Posting excessive selfies might make you a narcissist

A recent study has revealed that being super active on social media and posting numerous pictures and selfies, in particular, is associated with a subsequent increase in narcissism.

Visual posting on social media might increase your narcissist traits by 25 per cent, says a study. (Source: Pixabay)

Are you obsessed with posting selfies on your social media account? If yes, its high time for you to keep a check on your Internet habits because a recent study, as quoted by a study in EurekaAlert! has revealed that being super active on social media and posting numerous pictures and selfies, in particular, is associated with a subsequent increase in narcissism.

Narcissism is a personality trait shown by almost every individual. t characterised by extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents, craving for admiration, exploiting others, and inability to take criticism.

According to the latest study published in The Open Psychology Journal, the researchers from Swansea University and Milan University studied personality changes of 74 individuals aged 18 to 34 over a four-month period. They also assessed the participants’ use of social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat, during the period.

• Micromax Dual 4 E4816 (Dark Grey) ₹ 10999 MRP ₹ 18999 -42%₹1320 CashbackBuy Now
• GT Tech DZ09 Black Bluetooth Unisex Smart Watch with Sim Card Slot ₹ 749 MRP ₹ 1599 -53%₹75 CashbackBuy Now

The study found that participants who used social media excessively for sharing visual posts like pictures and selfies regularly, displayed an average 25 per cent increase in narcissistic traits. However, those used social media for primarily posting verbal posts did not exhibit such effects. Many of them were also found to cross the prescribed clinical cut-off of such traits for Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

While talking about the study, professor Phil Reed from the Department of Psychology at Swansea University who led the study, said, “There have been suggestions of links between narcissism and the use of visual postings on social media, such as Facebook, but, until this study, it was not known if narcissists use this form of social media more, or whether using such platforms is associated with the subsequent growth in narcissism. The results of this study suggest that both occur, but show that posting selfies can increase narcissism.”

Talking about the worldwide risk of narcissism, he further said, “Taking our sample as representative of the population, which there is no reason to doubt, this means that about 20 per cent of people may be at risk of developing such narcissistic traits associated with their excessive visual social media use. That the predominant usage of social media for the participants was visual, mainly through Facebook, suggests the growth of this personality problem could be seen increasingly more often, unless we recognise the dangers in this form of communication.”

Source: Read Full Article