The use of fake accounts is increasing on social media platforms, which are particularly prevalent among young people. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychological dynamics of fake account use in the context of obsessive behaviors, childhood traumas, dissociative experiences, and tendency to violence. The study sample consisted of 102 university students aged 18-30 and 51 of the participants used fake accounts, while 51 did not. Participants were administered a Demographic Information Form, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Violence Tendency Scale, and Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory. Questions related to cyber dissociation were included in the Demographic Information Form. These questions include: "How much time do you spend on social media?", "When presenting yourself to others on social media, do you project a personality that differs from your real-world self?", "After spending time on social media, do you feel difficulty readjusting to the real world?", "Do you clearly perceive a distinction between the online world and the real world?", and "Are there times when you feel lost in your online identity and detached from the real world?"


Analyses revealed that individuals who used fake accounts had significantly higher childhood trauma scores than those who did not. These participants also scored higher on subscales related to emotional and physical abuse and neglect. Furthermore, significant and positive correlation was found between childhood trauma, dissociative experiences, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and tendency to violence in participants using fake accounts. Additional analyses conducted regarding cyber dissociation also revealed significant differences between participants using fake accounts. Consequently, the relationships between these variables suggest that fake account use is not merely a digital act but also a behavioral pattern that may have psychological roots.


*This study was produced from Neşe Yılmaz Gürten's Master's thesis at the Institute of Forensic Sciences and Legal Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa.