Researchers at Western Illinois University conducted a study of 294 Facebook users between 18 and 65 years of age and found a link between narcissistic personality traits and the number of Facebook friends a person had.
The study found that the more friends one has on Facebook, the higher they score on personality inventory tests that measured two prime elements of narcissism: Entitlement/Exploitiveness (EE) and Grandiose Exhibitionism (GE) which includes “self absorption, vanity, superiority, and exhibitionist tendencies.” People with high GE scores need to constantly be at the center of attention. EE characteristics include “ a sense of deserving respect and a willingness to manipulate and take advantage of others.” The researchers found those study participants scoring high on the GE measure had a greater number of Facebook friends.
Study participants that score high on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory also more frequently updated their newsfeeds with status updates, tagged themselves, and changed their profile picture. Previous studies have reported a link between narcissistic tendencies and Facebook use, but this study, published in the Journal Personality and Individual Differences, provides the first direct evidence showing a connection between the most important elements of narcissistic personality disorder.
Study at University of Illinois finds first direct evidence linking narcissism with Facebook use (CC Wikimedia)
The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines narcissistic personality disorder as:” a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.”
The study at Western Illinois University also found that people scoring high on the GE and EE measures for narcissism were more likely to accept friend requests from others, and to be offended by derogatory comments. Christopher Carpenter, who ran the study, said more research is needed to understand the negative and positive aspects of Facebook so that the socially beneficial aspects can be boosted and its ‘dark side’ limited.
Carpenter said: “If Facebook is to be a place where people go to repair their damaged ego and seek social support, it is vitally important to discover the potentially negative communication one might find on Facebook and the kinds of people likely to engage in them. Ideally, people will engage in pro-social Facebooking rather than anti-social Facebooking. “
About David John Walker
Dave has a B.A. in Mathematics, loves writing and reading about the latest developments in technology and social media, and has been working as a freelance writer for five years.
Loading ...
Now, there’s a surprise !! How much
money was wasted on this research to find out and state the bleeding obvious!!
Those of us who don’t use it have known for a long time that those who do are a much of self-obsessed, selfish egotists !!
I’d have to concur with David not because he’s my colleague, but your premise is inconclusive and subjective. The term ‘social networking’, as popularized by Facebook, is meant to help us keep in touch with people, and the study’s result did not say, “All Facebook users are narcissists.” Please read again without biased emotions. Peace.
Hi Lyndon, I don’t agree really….because I check FB everyday, but I rarely make a status update. Usually I just check other’s pictures and status updates. If there is a special occasion or some event or milestone, I put an update in. For example, the other day I posted a sentence about it being the last day of classes at the school where I am a teacher.
I think FB is very much in the mainstream of our culture and this will only increase. At my school here in Thailand students love to get on and chat and share their pictures. It is one of the first thing my daughter does when she comes home from school.
But I think the study is probably right about narcissistic personalities making more updates and such.
Counter point
I agree with Lyndon. I find it amusing that Facebook is all about having a page about yourself, including photos of your ‘great’ life, which only constitutes ‘showing’ off to most people whether it is published to the public or to so called ‘friends’. Rarely now do people bother to just pick up the phone to say a simple “hi, how are you?”. In fact, in general, people are now less social but more connected socially through media… through showing off.
What a sad, lonely old planet we are creating for ourselves and our children….
Hi Lisa,
Good counterpoint! I agree with many of your thoughts about Facebook, because it is odd to see this effect the website has of getting people to run off to their computers or smartphones where the commune for hours with their FB page, all by their lonesome. Is that really being more social?
On the other hand I think this is the initial effect as people become more savvy about it they will realize that instead of becoming more social they are spending hours in friend of a computer monitor. As the uniqueness of what FB can do wears off, people will use it better.
For me, I tend to communicate on FB with those people I see in real life. Sometimes the way I start a conversation at the office in the morning is around a FB comment or exchange I had with somebody…so it does make my social life more social! It’s great fun.
Counter Counter point!?
Hi Dave,
Not sure if your counter counterpoint was strong enough
… you almost sound as though you agree with me!
Fact is, Facebook is a giant worldwide human database and everyone who signs up for an ‘account’ agrees that all information and photographs uploaded (including pictures of their children amazingly) belong to Facebook. From that point no one has any control over what happens to ‘their’ information. Even when you first sign up all information is defaulted to ‘public’ well before you can navigate the links to try to ‘control’ (if you think you can) who sees the information or pictures. And what does Facebook do with this information? It collects it, collates it, stores it, sells it. And we, the people, think it is to ‘socially connect us’?
