Narcissism Predicted by Snapchat Selfie Sharing, Filter Usage, and Editing Author: Enya Ruth Valentin

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NARCISSISM PREDICTED BY SNAPCHAT SELFIE SHARNG,

FILTER USAGE, AND EDITING

______

A Thesis

Presented

to the Faculty of

California State University Dominguez Hills

______

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

Clinical Psychology

______

Enya Ruth Valentin

Summer 2019

THESIS: NARCISSISM PREDICTED BY SNAPCHAT SELFIE SHARING, FILTER USAGE, AND EDITING AUTHOR: ENYA RUTH VALENTIN

APPROVAL PAGE

APPROVED:

______L. Mark Carrier, Ph.D Thesis Committee Chair

______Nancy Cheever, Ph.D Committee Member

______Larry Rosen, Ph.D Committee Member

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to my committee members, Dr. L. Mark Carrier, Dr. Nancy Cheever, and Dr.

Larry Rosen for their support and mentorship. Your input and guidance through this project and the research process has been invaluable. Thank you especially to Dr. Carrier for accepting me into the George Marsh Cognition (GMAC) Laboratory and giving me the opportunities to grow and learn as a researcher and student.

Thank you also to my fellow lab members for their feedback and support during the research process and practice presentations.

Finally, I’d like to thank my parents and sister for supporting me throughout my academic career. Thank you for your support and patience as I went through this phase of my academic career even when it didn’t make sense. Thank you also for understanding why some of my life has been on hold.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL PAGE ...... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii LIST OF TABLES ...... v LIST OF FIGURES ...... vi ABSTRACT ...... vii CHAPTER 1 ...... 1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1

BACKGROUND ...... 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 13 RESEARCH PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS...... 35 CHAPTER 2 ...... 37 METHOD ...... 37

PARTICIPANTS ...... 37 PROCEDURE ...... 38 MEASURES ...... 39 CHAPTER 3 ...... 45 RESULTS ...... 45

PRELIMINARY ANALYSES REGARDING SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS SNAPCHAT USAGE ...... 45 FACTOR ANALYSIS FOR THEMES OF SHARED SNAPCHAT CONTENT ...... 68 FACTOR ANALYSIS OF FILTER USAGE ...... 72 CREATION OF SELF-ENHANCEMENT VARIABLE ...... 74 HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION ...... 74 CHAPTER 4 ...... 78 DISCUSSION ...... 78

SELFIE SHARING...... 81 FILTER USAGE ...... 83 SELF-ENHANCEMENT ...... 84 POST-HOC ANALYSIS OF SEX DIFFERENCES IN HIERARCHICHAL REGRESSION MODEL ...... 85 LIMITATIONS ...... 89 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ...... 93 CHAPTER 5 ...... 96 CONCLUSION ...... 96 REFERENCES ...... 98

LIST OF TABLES

PAGE

1. Frequencies of types of Snaps participants shared on Snapchat ...... 49

2. Frequency of saving snaps to Memories ...... 51

3. Frequencies for sharing saved snaps ...... 54

4. Frequencies for Daily Media Usage Scale ...... 57

5. Frequencies for items on the NPI-13 ...... 61

6. Frequencies for items on the Online NPI-13 ...... 65

7. Factor loadings and communalities based on principal components analysis with Varimax rotation for 20 items assessing the types of snaps participants shared on Snapchat ……… ...... 70 8. Factor loadings and communalities based on principal component analysis with Varimax rotation for 5 items assessing the filter usage of participants on Snapchat ...... 73 9. Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Problematic Narcissism ...... 76

LIST OF FIGURES

PAGE

1. Example of geofilter ...... 4

2. Example of geofilter ...... 5

3. Example of “Lenses” with geofilter and a filter to change the coloration of the snap ...... 6 4. Example of “Lenses” with geofilter and a filter to change the coloration of the snap ...... 7

ABSTRACT

Previous research has suggested that social media usage has some relationships with increased levels of narcissism among individuals. However, most of this research has focused on

Facebook. Snapchat is an application that focuses on picture and video-based communication where many users share pictures and videos with their friends often. It was hypothesized that greater selfie sharing on Snapchat, filter usage on content shared on Snapchat, and more self- enhancement of “snaps” by using text, emojis, and drawings, would have positive relationships with narcissism. A survey that included items about Snapchat usage, the Narcissism Personality

Inventory 13 (NPI-13), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Daily Media Usage Scale

(DMU) was presented to participants. Sharing content on Snapchat that was of a sexual, romantic, or risky nature was a significant predictor of narcissism. Self-enhancement on the content shared on Snapchat was found to significantly predict narcissism.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

