Compulsive selfie-takers may be psychopathic narcissists, study shows

You’ve seen them, you might even be one of them: men who take selfie after selfie, then overpopulate your Facebook feed with their smug, self-obsessed faces. But while these people may provide a regular dose of irritation for must of us, a recent study has shown that selfie-crazy males may be hiding something a little more disturbing.

 

A research team has found that men who frequently take and share selfies on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram exhibit elevated narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies.

 

Narcissism involves a bloated sense of self-worth, often where looks or capabilities are concerned. But while narcissists may seem overly fond of themselves, their condition actually disguises deep-seated insecurities. Psycopathy, on the other hand, involves diminished remorse, empathy, and a lack of consideration for other people. These symptoms are sometimes combined with a predisposition towards thoughtless and spontaneous behavior.

 

Additionally, those who edit their photos prior to upload show greater signs of self-objectification – the increased value people place on their physical appearance above all traits.

 

“It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” stated Jesse Fox, research team leader and The Ohio State University assistant professor of communication.

 

“The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification.”

 

 

The study

 

The study involved 800 men between the ages of 18 and 40. The participants were made to complete a digital survey that questioned them regarding their photo-sharing practices on social media.

The survey inquired about how frequently they uploaded pictures of themselves, and whether they edited said images before unleashing them on their fellow netizens. Editing can include the user of filters, image cropping, and the utilization of image-editing software.

 

In addition, the men were made to complete standard questionnaires for self-objectification and anti-social behaviors.

 

The results displayed that the men who posted more selfies scored higher in psychopathy and narcissism. Psychopathy, however, had no relation to photo-editing behavior.

 

“That makes sense because psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity,” explained Fox. “They are going to snap the photos and put them online right away. They want to see themselves. They don’t want to spend time editing.”

 

What photo-editing was discovered to have a link to is self-objectification.

 

“With the growing use of social networks, everyone is more concerned with their appearance. That means self-objectification may become a bigger problem for men, as well as for women.”

 

Fox did stress that these results don’t prove that all selfie-obsessed men are full-fledged psychopaths or narcissists. The study simply shows that they have above average degrees of said anti-social traits.

 

“We are all concerned with our self-presentation online, but how we do that may reveal something about our personality,” said Fox.

 

While this study focused exclusively on men, Fox’s next project will aim to discover the link between selfie-posting behavior and narcissistic and anti-social tendencies in women.

 

The results of the study can be found in the online journal, Personality and Individual Differences. — TJD, GMA News