SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
Social Medias Effects on Perceived Narcissism and Selfishness
Anonymous Author
Florida International University
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
Abstract
Methods One Students: Typically, authors add their abstract for the paper here on the second
page. As you can see, the abstract for this paper is missing. Your job is to supply that abstract!
Read over the following paper, which is an actual paper turned in by a former student taking
Research Methods and Design II at FIU. This is similar to a paper you will write next semester.
Review the studies in this paper, and spot the hypotheses, independent and dependent variables,
participants, results, and implications, and write it up in one paragraph (no more than 250 words
maximum). Make sure to include keywords as well (keywords are words or short phrases that
researchers use when searching through online databases like PsycInfo – they need to be
descriptive of the paper, so come up with three or four that seem to suit this paper). Good luck!
Keywords: methods, paper, abstract, assignment, preview
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
3
Social Medias Effects on Perceived Narcissism and Selfishness
The advent of social media has created an explosion of self-expression never before seen
in modern history. Social media allows people to present the best version of themselves to the
eyes of the world via pictures, specifically selfies, videos and live streaming of their everyday
lives, available to anyone with an internet connection and a desire to make themselves known to
the world (Wang et al., 2018). Websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are
immensely popular today for allowing some of their users to create an entirely new identity for
themselves in the hopes that it will attract new followers and give them more publicity within the
social media networks. Although this kind of self-promotion can be rationalized as just trying to
put yourself out there in the world to make new connections and perhaps open doors to new
career opportunities, this kind of behavior can be seen as a narcissistic self-obsession with
oneself by consumers of their content.
Narcissism is defined as a pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of
empathy (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The influence of narcissism on a person’s
selfie taking tendencies has been widely known throughout various research articles. A study
conducted by Sung et al. (2016), points out that a common reason that selfies are posted by
social media users is to seek admiration from their followers by posting likeable pictures that
share their own interests and values in the hopes that their posts are liked and shared by
followers and friends as a form of positive reciprocation of their selfie. The study was conducted
by having 315 participants in Seoul, Korea, complete a 13 item Narcissism Personality Inventory
(NPI 13), and resulted in data that showed that selfie posting frequency was correlated with
attention seeking motivation and narcissism, with participants also stating their intentions to post
more selfies in future posts (Sung et al., 2016). Additional findings indicated that narcissism had
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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a heavy influence in the selfie taking motivations of the individuals surveyed in the study and
accurately predicted selfie taking frequency and the purpose of their posts. The researchers
managed to find a link between narcissism and selfie taking by finding that the individuals in the
study used their selfie taking as a method of impression management, which is behavior that is
frequently observed in individuals with high amounts of narcissism (Sung et al., 2016).
Further research corroborates the link between obsessive selfie posters and narcissism. A
study conducted by Halpern et al. (2016), used a two-wave panel study that was completed one
year apart and involved 500 participants in Chile. The participants rated their narcissism using
questionnaires related to their perceived superiority levels and their selfie taking behavior. The
results of the study revealed that not only do narcissists engage in more selfie taking and social
media usage when compared to non-narcissistic participants, but it reported that frequent selfie
takers became more narcissistic over time as their selfie taking behavior continued (Halpern et
al., 2016).
People are known to want to associate themselves with others who share similar values
and exhibit similar behavior. It is no different with people who hold narcissistic traits and it is
evident that this herd like behavior spreads to social media platforms as well. A study conducted
by Jin and Muqaddam (2018), hypothesized that narcissistic viewers of Instagram selfies would
show a more positive attitude towards selfies, would be more likely to take more selfies
themselves in the future, and would be more likely to follow the original poster of the selfie
compared to a non-narcissistic viewer. An experiment was conducted in which participants
would be tested on their own narcissistic tendencies and then answered questions about their
thoughts regarding the original posters perceived narcissism. The study concluded that
narcissistic participants were indeed more likely to post more selfies in the future while
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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exhibiting more positive views of the original selfie poster while also being more likely to follow
the original posters Instagram profile (Jin & Muqaddam, 2016).