There are people in the world who pay big dollars for their privacy and I am always astounded at how many people on Facebook just give it away. It’s absurd that I should be able to see personal photographs of families and babies, Christenings and birthdays…. of total strangers somewhere in the world. Not only do I not want to see it but I’m offended that I CAN see it. Facebook is an invasion of privacy and our privacy should be far more important to us than our ‘two minutes of fame’ on Facebook. That said, it is vanity therefore that ultimately drives us to agree to the Terms and Conditions and Facebook happily get their data and dollars. The shallow communication, the ‘likes’, the ‘dislikes’, the ‘I’ve just washed my hair’ and the ‘three people like this’…… (?) all serve to encourage narcissism in its basic form. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’m pleased you enjoy your Facebook page
but be warned, think carefully each time you add information or pictures of yourself or loved ones, because once you upload it’s no longer yours.
Like Lyndon, I was not surprised to read of a link between narcissism and Facebook user profiles, I was just amazed that such a study would even have to be done at all!
By the way, an educated friend of mine who has two teenage daughters told me the other day, his daughters simply ‘cannot’ speak over the telephone, preferring to text or Facebook. A sample of two I know, but I think it demonstrates my point and I’m certain it is widespread and happening a lot to our younger generation who are learning to communicate day to day in this shallow and egocentric manner.
Counter Counter Counterpoint perhaps? Or maybe we are just all in agreement that Facebook is a very poor form of communication and has contributed little to our society.
Cheers, and no I do not have a Facebook page
“Facebook is a very poor form of communication and has contributed little to our society.” — This statement says it all I guess. I’m not a fan of any social networking site (although I created accounts to reach several contacts) and merely pointed out on Lyndon’s post as subjective. It’s just sad that people have gone beyond regular online communications channels like email or IM, or better yet, real world contact and conventional calls.
I’m thinking about your response Lisa give me a moment BIG LOL
Hey Lisa,
Well I gave it all night to think about your response then read it again. I think what you are talking about mainly in the body of your last comments – it’s all about privacy and how Facebook takes all of our private information and we just willingly follow along like passive sheep, clicking on “Yes I agree to all you Terms and Conditions Which I Really Don’t Understand and Which Will Probably Change Tomorrow” BIG LOL!!
I can’t say I disagree with your comments about the privacy issue. It’s a big grey blurry line and nobody really understands it and even if they THINK they do in two days it will all change anyways. The other day, for example, I saw a post, it said somebody in my Friend’s list had read such and such article on Yahoo about chubby models and there was a picture over the post of three bikini clad, attractive, but slightly chubby models. So, naturally, if my “Friend” read it ( who by the way is a High School classmate I haven’t talked to in 35 years!) that’s good enough for me, so I clicked on it, scanned the first few paragraphs, didn’t find anything of interest and in about ten seconds was back on my main FB page.
I have a separate FB account for my students only, and some of the teachers because I teach Thais and I don’t want the news feed on my primary account filling up with Thai language which I can’t read. I logged onto it, and saw in my news feed that “David John Walker” read an article about these chubby models. (I am ‘Friends’ with my primary FB account). So I thought – “How could this post get up on all of my Friend’s news feed telling them I read this article..I never clicked “Share” I never clicked anything except the link to the article!? (which was pretty boring in fact).”
I still don’t understand it, something to do with how Yahoo works and “frictionless sharing”. But this is the point. I understand FB pretty well, but they are not so good about privacy, and you have to understand that when you use it and that their product is constantly changing, and this makes what you are sharing very confusing.
I’m still a fan despite this but I’d like to see them to much better on this issue of privacy.
As for the separate issue of whether FB really adds to the quality of our social life. Yes, no question in my mind that it does – but we users need to grow up as an audience and use it wisely so we do not find ourselves sitting in front of the monitor communing for hours with an impersonal digital world.
Dave
Many thanks Dave. Agree with all your points but we’ll have to agree to disagree, I don’t believe Facebook adds zip to our social life. It promotes egocentricity, narcissism and I would even go so far as saying it has a ‘dumbing down’ effect on society… what was that article you were reading? …. ‘chubby models’ ?
Facebook is about linking everything, the more they can link the more valuable the database is to marketers, so that’s why the article you read ended up being made known to all including your students. Here’s the thing I believe (and Seinfeld agrees) anyone over 30 really shouldn’t have a Facebook account!
Dave you sound like a fun teacher, nice chatting
Lisa.
Another note to illustrate how VERY confusing our frictionless sharing is: I am pretty sure that article I read did not show up in my student’s news news feed because they are not friend’s with my primary FB account.
But then again I am not so sure. That third party marketer may have shared it with all of North American and South Asia.
It’s a strange new world yes?
Nice chatting with you too Lisa L:-)
Dave