While social media has been a relatively new development, it has already had a strong impact on both individuals and society. However, as increasing numbers of individuals join and participate in social media, concerns over the negative mental health impact these outlets might have has also increased. One of these possible concerns is narcissism. Some have claimed that social media is responsible for increasing the rate of narcissism in the population, especially among adolescents and young adults. While this concern has led many to research this relationship with older social media such as Facebook, little investigation has been done on newer social media such as Snapchat. Snapchat is a relatively new and extremely popular social media application. Snapchat, which was released in 2011, had 55% of its 30 million users in

2013 use the application daily (Shontell, 2013). In 2017, it had 158 million daily users (Speigel,

2017). More recently, a survey from Pew Research Center found that 27% of adults in the United

States use Snapchat and that 68% of adults ages 18 to 29 used the application (“Who Uses,”

2018). Another Pew Research Center survey found 78% of 18 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat and

71% of them use the application multiple times a day (Smith & Anderson, 2018). Among adolescents, the percentage of users was lower (69%). However, Snapchat was the third most popular online platform behind YouTube (85%) and Instagram (72%) (Anderson & Jiang, 2018).

Despite having a high volume of users and having many unique qualities and features that were later adapted by other social media, little research has investigated Snapchat. Despite the high volume of users since 2013, little research currently exists on Snapchat as compared to the numerous studies completed on Facebook. While Facebook and Snapchat have some similarities,

Snapchat has some unique features. These features include selecting specific friends or fellow users to share content with, enabling editing of content via filters, and using pictures and videos as the primary mode of communication and content sharing. Furthermore, while current research about Facebook and other long-established social media and their relationships with mental health have been useful, the relationships that may exist between Snapchat and mental health should also be examined.

Background

Snapchat

Snapchat is a social media application that is largely picture and video oriented. Snapchat allows for sharing of pictures and videos both directly with select friends or with all the user’s friends using the “Story Feature” (described below). Individuals can also share to the story of their local areas and Snapchat’s story. The pictures and videos can be edited prior to sharing with friends. This editing includes “lenses,” filters, emojis/stickers, text, and doodles. Filters modify images and videos in the application. Examples of filters can be found on Figures 1 and 2.

“Lenses” are filters that augment reality when the camera is running as well or when the photo or video is taken. Most famously, these filters can add effects to manipulate faces or add items such as dog-like features or flower crowns to the faces or heads that the camera detects. Examples of lenses can be found on Figures 3 and 4. Aside from the lens filters, there are also filters that edit the coloration of the photo; filters that indicate the location of where the photo was taken using a smartphone’s location; filters that suggest the celebration of a holiday, local event, or promotion; filters that indicate the time or day of the week; and a filter that indicates temperature (using the smartphone’s location). These filters can be used on both on pictures and videos. For videos however, there are filters that indicate the speed the user is traveling and filters that manipulate

3 the speed of the video by slowing it down or speeding it up. While dependent on how well individuals know how to use the application, the maximum number of filters that can be used is five. In addition to filters, individuals can also add one block of text in different fonts, unlimited stickers including emojis, and drawings or “doodles” which the user can create by drawing with their finger on the screen.

One of Snapchat’s signature features is ephemeral or timed and numbered viewings of content. This can vary between 1 to 10 seconds or an unlimited amount of time. Unless the content is shared on a Snapchat “story” the receiving friend will be limited to one view with extra views available for purchase from Snapchat. It is this feature that has been associated with sexting and the sharing of explicit and sensitive content using the application. One study found that nearly 50% of users would take screenshots of the Snapchat content and others still used an external camera to take pictures of the images on the device. Despite this, nearly 25% of the participants had sensitive videos or images on the application (Roesner, Gill, & Kohno, 2014).

Thus, despite the ease of screenshotting or taking pictures of the content, users seem to act as if the timed viewings provide adequate security for sharing sensitive content.

Figure 1. Example of a snap with a geofilter. This geofilter indicates this picture was taken in the city of Portland.

Figure 2. Example of a snap with a geofilter. This snap also has a second filter to adjust the coloration of the snap.

Figure 3. Example of a “Lens” with a geofilter and a filter to change the coloration of the snap.

Figure 4. Example of a “Lens” with a geofilter and a filter to change the coloration of the snap.

When individuals share “snaps” directly with friends, the friend who received the snap will be notified by Snapchat. The receiving friend can then tap on the contact they received the

“snap” from, which would be at the top of their list of friends. Tapping on the contact (which would have different colored square next to the contact’s icon that would indicate if they received a picture or video) would show the content the friend shared for the amount of time the sender indicated. The receiving friend can tap to go through or skip content more quickly. If multiple snaps were sent, the receiving friend can also tap to look through the other snaps quickly. Screenshots can be taken of the content although the application notifies the sender of the content who screenshot it.

Another feature of Snapchat is that it allows users to save pictures, videos, and stories not only to the smartphone it was being used on but also within the application so that users can share the content later. This is known as Snapchat’s “Memories” feature and allows sharing of content that was taken at an earlier time and may or may not have been shared previously.

