Social media and narcissism

Social scientists and psychologists have studied possible relationships between the use of social media and narcissism. Many social media platforms encourage users to focus on their own lives and opinions, which researchers have theorized may cause users to become more self-absorbed. Social scientists have found correlations between social media use and effects on mental health in general, and some studies suggest that social media use may affects users’ level of narcissistic traits. Social scientists are interested in links between social media use and narcissism in part because increased narcissistic traits correlate with increased rates of aggression and violence. Therefore, understanding what creates narcissism is important for society and for individuals.

Background

The term narcissism comes from the Greek mythical character Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. The term is used in everyday language to describe traits such as having an inflated sense of self-worth or exhibiting selfish behaviors. Psychologists recognize that all individuals have some level of narcissism and may experience different levels of narcissism throughout their lives. Environment, experiences, and biology likely affect levels of narcissism.

Psychologists also recognize narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), a personality condition that is marked by a cluster of behaviors and traits, such as a need for admiration, a lack of empathy, and a sense of entitlement. However, NPD is much rarer than being generally narcissistic. People with NPD often have troubled, unfulfilling relationships and look down upon those they consider to be inferior.

Psychologists refer to narcissism that has not reached the level of NPD as subclinical narcissism. While this causes individuals to have narcissistic traits, they are not categorized as having a personality disorder. Psychologists divide subclinical narcissism into two types: grandiose and vulnerable. Grandiose narcissism is characterized by having an inflated sense of self-worth and feelings of superiority. People with grandiose narcissism feel as though they are entitled to special treatment and may be insulted or even enraged when they are not treated this way. Those with high levels of grandiose narcissism often have difficulty empathizing with others and are outgoing with low levels of neuroticism. Individuals with vulnerable narcissism, sometimes called covert narcissism, are self-absorbed and often so concerned with themselves that they do not know when they negatively impact other people. Vulnerable narcissists want adoration and seek attention and may end relationships if they are not receiving the adoration or attention that they think they deserve. They overreact to critiques, often feeling intense shame for even minor criticism.

Even though subclinical narcissism is not a personality disorder like NPD, it still has serious consequences in people’s lives and society. Increased narcissism has been linked to increased violence and aggression. Because of this, social scientists feel that it is important to understand whether social media affects narcissism.

Overview

Social scientists began studying links between social media use and narcissism in the 2010s and 2020s in part because of popular opinions about social media. Social media became ubiquitous in many parts of the world by the 2020s, with billions of people around the world visiting social media platforms every day. Social media’s wide adoption happened extremely quickly—in a span of less than fifteen years. In 2004, the website Myspace was the first social networking site to obtain one million users. That same year, the platform Facebook launched. Social media use grew significantly in the 2010s. By 2017, Facebook had more than two billion users. This fast adoption and overwhelming usage encouraged social scientists to study how social media affects society and individuals. Furthermore, a major element of many forms of social media is the ability to share information about one’s life and opinions. Having that ability to focus on one’s life and opinions may make some people self-absorbed, which is a major trait of narcissism. Social media’s focus on the self has encouraged social scientists to be interested in its possible links to narcissism.

Numerous research studies have identified social media’s affect on mental health. In general, studies have found that high rates of social media usage correlate to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, studies have indicated that social media usage can be addictive, or nearly addictive, because when using it, the brain releases dopamine, a chemical linked to pleasurable activities such as eating. Individuals can begin to seek the pleasurable effect of dopamine release and use social media more and more often. The link between social media use and changes in mental health suggests that social media use can change one’s mood and mental state. Therefore, researchers have suggested that it is possible for social media to affect personality traits—including those related to narcissism.

Another reason social scientists have studied the link between social media use and narcissism is that many forms of social media encourage self-focus and self-absorption. For example, social media platforms allow people to present curated personas. They can control the information they provide, thus managing others’ impressions of them. Such control can contribute to feelings of grandiosity. Furthermore, controlling one’s public persona is a common trait of narcissists, which indicates that having such control could be linked to narcissism. Social media allows people to receive recognition and social “rewards” such as likes, positive comments, and attention, and those with high levels of narcissism desire attention.

