Narcissism and social media use: A meta-analytic review.

Abstract

The relationship between narcissism and social media use has been a topic of study since the advent of the first social media websites. In the present manuscript, the authors review the literature published to date on the topic and outline 2 potential models to explain the pattern of findings. Data from 62 samples of published and unpublished research (N = 13,430) are meta-analyzed with respect to the relationships between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and (a) time spent on social media, (b) frequency of status updates/tweets on social media, (c) number of friends/followers on social media, and (d) frequency of posting pictures of self or selfies on social media. Findings suggest that grandiose narcissism is positively related to all 4 indices (rs = .11–.20), although culture and social media platform significantly moderated the results. Vulnerable narcissism was not significantly related to social media use (rs = .05–.42), although smaller samples make these effects less certain. Limitations of the current literature and recommendations for future research are discussed.

I am the chosen one: Narcissism in the backdrop of self‐determination theory

“…They come across as self‐assured, if not bold, and as appealing or charismatic (Back, Schmukle, & Egloff, ). They crave attention and adoration, manifested in their proclivity to dominate conversation (Buffardi & Campbell, ) and in their overuse of social media for self‐presentational purposes (McCain & Campbell, ). They view themselves as special, unique, and great—what Ernest Jones () labeled “the God Complex”—while fantasizing about power, status, and social recognition (Zeigler‐Hill et al, ).…”

Do consumer choices augment narcissism? The role of self-referent processing

“…Starting in the 1970s (Twenge, Campbell, & Gentile, 2012), narcissism has risen over the last decades in the US (and not only;Cai, Kwan, & Sedikides, 2012), culminating in what has been termed a "narcissism epidemic" (Twenge & Campbell, 2009;Twenge & Foster, 2010; for an opposing view and a response, see Wetzel et al, 2017;and Campbell, Twenge, Konrath, Cooper, & Foster, 2018;respectively). This trend has been linked to a broader culture of self-love and self-admiration characterizing contemporary societies (Campbell, Miller, & Buffardi, 2010;Sedikides, Gaertner, & Cai, 2015), which is reflected in the positive associations between narcissism and use of social networking websites (McCain & Campbell, 2016) or posting of selfies (Fox & Rooney, 2015;Sorokowski et al, 2015).…”

Using social cognition to understand people's grandiose narcissism

“…Narcissism has become a popular buzz word: World leaders and celebrities are often labeled as "narcissists," and their overwhelming presence on social media has increased the ways in which they display their narcissistic tendencies (Gnambs & Appel, 2018;McAdams, 2017;McCain & Campbell, 2016). A series of cognitive, social, and affective processes underlies grandiose narcissism, supporting the goal of attaining overly positive self-attitudes.…”

“…Despite this controversy, overwhelming evidence shows that people have more ways to express their narcissism or behave more narcissistically via social media than they ever did before (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008;Carpenter, 2012;Halpern, Valenzuela, & Katz, 2016;Mehdizadeh, 2010;Twenge & Campbell, 2009;Weiser, 2015). Indeed, people's narcissistic tendencies are associated with social networking behavior and using social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Gnambs & Appel, 2018;McCain & Campbell, 2016). Such modern technology has incrementally influenced the ways that people behave, interact with, and perceive others.…”