Snapchat also has a “Story” feature, which allows users to share their content with all their friends or the public. Snapchat’s “Stories” serve a similar purpose to Facebook’s posts. The content posted on the Stories are accessible to all the user’s friends on Snapchat or the public depending on their setting. The content shared on the user’s story can be viewed an unlimited amount of times. Since it is not shared directly with other users, other users can choose to view or not view the content. The content, however, lasts only for 24 hours before disappearing.

In addition to its picture sharing features, Snapchat also has a chat feature where snaps can also be accessed. Snapchat follows the typical format of chat applications and along with being able to send and read messages. Along with displaying the messages, the chat feature provides access to tap on individual snaps to view them in a similar way to clicking or tapping on a link. Snapchat also allows access to view stories of famous “Snapchatters,” celebrities, and media outlets including Buzzfeed and National Geographic. A recent feature that Snapchat added to its application was users sharing their locations via “Snap Map.” Depending on what users selected on their location sharing options, users could share their locations on a map with all of their friends, select friends, or could keep their location private.

Narcissism

Narcissism is typically understood to be loving one’s self and holding one’s self in higher regard than others. While it can be commonly understood what a highly narcissistic individual must be like, the criteria for having Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) are more specific

9 and thorough. To qualify for a diagnosis of NPD according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), an individual must have a “pervasive pattern of grandiosity,” a lack of empathy, and the need to be admired by others in different contexts and that it begins in early adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 669).

This can be specifically indicated by five or more of the following symptoms: (a) “grandiose” self-importance; (b) preoccupation with “fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love”; (c) a belief of being special or unique which would only allow them to be associated with or understood by other high-ranking people; (d) a need for extensive admiration;

(e) entitlement; (f) exploitative of others; (g) a lack of empathy or lack of desire to empathize with others; (h) envy of others or thinks that others are envious of them; and (i) arrogant behaviors or attitudes (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 669-670). The prevalence of

NPD can vary by community. The estimated rate of the disorder in the general population ranges between 0% to 6.2%. Fifty percent to 75% of the diagnosed individuals are male (American

Psychiatric Association, 2013).

In addition to the DSM-5 criteria, some have suggested there are different subtypes of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder due to the different ways it can present itself.

One article acknowledges two of the most common subtypes from previous literature: grandiose and vulnerable narcissism (Caligor, Levy, & Yeomans, 2015). Grandiose narcissism can be characterized by a sense of entitlement, arrogance, little to no anxiety, and the desire for attention. In contrast, vulnerable narcissism is characterized by sensitivity to criticism and the evaluation of others, envy, and inhibition. In addition, some individuals may classify as high- functioning due to their narcissistic traits of not only functioning but also succeeding in daily life

(Caligor et al., 2015). While the disorder can cause dysfunction, the dysfunction can manifest in

10 different ways for an individual with grandiose narcissism as opposed to an individual with vulnerable narcissism. One such way is the responses to different distressing situations. When presented with a scenario featuring high achievement failure, an individual with grandiose narcissism was predicted to react with significant negative affect, but not when presented with a high-level interpersonal threat. In contrast, vulnerable narcissism had a significant positive relationship with negative affect when presented with a scenario that featured a high-level interpersonal threat (Besser & Priel, 2010). Thus, while narcissism is still considered one disorder or issue, it can have different presentations.

While there is some debate as to why, the consensus is that individuals with NPD typically also have problematic self-esteem, often under the guise of excessively high self- esteem. However, narcissism and self-esteem are two separate constructs. One study found that not only were self-esteem and narcissism distinct, but the two also had different behavioral relationships. While genuine self-esteem was found to have a positive relationship with mental health and social relationships, narcissistic self-aggrandizement had a positive relationship with antisocial behaviors including aggression (Tracy, Cheng, Robins, & Trzesniewski, 2009). One study found that when compared to the general population, individuals with NPD had lower explicit or conscious self-esteem. Individuals with NPD also had lower explicit and implicit (or unconscious) self-esteem than individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. Additionally, the lower or more damaged self-esteem was among individuals with NPD, the greater exhibition of pathological narcissism (Vater et al., 2013). There are different theories and ideas that link problematic self-esteem with narcissism. Some have suggested the mask model, which suggests that individuals with narcissism use the facade or “mask” of high self-esteem to hide lower self- esteem. Others have suggested that these individuals have high self-esteem but it is conditional

11 and unstable. Yet another theory suggests that they truly do have incredibly high levels of self- esteem. There is also the possibility that they all may be true and simply vary from person to person (Bosson et al., 2008).