Numerous studies have been conducted to explore possible links between social media use and narcissism. Some studies have measured the effects of social media on narcissism while others have focused on different types of narcissism. Furthermore, some studies have explored how having high levels of narcissism affects how people use social media. Overall, the trend of the studies suggests that social media use can increase subclinical narcissism, but different studies have delivered slight variations about the links between social media and narcissism.

A study published in the journal Addictive Behavior in 2017 examined social media use in more than twenty thousand people. This large study correlated addictive social media use with higher levels of narcissism and lower levels of self-esteem. Such research indicates that aspects of vulnerable narcissism are especially affected by addictive social media use.

A study from the United Kingdom (UK), published in the Open Psychology Journal in 2018, had similar findings. The study’s authors concluded that what they called problematic Internet usage (PIU), which is a dependence on Internet and social media usage, correlates with increases in subclinical narcissism. The study also suggested that PIU was linked most closely with increases in narcissism when people used image-sharing social networks. The study’s authors indicated that they believed more research should be done to better understand the relationships between PIU and levels of narcissism but hypothesized that sharing images on social networks correlated with increased levels of narcissism because people using such platforms become objects of attention through their pictures and can experience admiration by posting their pictures.

Another study on social media and narcissism was published in Personality and Social Psychology Review in 2018. This study found a positive correlation between high levels of narcissism and frequent posting on social media. However, the study’s authors also pointed out that not all people who frequently post on social media have high levels of narcissism. Furthermore, this study indicated that people with different types of narcissism may experience different effects from using social media. They indicated that people with grandiose narcissism may be more likely to have positive, pleasant experiences on social media as they are more likely to enjoy adoration and attention without worrying about criticism. This happens because they usually do not care about or take seriously other people’s criticism. However, vulnerable narcissists are more likely to have negative experiences on social media because they fear being criticized or excluded.

In 2019, researchers published a study dealing with narcissism and social media use in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. This study examined how social media use affects individuals who already had high levels of narcissism by examining their brain function. This indicated that people with high levels of narcissism reduced their psychological distress when they posted selfies that received positive social engagement in the form of “likes” on the social media platform. The study’s authors concluded that positing on social media and receiving positive attention can help narcissists reduce their distress.

A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2021 studied various types of narcissism and their correlation to social media usage. This study found a positive correlation between levels of narcissism and posting frequency on social media, indicating that people who post often are more likely to have higher levels of narcissism. This study also identified a link between sharing images on social media and having higher levels of narcissism.

In 2020, researchers released a meta-analysis reviewing other studies dealing with social media use and narcissism in the journal Addictive Behavior Reports. This meta-analysis found that, overall, studies conducted on social media and narcissism indicated a positive correlation between extensive social media use and narcissism. The analysis also supported the idea that narcissism is impacted more by certain types of social media uses such as using it to post images. It also seems to support the idea that social media can help satisfy narcissistic needs. However, the authors of the meta study pointed out that its conclusions and correlations were limited and suggested that more studies, particularly more longitudinal studies, were necessary to establish stronger conclusions about social media use and narcissism.

Studies from the 2010s supported the idea that narcissism rose, at least in some Western countries, between the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Such findings along with the social science research dealing with narcissism and social media indicate that a link between extensive social media use and increased levels of narcissism may exist. For that reason, some mental health professionals have suggested that individuals temper their social media usage. Furthermore, some experts have suggested that parents and caregivers pay close attention to social media in children and adolescents, for whom the negative effects of social media use may be more prominent. These experts contend that posting images, especially selfies, and spending many hours a day on social media are especially concerning forms of social media use.

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 severely limited instances of in-person interactions and led to a sharp increase of communication through social media. Soon after, researchers and experts noted the impact that both the pandemic and a reliance on technology as a means of social interaction had on overall mental health levels, which largely declined during the pandemic. According to Penn Medicine, social media engagement saw an increase of 61 percent during the early stages of the pandemic, with many people relying on it as a means of social interaction during a period of quarantines and social distancing. However, several studies soon linked heightened social media usage during the pandemic with worse overall mental health levels. In 2022, the World Health Organization reported that 90 percent of the countries it had surveyed had begun recommending mental health support as part of their COVID-19 response plan.

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