Another factor to take into account about narcissistic selfie taking is the role of body
image and the influence it plays regarding the prevalence in selfie posting. Being comfortable in
one’s own skin is a large factor in deciding to post a picture that reveals your body for the world
to see, and a narcissistic trait is to have an unusually high perception of one’s self, even if the
perception is far from reality. Facebook users who claim to have a more positive perception of
their own bodies report a greater incidence of pictures that include a large portion of their bodies
(Pounders et al, 2016). Further research shows that personal satisfaction with body image has a
significant and positive correlation to posting full body pictures online (Fox & Vendemia 2016;
Ridgway & Clayton 2016). A study conducted by Wang et al. (2018) examined the link between
narcissism and positive body image and its influence on body exposure in selfie pictures by
having participants rate their overall satisfaction with their bodies, their attitudes toward taking
selfies, and their selfie posting behavior. The results of the study made evident the correlation
that body satisfaction mediates the relationship between narcissistic traits and selfie taking
behavior. This result also shows that high body satisfaction among narcissistic participants is
prevalent and contributes to a higher ratio of their bodies being shown in selfie taking behaviors
(Wang et al., 2018).
Selfies have been shown to influence an observer’s social judgements about a posters
content (Qiu et al., 2015). A study conducted by Taylor et al. (2017) presented participants with
four fictitious Facebook accounts that varied in valence and selfie presence. The participants
observed the status updates of the profiles and were instructed to rate their level of social
attraction to each profile, the level of perceived narcissism, and the appropriateness of the
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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message with the accompanying selfie picture. Results showed that the majority of participants
rated the status updates that were accompanied by selfies to be more narcissistic than those
without selfies, posts with messages were deemed to be inappropriate when accompanied with
selfies, and were ranked as less socially attractive than those without selfies (Taylor et al., 2017).
This ties in to the notion that not only do frequent posters of selfies on social media networks
tend to exhibit narcissistic traits, but social media users are perceived to be narcissistic by
observers of their content when compared to posts that don’t include selfies.
Study one
The aim of this study is to examine the effects of different styles of picture taking and the
resulting perceptions made by the people who observe them. In general, we predict that
participants will rate a fictional Instagram user (Emma) as more narcissistic if “selfies”
accompany her Instagram account than if “groupies” or “professional” photos accompany her
account. More specifically, we predict that if participants are exposed to selfie photos, then they
will believe that an Instagram user posts to her social media accounts more often and seems more
narcissistic compared to participants exposed to either groupie or professional photos, though
these latter two conditions should not differ from each other in their Instagram user ratings.
Method
Participants
One-hundred and forty-one participants from Florida International University participated
in a study regarding social medias effects on perceived narcissism and selfishness. Of these
participants, 68 were male (48.20%), and 73 being female (51.80%). The age of the sample
ranged from 17 to 70 (M = 26.90, SD = 10.12). This included 19.90% Caucasian (N = 28),
58.20% Hispanic (N = 82), 1.40% Native American (N = 2), 9.90% African American (N = 14),
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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3.50% Asian American (N = 5), and 7.10% who identified as being of a “other” race (N = 10).
There were 64 participants who reported being students at Florida International University
(45.40%), with 77 participants reporting not being students (54.60%).
Materials and Procedure
Materials utilized for the study included three sets of two-page questionnaires and
pencils. The participants of the study were randomly given one of the three questionnaires and
were sked to read and complete them. The questionnaires were split into five parts: Part I- Look
at pictures of the study subject (Emma Wood) and answer questions about the pictures and their
own preferences. Part II- Participants are asked to record their impressions of Emma based on
the pictures they saw. Part III- Participants complete a survey detailing their own personal
characteristics using questions adapted from the Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI). Part
IV- Participants provide their demographic information. Part V- Participants are asked what kind
of picture they believe they observed and record their answers.
The study was split into two phases to differentiate between the introductory phase of the
study and the participatory phase of the study. The introductory phase of the study gave the
researchers an opportunity to explain the study and its objective to prospective participants,
while receiving verbal consent to participate in the second phase of the study. The first phase of
the study involved researchers finding participants by asking strangers whether they would be
willing to take part in a brief study regarding social media profiles and perceived narcissism
based on pictures posted by the social media user. Once informed consent was given by the
participants after being informed of the risks and costs of the procedure, those who agreed to
participate in the study were briefed on the information that was required from them, the
sequence of questions they were to expect in the study and were provided with the materials
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
8
needed to complete the study. The second phase of the study began by the researchers randomly
handing out one of the three questionnaires to participants and instructing the participants to read
the entirety of the Instagram page and to complete the questionnaire at their own pace.