One study found that individuals can identify narcissists by how they look: flashy, expensive clothing and a neat, high-maintenance appearance. Additionally, female narcissists often display cleavage and wear makeup. While individuals who meet these characteristics may not necessarily be narcissists, narcissistic individuals’ appearances reflect their personalities and these individuals demonstrate their importance through appearance. In addition, their appearance is a means of promoting themselves and attempting to command attention (Vazire, Naumann,

Rentfrow, & Gosling, 2008). Thus, it can sometimes be noticed who may be a narcissist based on his or her attention-seeking appearance and exhibitionistic tendencies.

Social Media’s Relationship with Mental Health and Personality

For years, there have been concerns over how social media and technology use impact the mental health and wellbeing of its users. As a result, several studies have examined this relationship. One study examined how technology and media usage could predict three mood disorders and six personality disorders (Rosen, Whaling, Rab, Carrier, & Cheever, 2013). The three mood disorders included major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar-mania. The six personality disorders were schizoid, narcissism, paranoid, antisocial, histrionic, compulsive, and paranoid personality disorders. While each disorder had a different set of predictors, the most common predictors were general Facebook use, impression management, and friendship.

Interestingly, narcissism was predicted by general Facebook use as well as impression management and the number of friends on Facebook. In contrast, major depression was predicted by the number of hours spent online per day. Depression also had a negative relationship with

12 the number of hours spent on the telephone and the number of Facebook friends (Rosen et al.,

2013). In addition to general usage, the content shared on social media can also have the potential to predict for mental illness. A review found that depression and other mental illnesses were predicted by what users share or post on online or on social media (Guntuku, Yaden, Kern,

Ungar, & Eichstaedt, 2017). What is clear is that social media usage has some relationship with mental illness.

However, social media’s relationship is not limited to the severity of just mental illness.

Some studies have found relationships between social media usage and lower well-being. Well- being is measured by how satisfied a person is with their lives and how they feel on a moment- by-moment basis (Satici & Uysal, 2015). One study found that, in general, Facebook use over time predicted negative changes in well-being (Kross et al., 2013). Some users may also be aware of the negative psychological effects of Facebook. A study that used a focus group to examine users’ psychological experience on Facebook found that despite making users experience negative emotions, users were motivated to keep using Facebook because of FOMO

(Fear of Missing Out) and to perform relationship maintenance (Fox & Moreland, 2015).

However, Facebook usage may not necessarily cause or even predict well-being. One study examined the relationship between problematic or excessive Facebook use and well-being (Satici

& Uysal, 2015). The study used life satisfaction, flourishing, subjective happiness, and subjective vitality to measure well-being. All four were found to be significant negative predictors of problematic Facebook use (Satici & Uysal, 2015). For some, there are benefits to be found in taking a break from social media. One study compared the well-being of Facebook users who took a break from Facebook for a week and those who did not (Tromholt, 2016). The study found that those who took a break had an increase in positive emotions and life

13 satisfaction, with the greatest benefits being seen among heavy users, passive users (browse more than share or post), and users who tend to have Facebook envy. Thus, social media appears to have relationships not only with mental illness but also general well-being.

Social media has also become notorious for letting users present themselves on social media in ways that may not necessarily present in real life. There are three possible version of a self that an individual can present. “Ideal self” referred to the possible, ideal self users wished they could be and “actual self” refers to who the users actually believed they were (Seidman,

2013). The ease of presenting an ideal self has made it easy for some users to deceive others into believing the users were different people than they actually are. “Hidden self” or “true self” was defined as traits that were part of the self but not usually expressed offline because they were uncomfortable for the individual (Seidman, 2013; Tosun, 2012). The ability to share this hidden or true self has helped some individuals gain sympathy, empathy, or solidarity for issues that would have been difficult to express in offline contexts. The ease of sharing these different types of self have made it easy for users to both deceive and be incredibly honest about themselves.

Literature Review

Snapchat

While limited research has been done on Snapchat, most of the research has examined that way individuals use the application. One study compared Snapchat with other popular social media (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) using the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT)

(Alhabash & Ma, 2017). UGT basically states that individuals use media to meet their needs and accomplish goals (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitvh, 1973). The study found that of the four social media, Snapchat was ranked second for the most time spent daily (Instagram was first) and

Snapchat and Instagram shared nearly the same means for intensity of use (Alhabash & Ma,

2017). The study also found that convenience, the number of friends, time spent daily, need for entertainment, and self-expression were significant predictors for intensity of use when using

Snapchat. Thus, users of Snapchat seem to use this application frequently. Additionally, the application seems to allow users to express themselves and gives the user opportunities for entertainment. The more friends a user has on Snapchat also positively predicts how intensely users will use the application. Another study compared different social media using UGT and found that Snapchat users spent most of their time sharing problems, wasting time, and improving social knowledge on the application (Phua, Jin, & Kim, 2016). These results seem to suggest that users entertain themselves or socialize on the application. Socializing seems to be facilitated easily on the application. In addition to intended use, the time and location of use can be different for different social media. One study used the spatio-temporal data from Snap Map in three different metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, Miami, and New York (Juhász & Hochmair,

2018). Researchers found that usage was concentrated in downtown and tourist areas. In regards to temporal use, the study also found that users tend to be more active in the evening and early night time while early morning hours tended to be the least active (Juhász & Hochmair, 2018).

