TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and validation of a questionnaire (GHOST) to assess sudden, unexplained communication exclusion or "ghosting"
AU - Jahrami, Haitham
AU - Saif, Zahra
AU - Chen, Wen
AU - Helmy, Mai
AU - Ghazzawi, Hadeel
AU - Trabelsi, Khaled
AU - Natan Pires, Gabriel
AU - Bragazzi, Nicola L
AU - Pandi-Perumal, Seithikurippu R
AU - Seeman, Mary V
N1 - © 2023 The Authors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
PY - 2023/6/1
Y1 - 2023/6/1
N2 - The topic of "ghosting" as a method of terminating a relationship has been discussed in both popular media and academic circles. Although research on this issue is scarce, the concept has acquired popularity and gained scholarly attention. A reliable and valid measure of this phenomenon does not, however, exist. GHOST (The Ghosting Questionnaire) was designed and psychometrically tested to explore ghostee experiences. A total of 811 adults participated in an online survey to test this instrument. It was developed based on a thorough analysis of research on the topic of ghosting using a phenomenological qualitative method to identify ghosting domains and generate questionnaire items. In terms of content validity and construct validity, the final version of the measure was found to be satisfactory. GHOST was found to have adequate internal consistency - scores of 0.74, 0.74, and 0.80, indicating acceptable Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and ordinal's alpha coefficients, respectively. Factor analyses found the GHOST questionnaire to be a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for screening ghosting experiences and for designing community-based distress prevention and intervention programs. A dynamic fit index (DFI) cutoffs approach was also used and showed robust fitting.
AB - The topic of "ghosting" as a method of terminating a relationship has been discussed in both popular media and academic circles. Although research on this issue is scarce, the concept has acquired popularity and gained scholarly attention. A reliable and valid measure of this phenomenon does not, however, exist. GHOST (The Ghosting Questionnaire) was designed and psychometrically tested to explore ghostee experiences. A total of 811 adults participated in an online survey to test this instrument. It was developed based on a thorough analysis of research on the topic of ghosting using a phenomenological qualitative method to identify ghosting domains and generate questionnaire items. In terms of content validity and construct validity, the final version of the measure was found to be satisfactory. GHOST was found to have adequate internal consistency - scores of 0.74, 0.74, and 0.80, indicating acceptable Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and ordinal's alpha coefficients, respectively. Factor analyses found the GHOST questionnaire to be a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for screening ghosting experiences and for designing community-based distress prevention and intervention programs. A dynamic fit index (DFI) cutoffs approach was also used and showed robust fitting.
KW - Cyberpsychology
KW - Icing
KW - Psychometrics
KW - Simmering
KW - Social media
KW - Social networking
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UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/f62add8c-10f5-3a42-8f21-a6e42d5a5891/
U2 - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17066
DO - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17066
M3 - Article
C2 - 37484221
SN - 2405-8440
VL - 9
SP - e17066
JO - Heliyon
JF - Heliyon
IS - 6
M1 - e17066
ER -