Part I of the study involved the participants viewing a fictional Instagram page of a
woman named Emma Wood. The questionnaires each had three different sets of pictures for the
participants to base their answers from. Each of the three questionnaires given to the participants
were randomly selected with one of the following conditions: Selfie Condition- Three self-taken
pictures of Emma taken by herself with differing facial expressions. Groupie Condition- Three
pictures of Emma with at least one other person included in the picture. Professional Condition-
Three pictures of Emma taken in a staged setting by a professional photographer.
Part I also contained three questions for the participants to answer. Participants were asked
to look at three pictures of Emma’s fictional Instagram profile (the subject of the study) and rate
which picture the participant preferred, when they think Emma last updated her Instagram
profile, and how often they thought Emma posts more thoughts or pictures in Instagram.
Question one was answered in an A, B, or C format, question two and three was answered on an
interval scale, ranging from 0 (rarely) to 5 (constantly).
Part II of the questionnaire involved the participant rating their own impressions of
Emma Wood and are given 10 questions to be completed on an interval scale of 0 (Strongly
disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The questions asked if the participant thinks Emma seemed
smart, happy, generous, self-absorbed, helpful, shy, selfish, down-to-earth, narcissistic, and
egotistical. In part III, participants were asked to rate themselves on an interval scale from 0
(Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) based on 10 questions that were sourced from the NPI.
Part IV tasked participants with completing demographic information that included their race,
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
9
gender, age, first language and whether they were a student at Florida International University.
Lastly, part V asked participants which terms best describes Emma’s photos based on three given
categories (selfie, groupie, professional).
At the end of the study, the researchers thanked the participants for their contributions to
the study and debriefed them about the details and the expectations of the study regarding the
link between narcissism and selfie. The researchers closed the session by debriefing the
participants a narrative detailing the research question, their method and the hypothesis
formulated by the researchers.
After the completion of the study, researchers input the data into SPSS – Data Analysis
Software system where photo condition (selfie vs. groupie vs. professional) was the independent
variable, and the frequency of Emma posts her social media and Emma’s narcissism were the
two main dependent variables analyzed. Photo condition manipulation was checked as well.
Results
A Chi-square test was used to check for proper recall of the provided pictures (selfie,
groupie, professional) and whether participants were able to correctly categorize the photos with
the proper picture type. The chi square was significant, 2 (4) = 159.27 p < .001. Most “Selfie”
participants recalled seeing selfies (84.40%). Most “Groupie” participants recalled seeing
groupies (83.00%). Finally, most “Professional” participants recalled seeing professional photos
(81.60%). Cramer’s V, which was approximate for this test, was very strong (.75). This indicates
that most participants had very strong recall of the pictures and correctly categorized them with
the proper provided labels in the questionnaire.
We ran a One-Way ANOVA with photo condition as our independent variable (Selfie v
Groupie v Professional) and ratings of Emma’s narcissism as our dependent variable, F(2,138) =
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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13.40, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test showed that participants thought Emma was significantly
more narcissistic in the selfie condition (M = 3.02, SD = 1.16) than in both the groupie condition
(M = 2.13, SD = .82) and the professional condition (M = 2.20, SD = .74). Participants in the
groupie and professional conditions, however, did not differ from one another. These results
show Emma’s selfie condition is much more likely to receive a judgement of her being more
narcissistic when compared to either the groupie or professional photo types.
We ran a One-Way ANOVA with photo condition as our independent variable (Selfie v
Groupie v Professional) and ratings of how frequently Emma posts to social media as our
dependent variable, F(2,138) = 11.98, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test showed that participants
thought Emma was significantly more likely to post in the selfie condition (M = 3.18, SD = 1.07)
than in the groupie condition (M = 2.47, SD = .75) and the professional condition (M = 2.29, SD
= .94). Participants in the groupie and professional conditions did not differ from one another.
Discussion
It was predicted that participants would rate a fictional Instagram user as more
narcissistic and more frequently posts on social media if “selfies” accompany her account. The
results supported the hypothesis as participants did perceive Emma as more narcissistic and
thought Emma posts on her social media more frequently when exposed to her selfie pictures
compared to those who exposed to her groupie and professional pictures. Further research is
needed to determine if certain individual variables brought in by the participants themselves
influenced their rationale as to why they believed Emma to be narcissistic when observing her
selfie photos compared to her groupie and professional photos.