The areas where users use the application the most suggest they utilize the application more when they are in areas where they may believe the location is entertaining or attractive. In addition, spending time in an area(s) frequented by tourists suggests that these users may be using the application when they are at leisure. The time where the application is largely used also seems to suggest that the application is used when users are not working, but rather at leisure.

Snapchat is typically associated with adolescents and young adults since it is considered a newer social media application when compared to Facebook, which has been developing an increasing number of users who are middle-aged or older adults. One study found that age was

15 negatively related to having a Snapchat account (Perkovic, Lane, & Miller, 2018). In fact, a 1- unit increase in age resulted in a 11.1% decrease in likelihood that an individual had a Snapchat account. In addition, the study also found that extraversion was positively related to whether an individual had a Snapchat account (Perkovic, Lane, & Miller, 2018). Thus, most of the applications’ users are likely to be younger in age and extraverted. However, not all young adults and adolescents may necessarily use Snapchat. In a study that compared Snapchat users and non- users, Snapchat users tend to be younger than non-Snapchat users (Grieve, 2017). However,

Snapchat users also tended to place greater dependence on visuals for communication, to value social connectedness, to be more likely to engage with technology on a regular basis, to prefer online interaction, and to be comfortable multitasking with technology (Grieve, 2017). In general, younger individuals such as adolescents and young adults tend to have greater aptitude for utilizing and engaging with technology, which may explain why younger individuals use

Snapchat. The opportunity to socialize and engage on social tasks on the application may also make the application attractive to users who place a high priority on social connection and online interactions. The level of self-expression an individual is willing to share on social media may also reflect whether they will gravitate towards Snapchat as their primary social networking site

(SNS). When comparing Instagram and Snapchat users, Instagram users were more concerned with expressing an idealized version of themselves and concerned with their privacy. Snapchat users in contrast were more concerned with expressing an accurate and actual version of themselves on an SNS (Choi & Sung, 2018). If Snapchat places a higher priority on social connections and communication, whereas Instagram places higher priority on idealized self- presentation, then Snapchat users will need to present themselves more authentically on

Snapchat.

Despite attracting users who value socialization, the application may not actually be ideal for all facets of socializing. One study found that when compared to other communication- related technologies, Snapchat was able to evoke more positive mood while also providing less social support (Bayer, Ellison, Schoenebeck, & Falk, 2016). While it may allow its users to feel positive emotions, it may not actually provide users with social support, which can be important not only for a user but also in certain social circumstances. Despite the apparent lack of social support, Snapchat has still been associated with social bonding. One study found that users usually share selfies on Snapchat and add “doodles” (drawings) and short lines of text with the pictures they share. The study also found that greater use of Snapchat was more related to social bonding than social capital (Piwek & Joinson, 2016). Snapchat therefore appears to meet the light-hearted needs of socializing such as bonding, but does not meet the more serious needs like social support. It is possible that Snapchat facilitates relationships that already exist, prior to being friends on the application. Snapchat can also be used to create group cohesion in larger groups, particularly those who participate in major events such as protests or those who are fans of famous individuals or popular topics. Snapchat has “Featured Stories” where different users may share their snaps to a featured story, typically one about a major event or popular topic. One study found that the use of selfies and quasi-selfies (pictures of self but not selfies) in this context contributed to creating a group identity (Page, 2019). Thus, Snapchat is not only impactful at the relational level, but also in large groups, where it can promote a sense of unity.

Snapchat also has allowed its users to have a different communication system as compared to the chat options that many other social media offer. One study found that this predominantly image- and video-oriented form of communication allowed for better communication in relationships and greater self-expression. At the same time however, users

17 reported low levels of trust in the ephemeral nature of the application and projected that other users, rather than themselves, could suffer negative effects (Wadell, 2016). Users seem to appreciate the visual aspect of communication on Snapchat because it provides more ease of communication that other applications. Users are aware of the risks the visual, and in particular the ephemeral, style of communication Snapchat facilitates. However, users do not assume they are susceptible to the risks and dangers associated with this style of communication. What users share on private and public parts of Snapchat also differs. With snaps that were publicly shared, users considered how sensitive the content was as well who they believed the audience would be.

The timed viewings of content on Snapchat have been believed to create a false sense of security for users to share sensitive content. One study found that individuals claim to use a trust system where they assume that sensitive content is not be screenshotted (Roesner, Gill, &

Kohno, 2014). Despite the ease of taking a screenshot as well taking pictures with external cameras, Snapchat users seems satisfied with the lack of actual security measures. Perhaps security is not the primary concern of Snapchat’s users. One study found that it was passion that motivated Snapchat use but privacy concerns did not (Lemay, Doleck, & Bazelais, 2017). Thus, despite the risks of using snapchat, users seem less concerned about safety and more with how interesting or fun the application is.

