Nosedive in Black Mirror: has social media given birth to narcissists or is it a platform for budding narcissists?

Social media has been held responsible for several mental disorders suffered by mankind. In the Narcissistic epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Twenge states that an exponential increase in narcissistic values equals the growing rates of obesity in the USA since the 1980s i.e. the time social media websites were introduced to the world. A comparison of life gaols and perceptions of self between millennials and those of previous generations, a significant rise in the supporters of a “Generation me” view than a “Generation we” view among millennials is witnessed (Twenge, Campbell & Freeman, 2012). However, does a correlation between the rise of social media and narcissistic values among millennials indicate definite causation? This piece aims to study the problem of bidirectionality in psychological research pertaining to a correlation between a rise in social media use and narcissistic personality disorders.  

Nosedive, an episode of the fiction anthology series Black Mirror is a satire on people’s obsession with social media. It highlights users’ tendencies to wrongly correlate virtual likes and comments for real-life praise and validations. The episode portrays a hypothetical world where people’s socio-economic status depends on their score on a numerical virtual scale that mimics China’s social credit system. The protagonist Lacy Pound’s obsession and consequent actions indicate increased use of social media to result in pathological actions related to narcissistic personality disorder. In contrast, her brother Ryan and a senior citizen Susan did not fall prey to this overwhelming tension of gaining a better rating and recognized the superficial nature of social media validations.

Several studies state that social media was introduced in the early 1990s but gained popularity only in 2003(Somerville). Consequently, one can see a shift in perspective towards expressive individualism among millennials with increased exposure to social media when compared to the previous generation (Twenge, Campbell & Freeman, 2012). An analysis of Lacy’s character confirms this hypothesis. She resorts to attention-seeking tactics given her obsession with virtual ratings. Moreover, her obsession and consequent actions cause discomfort to her brother and strain their off-screen relationship. On being questioned on how she felt when her ill behaviour at the airport led to a drop in her ratings, she felt a sense of remorse not because of her ill behaviour but because of a consequent downfall on her ratings. This indicates her detachment from reality. She constantly represses her negative emotions and forces herself to believe that her former friend Naomi who once slept with her boyfriend is still her best friend. She also agreed to be her bridesmaid merely to receive a higher virtual rating. Hence, her inclination towards individualistic perspectives, a distorted sense of self and others and a detachment from reality originates from her increasing exposure to social media. Hence, social media did give birth to the narcissist in Lacy.

A counterargument would state that Ryan who belonged to the same generation and grew up in the same social context did not fall prey to the narcissistic tendencies that social media evoked in his sister. Hence, social media cannot be blamed for the origin of narcissistic tendencies. Moreover, since the millennials have been born into an increasingly individualistic culture than the previous generations, it could lead to the development of narcissistic tendencies from a younger age and not due to a social media exposure (Emmons, 1987) which explains the difference in the behaviour of Lacy and Susan, a senior citizen. Hence, Lacy was biologically programmed to be a narcissist and social media provided her with a platform to feed her ego. 

In response to this, it is important to consider the evolving nature of personalities. According to the additive approach of the stress-diathesis model, people may possess very less genetic tendencies to develop a disorder but high environmental stimulants can still lead to the development of the disorder. Hence, those who possessive extremely recessive genes of narcissism may also develop the disorder due to increased exposure to social media. Moreover, increased narcissistic tendencies among millennials in comparison to past generations may not necessarily be due to a shift in the cultural orientation towards individualism. Studies suggest that older people tend to be humbler as they have faced a greater number of reality checks throughout their lives that has subdued the narcissist in them which is still present among the youth of today (Twenge, Campbell & Freeman, 2012).

Whether social media causes the generation of narcissistic personality disorders or whether it acts as a catalyst often used by narcissists to feed their ego remains debatable. Nevertheless, social media, performing either one of these roles, does positively correlate with the rising narcissistic personality disorders among the current generation.

References: 

1. Brooker C., (2011) Black Mirror [Television Series].
2. Buffardi, L., & Campbell, W. (2008). Narcissism and Social Networking Web Sites. Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(10), 1303-1314. 
3. Andreassen, C., Pallesen, S., & Griffiths, M. (2017). The relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 287-293.
4. Twenge, J., Campbell, W., & Freeman, E. (2012). Generational differences in young adults' life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966–2009. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 102(5), 1045-1062. 
5. Emmons, R. (1987). Narcissism: Theory and measurement. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 52(1), 11-17.