Study Two
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A valuable variable that can hold a significant influence in whether a social media post is
deemed to be narcissistic or not is the gender of the observer of the picture. It is expected that
men and women will react differently in the same situation, but just how different men and
women will react to seeing the same picture has yet to be thoroughly researched. The aim of this
second study is to examine the differences between male and female users of social networking
sites and other forms of media, and the relationship between gender and their judgement towards
someone with a narcissistic personality. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center that
tracked social media usage by the American public showed that 69% of Americans were
members of at least one social networking site (Perrin, 2017). This serves to prove that the
prevalence of social media can be used as a tool to discover patterns of personal judgement and
perception through a digital medium.
A study conducted by Bacev-Giles and Haji (2017), focused on analyzing how first
impressions were assessed based on reviewing personal descriptions of a fictitious person’s
social media profile. The social media profiles included short quotes that hinted at the users
personality and brief descriptions of hobbies they engaged in. The profile pictures of these fake
profiles were substituted for avatars to avoid influencing decision making in the form of altered
or improved personal photos. The information shown was designed to be neutral in meaning, but
with a positive message to remain similar to social media profiles of actual people, who tend to
showcase their positive traits and refrain from sharing negative characteristics to appear more
attractive to viewers (Qiu et al., 2012). Subjects reported back with positive responses on their
initial impressions of the social media profiles. Participants had a tendency to exaggerate the
persons positive traits while underestimating their negative attributes (Bacev-Giles & Haji,
2017). The results also found that the positive descriptions were intertwined with gender
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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stereotypic descriptions of the profiles. Men were commonly described as “athletic” or “active”,
while women were characterized as “warm” or “creative” (Bacev-Giles & Haji, 2017). These
results can serve as a steppingstone for exploring deeper into the decision-making processes of
social media users. The study managed to highlight the influence of personal descriptions of
social media users on an observers initial impression of them without their opinion being
affected by what could be seen as a narcissistic or self-promoting selfie type picture as the focal
point of their visual perception of the user.
In reference to an article discussed in study one, a study conducted by (Sung et al., 2016),
discovered that selfies are taken frequently by social media users to gain acceptance from
likeminded peers and reaffirm their sense of self by achieving the admiration of others. This
frequent selfie taking behavior correlated with increased narcissism and attention seeking
behavior based on the results of a 13 item NPI (Sung et al., 2016). In correlation with the
aforementioned study, Buss and Chiodo (1991) identified that women are highly concerned
about physical appearance in relation to acts centered around improving their perceived
attractiveness. Women were found to be more likely to show off their figure, ask others about her
appearance, and comment on how much weight they had lost (Buss & Chiodo, 1991). It could be
argued that had this study been replicated in modern day society, frequent selfie taking behavior
and aesthetic improvements to selfies in the form of filters, airbrushes, or other cosmetic
enhancements would be used by women to enhance their beauty for others to gaze upon.
There is a clear disparity on gender norms and expectations that is propagated culturally
through various forms of media, such as television, radio, and more recently through the internet.
Although different cultures have established unique standards as to what defines femininity and
masculinity, contemporary American society has long established unofficial guidelines regarding
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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what constitutes proper behavior for each gender. A study conducted by Zemach and Cohen
(1986), revealed generous differences in television reality and social reality. A sample of 1202
subjects, 61% women and 39% men were handed a questionnaire that asked questions related to
certain occupations and chores. The participants were then asked to answer which gender they
expected to be involved in the situation and which gender actively participated in said chore
within their family network. The results of the questionnaire showed great discrepancies
regarding perceived gender roles and was heavily influenced by the amount of fictional
television viewed by the respondents. Among males who described themselves as heavy viewers
of fictional programs, 63% ranked sensitivity as a feminine trait, while 47% of light male
viewers reported the same findings (Zemach & Cohen, 1986). Further evidence of television
influence was found in the perceived roles based off of t.v. viewing versus the roles their families
occupied in the household. Where 68% of men reported that child rearing was a woman’s job,
only 41% reported it to be the case in their home (Zemach & Cohen, 1986). It is debatable
whether pre-conceived notions of gender in the home and in the work place would have an effect
on whether a person judges a social media profile to be narcissistic, but it could be presumed that
if these beliefs are held by the viewer, it would lead to a harsher judgement by the viewer when
observing the profile. The thought that a woman with strong notions of how a woman should
behave in society, a submissive, friendly, soft spoke person, would be critical of a picture of
another woman who exhibits a strong, confident demeanor doesn’t seem to far-fetched and
would likely label the individual in the picture as narcissistic if given the opportunity.