Regardless of the perceived levels of privacy, some users of Snapchat have been known to send explicit content such as nudity. However, the sex of the users may predict what kind of behaviors the users engage in. One study found that men were more likely than women to use the application to engage in “hookups.” Women, contrary to the researcher’s hypothesis, did not send nude content continuously to their partners to keep them interested. Individuals who were not in relationships or restricted in seeking relationships were linked to using the application to

18 seek hookups and sex as well as send nude snaps (Moran, Salerno, & Wade, 2018). Thus, men and those not in monogamous relationships use the application for sexually related reasons as compared to women. Aside from nude snaps, users may also send snaps that depict sexuality.

One study examined the way university students depicted sexuality on Snapchat by analyzing

394 screenshots of snaps. The study found that 86.6% depicted female or females only, while

13.4% displayed both female(s) and male(s). The majority (78%) were selfies (and therefore considered consensual) and 22% of the snaps appeared nonconsensual. 40.1% of the snaps featured nude individuals and 34.1% of the snaps showed the individual’s face. Among the snaps, the most commonly displayed body parts were breasts (36.4%), buttocks (25.5%), and cleavage (17.7%) (Yockey, King, Vidourek, Burbage, & Merianos, 2018). Thus, despite the lower likelihood of women engaging in sexting or sharing sensitive media, the media largely features women.

Perhaps because of Snapchat’s relationship with sexual content, it was found to contribute to jealousy in relationships. One study found it could trigger jealousy in romantic relationships (Utz, Muscanell, & Khalid, 2015). This study presented participants with jealousy- provoking scenarios and found that Snapchat users responded with higher levels of jealousy than

Facebook users. The study also described that Snapchat was used more frequently than Facebook when searching for a new romantic partner (Utz et al., 2015). It is possible that due to its association with hookups and sex, especially with single people, Snapchat triggered more jealousy with those in relationships. Jealousy, however, is not limited to romantic relationships.

Another study examined how young people thought Snapchat influenced their romantic, familial, and platonic relationships in a focus group. The young people (who were aged 18-23) reported that some of Snapchat’s positive attributes were its useful image-oriented content and its ability

19 to enhance relationships. However, the same young people reported that Snapchat could also be perceived as annoying within relationships if used improperly, had the potential to encourage deviant behavior including sexting, and could lead to jealousy in relationships (Vaterlaus,

Barnett, Roche, & Young, 2016). Thus, while Snapchat has been perceived as a useful tool for socializing and performing relationship maintenance, it can also contribute to jealousy and other relational issues.

Self-Presentation and Content Sharing

Self-presentation can influence what users share on social media. Some of what users may wish to present to others on social media may have relationships with their personality. One study focused on the type of self (ideal, actual, and hidden) individuals who used Facebook presented based on their Big Five personality traits. “Ideal self” referred to the possible, ideal self users wished they could be and “actual self” referred to who the users actually believed they were. “Hidden self” was defined as traits that were part of the self but not usually expressed offline because they were uncomfortable for the individual. The study found that individuals with high neuroticism were positively associated with being prone to show ideal and hidden selves. Extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were all positively associated with trying to express actual self on social media. Those who were more conscientious were associated with more careful self-presentation online. Finally, the desire to express self mediated the relationship between self-disclosure and neuroticism (Seidman, 2013). Thus, an individual’s personality may determine what type of “self” is presented and how that self is presented online. However, personality does not only have relationships with the self-presenting behaviors that users engage with in social media. The content a person shares on social media can also be associated with personality. Another study that used the Big Five and Facebook analyzed users’ profile content,

20 finding that individuals with different personality traits share photos and videos differently.

Greater neuroticism and extraversion predicted more photo uploads. Agreeableness predicted more albums that the user created, video uploads, and how many likes and comments they received on their profile photos (Eftekhar, Fullwood, & Morris, 2014). Findings seem to suggest that individuals with different personality or psychological traits can interact and use features of social media differently. This may be due to the different opportunities to behave and share content on social media.

Audience may also play a role in how users present themselves on social media. One study found that individuals’ offline networks had some overlap with their online (SNS) networks and that some but not all of interactions on social networks were intended to strengthen the connections with their offline networks (Subrahmayam, Reich, Waechter, & Espinoza, 2008).

