Narcissistic Personalities and Social Media

 

Rajvee Parikh

The usage of social media has increased in the past few years with it being one of the most time-consuming leisure activities in some countries (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). Engaging with social media sites has been known to affect one’s mental wellbeing, especially when the usage of social media turns into an addiction (Turel et al., 2011). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) defines the narcissistic personality disorder as having the following characteristics among others: a grandiose sense of self, fantasies of unlimited power, lack of empathy towards others, self-entitlement and an incessant need for admiration (Okoye, n.d.). Researchers have argued that social media sites encourage desensitisation of individuals resulting in a lack of empathy and that the features of likes and comments encourage a grandiose sense of self (Alloway et al., 2014). Given how pervasive social media has become, the links between the two factors becomes important. This essay aims to understand the relationship between social media usage and narcissistic personality traits through a discussion of existing literature.

Somerville (2015) in their study to determine causality in the relationship between social media usage and increase in narcissistic traits, had participants fill the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS) to measure their narcissistic traits. The author found that increased social media usage was significantly associated with higher scores on the narcissism scale. While the author had hypothesised a causal relationship, the results indicated insufficient evidence to back a unidirectional causal relationship. They conclude that while social media use may increase narcissistic behaviour, narcissists could be more likely to engage with social media sites (Somerville, 2015). The study found no significant gender differences. However, the study had several limitations including a skewed gender ratio, dependence on self-report measures and the participants’ misunderstanding of the survey questions (Somerville, 2015). Despite these, the study provides a possible link to the correlational nature of the relationship between the two variables. Next, research establishing a more nuanced link between the variables will be analysed.

A meta-analysis of 57 studies consisting of 289 effect sizes conducted by Gnambs and Appel (2017) found a significant relationship between trait narcissism and social media usage which could be replicated across several conditions. Age, gender, time period and the specific social media network did not account for any significant differences in the relationship (Gnambs and Appel, 2017). The study also studied narcissism in the context of grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. The former type of narcissism involves a sense of inflated self-importance, dominance and grandiosity while the latter characterises social withdrawal, insecurity and hypersensitivity in interpersonal relationships (Gnambs and Appel, 2017). The meta-analysis showed that the relationship between the primary variables was stronger for grandiose narcissism as compared to vulnerable narcissism. The meta-analysis further delved into cross-cultural differences in the relationship between the two variables. It was found that the relationship did vary with different cultural backgrounds. The link between social media usage and narcissism is especially strong in countries where social hierarchy was fixed and where the power distribution among various social groups was highly skewed (Gnambs and Appel, 2017). In such countries, social media becomes a way of expressing self-entitlement for those at the lower end of the hierarchy, thus providing a platform to grandiose narcissists (Gnambs and Appel, 2017).

Further, a study by Alloway et al. (2014) measured the types of activities on social media that were related to narcissistic traits. The correlational study found that for both sexes, tagging, posting and commenting on others’ posts were related to their scores on narcissism. For females, the more often they posted status updates, the more narcissistic tendencies they had (Alloway et al., 2014). The authors suggest that this may be due to the attention received by the users in the form of comments and likes in response to the posts and status updates. What was interesting in this study however, was the link between narcissism and empathy. The study found no significant relationship for these variables in males while females reported a significant relationship between the two. However, the authors do not provide any explanation for such a finding. It is likely that the limitations of the study could have led to such a finding but further research needs to be conducted in this domain.

The above studies indicate a slightly common trend in the correlational relationship between narcissistic traits and social media usage. However, one must tread with caution given that there have been studies that have found a non-significant relationship between the two, as cited by Casale and Banchi (2020) in their literature review. Further, there are more nuances in the relationship that remain under-explored. For example, the types of comments that one receives on their posts can both positively and negatively be associated with their level of narcissistic traits. Secondly, the direction of the relationship between the two variables remains ambiguous. It is unclear whether narcissistic people use more of social media to reinforce their personality traits or the use of social media increases narcissistic traits in people. Third, self-report measures of narcissism can threaten the validity of the findings. Hence, such reports could be compared to reports filled by the participants’ family or peers. Lastly, longitudinal studies need to be conducted to establish if the relationship between the two variables remains unaffected or is subject to change with the passage of time.

In conclusion, the relationship between social media usage and narcissistic personality traits has scope for further research. Given the prominence of social media in individuals’ lives, healthy social media practices could be encouraged as a consequence of further research into this field.  

 

References

Alloway, T., Runac, R., Quershi, M., & Kemp, G. (2014). Is Facebook Linked to Selfishness? Investigating the Relationships among Social Media Use, Empathy, and Narcissism. Social Networking, 3(3). https://doi.org/DOI:10.4236/sn.2014.33020

Casale, S., & Banchi, V. (2020). Narcissism and problematic social media use: A systematic literature review. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 11. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853219302391.

Gnambs, T., & Appel, M. (2017). Narcissism and Social Networking Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12305

Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction—a review of the psychological literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(9), 3528–3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528.

Okoye, H. (n.d.). Narcissistic personality disorder DSM-5 301.81 (F60.81). Theravive Counseling. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/narcissistic-personality-disorder-dsm--5-301.81-(f60.81)

Somerville, T. (2015). The effect of social media use on narcissistic behavior. Journal of Undergraduate Research. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/somerville-issue-25.pdf.

Turel, O., Serenko, A., & Bontis, N. (2011). Family and work-related consequences of addiction to organizational pervasive technologies. Information & Management, 48(2-3), 88–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2011.01.004.