The second study in the present research analyzes how gender influences whether a person
is deemed to have narcissistic tendencies. The new independent variable added to study two is
Instagram user’s gender (female vs. male), and the original independent variable, photo
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
14
condition, remains, but with two conditions left: selfie vs. professional. The hypotheses in the
study two examines the influences of Instagram user’s gender and interaction effect of photo
type and gender on how people feel about the user. When it comes to the frequency the user
posts on social media, people will think more frequently when the user is a female, compared to
a male user. In addition, people will think a user will post most frequently when the user is a
female and she posts selfie pictures, compared to a male use who posts professional
pictures. When it comes to how narcissistic people think about the user, similar findings will
emerge.
Method
Participants
Seven-hundred and fifty-one participants, 39.90 % (N = 299) college students from
Florida International University (FIU) and 60.10 % (N = 450) not students at FIU, were recruited
from among family members and friends of the experimenters to participate in study two. Of
these 751 participants, 33.70 % (N = 253) were male and 65.5 % (N = 492) were female, with
0.50 % (N=4) of participants stating “other” as their gender and 0.25 % (N=2) answers missing
from the results. Ages ranged from a minimum of 14 years to a maximum of 76 years, with an
average (mean) age of M = 26.35 years (SD = 9.74). Our sample population consisted of
63.20 % native English speakers (N= 475), 29.80 % native Spanish speakers (N = 140), and
5.90 % native speakers of other languages (N = 28).
Materials and Procedure
Materials utilized for study two consisted of 2 different, randomly generated Qulatrics
questionnaires that participants accessed online via an electronic device with internet
connectivity (e.g., tablet, smart phone, computer). The study was split into two phases similar to
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
15
study one, the introductory phase and the participatory phase. The introductory phase involved
researchers finding willing participants to engage in a study examining social media profiles and
perceived narcissism based on styles of pictures posted by the user, and how the gender of the
poster and photo priming would affect the results of the study. The participatory phase involved
the willing participants going online and completing a questionnaire that collected their answers.
The questionnaire contained the purpose of the study, the procedures participants were to engage
in, demographic questions, manipulation check, and a debriefing section informing the
participants of the hypothesis of the researchers and contact information for future reference. The
procedure of the experiment was conducted as follows:
The instruction contained the objective of the study, procedures, risks and benefits, and
concluded with asking for consent to participate in the study. Next participants viewed fictitious
female and male profiles with gender neutral names (Avery Wood) and were asked to rate their
favorite picture from a 3-picture array of selfie pictures or a 3-picture array of professional
pictures. The participants were asked about their thoughts of how often they thought the profile
owners updated their profile picture and how often they thought they posted pictures on their
profiles on an interval scale, ranging from 0 (rarely) to 5 (constantly). The individual surveys
taken by the participants were randomly generated by the Qualtrics survey generator and resulted
in participants either seeing the male Avery with selfie pictures, male Avery with professional
pictures, female Avery with selfie pictures, or female Avery with professional pictures.
Next, participants answered 10 questions on an interval scale of 1 (Strongly disagree) to 6
(Strongly Agree). The questions asked if the participant thinks Avery seemed smart, happy,
generous, self-absorbed, helpful, shy, selfish, down-to-earth, narcissistic, and egotistical.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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Then participants complete a self-assessment in which participants were asked to rate
themselves on an interval scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 6 (Strongly Agree) based on 10
questions that were sourced from NPI, demographic information that included their gender, race,
age, first language learned, and whether they were a student at Florida International University,
and answered how often they posted their thoughts and pictures to their social media profiles.
Next, a manipulation check was provided, asking participants to rate their favorite picture
of Avery, whether it was the selfie, professional photo, or if it was unknown which the favorite
was. It also asked what gender they believed Avery to be, whether male, female, or unknown.
