where he writes about psycho-educational topics such as happiness, relationships, personality, and life meaning. Click here to schedule an initial consultation with Mark or another member of the Awake Therapy team. Or, you can drop him a note here.

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Sadfishing is a term used to describe the act of posting about personal struggles, emotional difficulties or negative experiences on social media with the intention of seeking attention, reassurance, sympathy or validation from others.

Individuals who engage in sadfishing may share their feelings of distress, challenges or vulnerabilities online in order to elicit supportive responses from their online community. This behavior is characterized by a deliberate effort to evoke empathy and emotional support through self-disclosure of sensitive or personal information on social media platforms.

The Social Media Sadfishing Questionnaire aims to measure individuals' tendencies to post about emotional difficulties, feelings of being misunderstood, and interpersonal challenges in order to gain social support and attention from their online community. It provides a brief and reliable measure for assessing individuals' engagement in sadfishing behaviors on social media, offering insights into their motivations for seeking emotional support and attention through online disclosure.

You can take this test here. Follow all of the steps to receive your results.

References: Shabahang, R., Shim, H., Aruguete, M. S., & Zsila, Á. (2023). Adolescent sadfishing on social media: anxiety, depression, attention seeking, and lack of perceived social support as potential contributors. BMC Psychology, 11(1), 378.

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. I post my emotional pain on social media to get support from others.

2. Social media is an outlet to share my bad experiences for gaining sympathy.

3. I seek compassion by posting my negative emotions on social media.

4. I share the concerns of my life on social media to gain positive attention.

5. Posting my painful experiences on social media helps me to relieve tension through attracting sympathetic reactions.

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Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores with people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.