In other words, the audience of many individuals’ social media may be at least partially be an attempt to enhance the relationships they have offline. Regardless of the actual audience, the imagined audience seems to be more influential. One study found that when users posted content on social media, they imagined either a specific or a general audience. Regardless of what audience they imagined, users adjusted settings that could change who could and could not view the posts they created (Litt & Hargittai, 2015). Thus, audience, actual or perceived, can determine what a user decides to share on social media. Similarly to audience, motivations for an individual use to use a social media outlet is related to how accurately a person presents herself or himself. In a study that examined which individuals were more likely to show their “true self” on Facebook, those who were making new friends, beginning romantic relationships, or ending romantic relationships were most likely to be authentic (Tosun, 2012). Thus, how an individual presents themselves on social media can be influenced by both audience as well as purpose.

Along with audience, gender may play a role in what an individual shares on social media. In one study, women were found to share images more often on Snapchat, have more concerns about privacy, share more images of their children, like and comment on others’ images, apply filters to images, and organize photos in albums on social media when compared to men. Men, in contrast, were more likely to share images to Twitter (especially in regards to hobbies), retouch their photos, utilize applications to organize photos, and be featured alone in their profile pictures (Thelwall & Vis, 2017). Thus women not only seem to share more images to Snapchat, but also apply filters. In contrast, men were most likely to share their images on

Twitter and retouch their photos. Retouching photos implies heavier editing to enhance images.

It is important to note that self-presentation can be influenced by a variety of factors rather than one factor alone. One study found that, in a sample of undergraduate students who were also Facebook users, the participants were concerned about privacy and controlling the information they share. However, they perceived themselves as disclosing more about themselves than typical Facebook users. Some of the information they were likely to have shared included birthdays, email addresses, profile pictures, pictures with friends, pictures at parties, and pictures of themselves drinking with their friends. In addition, there was no significant correlation between disclosure and control of information. Instead, the need for popularity significantly predicted disclosure, while self-esteem and levels of trust predicted information control (Christofides, Muise, & Desmarais, 2009). Thus, while the participants are concerned over privacy issues on social media, it did not appear to stop them from sharing information.

Instead, the needs and concerns that they perceive can be solved by social media, take priority.

Another important factor is how users respond to feedback of their self-presentation. One study presented Instagram users with scenarios of positive and negative feedback and measured their

22 emotional responses. It was found that false self-presentation (or outer, idealizing facade that is presented to others) mediated the relationship between self-criticism and the affective response to the negative scenarios. The study also utilized personality measures and found that those with higher scores of dependency, self-criticism, and maladaptive personality measures responded negatively to the negative feedback scenarios. Meanwhile, those who scored high on dependency and efficacy responded positively to positive feedback scenarios (Jackson & Luchner, 2018).

Thus, dependency seems to play a significant role in responding to feedback.

Selfies

While selfies seem like a simple behavior, taking selfies can have a variety of motivations. One study from India examined the sharing media and motives for taking selfies

(Shah & Tewari, 2016). Snapchat was found to be the most preferred social media or application to share selfies. It was preferred over the following, respectively: WhatsApp, Instagram, and

Facebook. The motivations for taking selfies included convenience; control over taking the best selfie possible (regardless of how many pictures it takes); the freedom to take selfies; the ease of communication when compared to text alone; boasting about a newly acquired possession or recent experience; boasting about one’s image in order to receive positive feedback; participating in a fun, bonding social activity; and keeping a record of pleasant times (Shah & Tewari, 2016).

Therefore, there are a variety of reasons and motivations for users to take a selfie, with at least some of those reasons being boasting. Another study from China examined the motivations behind selfie sharing and viewing (Zhang, Bi, & Ha, 2018). The study consisted of in-depth interviews with 16 Chinese and American students. Among American students, selfies were not necessarily perceived to be narcissistic or the result of lower self-esteem. Among the Chinese students, however, selfies were associated with narcissism and online impression management.

Overall, selfie-related behaviors were seen as a new form of communication, managing impressions and relationships, and recording one’s life (Zhang et al., 2018). Thus, the motivations and impression of taking selfies can vary by culture. In the case of Americans it is not necessarily associated with narcissism. However, the importance of impression management may also be found among American users. Another study conducted in-depth interviews with 15 women whose ages ranged from 20 to 30 years old at a university in the southern United States.

It was found that impression management along with boosting one’s self-esteem was an important motivator for posting selfies (Pounders, Kowalczyk, & Stowers, 2016). Thus, impression management may still play a role in selfies, at least for women. Taking selfies to boost self-esteem also suggests that there may be a relationship between self-esteem and selfies.

While impression management seems to be an important motivator in sharing selfies, it is also important to take into account the way individuals perceive and think about selfies. One study found that selfies were useful in self-promotion (Diefenbach & Christoforakos, 2017).