A debriefing at the end of survey was explained to participants the significance of their
questionnaire and how the results will be measured as part of a larger study to better understand
how certain personality traits, such as selfishness, self-absorption, and narcissism are judged
when faced viewing social media pictures that focus on the gender of the person in the picture,
and the nature of the photo priming present.
Results
A chi-square test was used to check user gender as reported by the participants as the
independent variable and whether participants recalled Avery’s gender as male or female as the
dependent variable. There was a significant main effect, 2(2) = 682.60, p = .003. Most
participants correctly recalled Avery’s gender as female (95%) when viewing the female profile
of Avery, while most participants also correctly noted Avery as male (93.8%) when viewing the
male profile of Avery (Table 1). The results show that the majority of participants were able to
correctly identify Avery’s gender when viewing the male and female social media profiles.
Table 1
Manipulation check on Avery’s Gender
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Levels of Variable Percentage
Male
Female
Unknown
93.8
95.0
4.4
2(2) = 682.60, p =.003
An additional chi-square test was used to check photo priming manipulation as the
independent variable, and how participants viewed Avery’s pictures (selfies vs. professional vs.
unknown) as the dependent variable. There was a significant main effect, 2(2) = 478.40, p
= .025. Most participants correctly reported Avery’s pictures as selfies (90.4%) as well as
correctly designated most of the professional photos as well (79.2%), but to a lesser degree than
the selfie pictures (Table 2).
Table 2
Manipulation Check on Selfie, Professional, or Unknown Options
Levels of Variable Percentage
Selfie
Other (Professional)
Unknown
90.4
79.2
6.8
2(2) = 478.40, p = .025
The first 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA was analyzed, with photo condition (selfie vs.
professional) and user gender (male vs. female) as independent variables and how often
participants thought Avery posted thoughts or pictures on their social media profiles (Instagram)
as the dependent variable. Photo condition showed a significant main effect on how often
participants thought Avery posted thoughts or pictures on social media, F (1, 747) = 4.86, p
= .028. Participants who viewed the selfie picture (M = 4.22, SD = 1.42) rated Avery as posting
more often than those who viewed professional picture (M = 3.79, SD = 1.25). The main effect of
user gender was significant, F (1,747) = 8.74, p = .003. Participants who viewed female Avery
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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account (M = 3.86, SD = 1.12) rated Avery posting more often than those who viewed male
Avery account (M = 3.72, SD = 1.46). There was no interaction effect between photo condition
and user gender, F (1,747) = 2.27, p = .132 (see Table 3).
Table 3
2 x 2 ANOVA on Avery’s Posting Frequency on Social Media
Source Sum of
Square
df Mean
Square
F p
Corrected model
Intercept
IV User gender
IV Photo condition
User gender*Photo Condition
Error
Total
28.023
11410.527
15.274
8.495
3.972
1305.487
12757.000
3
1
1
1
1
747
751
9.341
11410.527
15.274
8.495
3.972
1.748
5.345
6529.106
8.740
4.861
2.273
.001
.000
.003
.028
.132
The second 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA was analyzed, with photo condition (selfie vs.
professional) and user gender (male vs. female) as independent variables and how narcissistic
participants viewed Avery as the dependent variable. Photo condition showed a significant main
effect, F (1, 747) = 12.05, p = .001. Participants who viewed the selfie picture (M = 3.61, SD =
1.54) rated Avery as more narcissistic than those who viewed professional picture (M = 3.21, SD
= 1.23). The main effect of user gender was significant, F (1,747) = 5.12, p = .024. Participants
who viewed female Avery account (M = 3.32, SD = 1.24) rated Avery more narcissistic than
those who viewed male Avery account (M = 3.05, SD = 1.27). There was no interaction effect
between photo condition and user gender, F (1,747) = .45, p = .504 (see Table 3).
Table 4
2 x 2 ANOVA Avery Seems Narcissistic
Source Sum of
Square
df Mean
Square
F p
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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Corrected model
Intercept
IV User gender
IV Photo condition
User gender*Photo Condition
Error
Total
31.125
8168.112
8.961
21.113
0.781
1308.465
9516.000
3
1
1
1
1
747
751
10.375
8168.112
8.961
21.113.
0.781
1.752
5.923
4663.158
5.116
12.054
0.446
.001
.000
.024
.001
.504
Discussion
In study two, it was predicted that participants would rate Avery as more narcissistic
when shown selfie style pictures as opposed to professional style photos. The results of the study
found that participants rated the female version of the social media profile more likely to update
their profile more often with their thoughts and pictures compared to male owned profiles. These
results coincide with the findings discovered in study one, in which the fictitious social media
profile of Emma, was rated as more narcissistic because of her perceived tendency to post selfies
of herself often on her social media profile.
For the second dependent variable, it was hypothesized that participants would rate
Avery more narcissistic if they saw the female social media profile as opposed to the male
version. The results state that the female version of Avery was rated as more narcissistic in both
the selfie and professional categories than in the male version. This further supports the proposed
hypothesis that was surmised at the beginning of study one and the updated hypothesis for the
second study.
General Discussion
Throughout both studies, research revealed the extent to which gender and picture type
influenced the opinions of participants when viewing fictitious profiles of male and female
subjects. Participants in the first study were more likely to rate a given social media profiles user
as more narcissistic if exposed to profiles with a higher amount of selfie pictures as opposed to
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pictures taken in a professional or group setting. The second study focused on the relationship
between gender differences and its influence on the perceived narcissism ratings of the subjects.
Our results support the hypothesis that female subjects would be perceived as more narcissistic
than male counterparts when viewed through the selfie and professional conditions. Study two’s
results also found that the female counterparts were rated as more likely to update their posts
more often by adding pictures more frequently than males. The results of these studies support
the findings of a prior study conducted by Halpern et al. (2016), that correlate frequent selfie
taking and social media activity with higher levels of reported narcissism.
A previous study conducted by Taylor et al. (2017) further cements the prevalence of
selfie type photos and social media users with narcissistic personality traits. The study
corroborates the results of the performed studies by reporting that the majority of participants
found status updates that were accompanied by selfie type pictures to be more narcissistic than
those without such pictures. Posts that included selfies were also deemed to be inappropriate and
less socially attractive to viewers when compared to posts without selfies (Taylor et al., 2017).
These findings could serve well as a source of insight for future studies regarding social media
interactions and examining what kinds of physical behaviors cause people in society to associate
them with a certain trait, whether it be narcissistic, selfish, shy, etc.
The results of the present studies could very well have been jeopardized by multiple
factors and limitations that went unnoticed. Future studies should strive to collect a larger
participant base with a more diverse age group. The population sample of the study consisted of
around half being college age students who also happened to be attending the same university at
the time of the study. This could present some sort of institutional bias into the findings from
having such a large presence of likeminded individuals attending the same institution. The
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21
generational representation in the study can also lead to questionable validity of the study’s
results, as the mean ages of the participants of the study are 26.9 years of age for study one, and
26.4 for study two. This overrepresentation of younger participants can overshadow the results of
the older participants answers collected from the study. Even though our studies provided strong
main effects between the independent and dependent variables, a more diverse population
sample could have altered the results through more widespread age and cultural standing. Study
ones demographic information revealed that 58% of participants were from Latin American
backgrounds. This overrepresentation of Latin American responses poses an internal validity
threat to the study as the results are too heavily influenced by one population group to be
applicable in other studies because of the underrepresentation of other ethnic groups. Although
this percentage could be reasonably expected in the community in which the study was
conducted (Miami), subsequent studies should strive to find a more balanced population sample
so as to prevent any one ethnicity from skewing the results. Different ethnic backgrounds can
affect a person’s belief in what makes a person seem narcissistic, selfish, etc., and these cultural
differences could have been better represented with a more evenly distributed cultural
background sample. Due to the large presence of college age students, more effort could be
focused into expanding the participant population to better represent an average response if
future researchers decide to test for any differences between students and Americans who have
already finished college or are in the workforce.
Analyzing the influence of selfies and its influence on personal assumptions of other
people can have a profound impact on how people market themselves to others in today’s digital
age. These findings show that people will make split second judgements off of something as
trivial as a fun selfie picture taken at the beach and lead to false assumptions about another
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
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person before they even meet them. Modern facets of online communication, such as dating
websites and personal job seeking sites such as LinkedIn can be affected by our critical
tendencies and affect decision making that impacts our daily lives. This study exposes humans as
judgmental creatures and creates a new dilemma for us to navigate in a society where people are
often times treated by how they are perceived rather than taking the time to know who they
really are.
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