Individuals who scored higher on self-promotion and self-disclosure felt positive while taking selfies. Motives of self-presentation, however, were attributed to others’ selfies rather than one’s own selfies. Interestingly, participants assumed others taking selfies had more positive feelings while participants’ own individual selfies were seen as more ironic or authentic. Finally, participants believed selfies had greater potential for negative consequences rather than positive consequences (Diefenbach & Christoforakos, 2017). Selfies can meet the need or desire to promote one’s self, even if individuals are unaware of this desire and aware of the desire in other users. However, the goals and intent of selfies may vary by the social media on which the selfie is shared. One study found that participants generally posted selfies to meet their own goals of self-disclosure for entertainment as well as information storage. On Facebook, users shared

24 selfies to develop their relationships. For Twitter users, selfie sharing had a negative relationship with the development of relationships. Finally, while older users primarily used Facebook to share selfies, younger users preferred to share via Snapchat (Williamson, Stohlman, & Polinsky,

2017). The type of social medium an individual shared on not only can reflect the users’ needs to entertain themselves and store information, but also can contribute to the strengthening or weakening of relationships.

Since selfies have been seen to associated with impression management, it is natural that photo editing can be very helpful. A South Korean study on female smartphone users found that greater frequency in taking selfies, social media usage, and public self-consciousness were positively associated with significantly greater social comparison against friends. This then increased the frequency of selfie-editing. While greater frequency in taking selfies, social media usage, and public self-consciousness were also positively and significantly associated with social comparison against celebrities and influencers, this did not lead to a significant relationship with selfie-editing. Interestingly, satisfaction with facial appearance had significant direct and indirect effects on selfie editing (Choi, 2018). Photo editing is therefore closely related to an individual's selfie habits, how much time an individual spends on social media, and social comparison.

However, the negative effect is not necessarily limited to taking selfies. Viewing selfies may also have some relationships with self-esteem. One study found that frequently viewing selfies predicted decreased self-esteem and life satisfaction. If an individual had a high need for popularity, they were more likely to experience the effects of selfie viewing. In contrast, viewing group photos increased self-esteem and life satisfaction. Selfie and group photo posting behaviors, however, were not related to self-esteem or life satisfaction (Wang, Yang, & Haigh,

2017). Thus, it would appear that both taking and viewing selfies has negative relationships with an individual’s self-esteem and perception of her or his appearance.

The relationship between selfies and perception of one’s self is not exclusive to physical appearance; it also appears to have relationships with dissatisfaction with weight. One Australian study examined the selfie behaviors of adolescent girls from grade 7, particularly in regards to perception of weight and body shape, body dissatisfaction, and restraint in diet (McLean, Paxton,

Wertheim, & Masters, 2015). The study found that adolescent girls who shared selfies regularly on social media reported having significantly higher body dissatisfaction, overvaluation of shape and weight, restraint in diet, and internalization of the thin ideal. In addition, greater time investment into choosing the right selfie and greater manipulation and editing of the selfies was associated with more body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, concern over shape and weight, and internalization of the thin body ideal (McLean et al., 2015). Again, selfies have some relationship with dissatisfaction with appearance. One study among female college students found a positive relationship between the number of selfies taken and body dissatisfaction. Body Mass Index

(BMI) had a positive relationship with body dissatisfaction and a negative relationship with the number of selfies taken. There was no correlation however between selfies posted to Instagram and BMI or body dissatisfaction (Wagner, Aguirre Alfaro, & Bryant, 2016). Therefore, it appears that selfies have a negative relationship with women and girls’ perception and satisfaction with their weight and body shape.

In light of this, there appears to be some likelihood that there are gender differences in the selfie-related behaviors. One Polish study used four narcissism subscales to attempt to predict the likelihood of posting selfies. While women posted more selfies than men, there was not a relationship between selfie sharing and narcissism among women. Men’s narcissism scores,

26 however, did positively predict selfie posting (Sorokowski et al., 2015). Thus there are gender differences not only in how frequently individuals share selfies, but also in how likely they are to be narcissistic if they frequently share selfies. Age along with gender can also strongly predict selfie behaviors. A study from Norway examined the selfie behaviors of adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults. It was found that women in general were more likely to take individual and group selfies, post selfies, and edit the photos they shared on social media.

Adolescents were more likely to take individual and group selfies than young adults, who in turn were more likely to take selfies than middle-aged adults. Predictive effects of age were found to be strong in women (Dhir, Pallesen, Torsheim, & Andreassen, 2016). Thus, women and adolescents appear to be the individuals who share more selfies than the older or male and older male participants. And, women appear to participate more in the taking and sharing of selfies.

Narcissism and Social Media

Social media can help facilitate the behaviors of narcissistic individuals. One of these behaviors can be social comparison. One study examined how narcissists made these comparisons as well as how they felt about the comparisons (Krizan & Busman, 2011).

Narcissists had positive emotional responses to these comparisons and often regarded themselves as superior to others. These social comparisons were also typically downwards which suggests that the comparisons are made to reinforce the want to be admired as well as have a higher status

(Krizan & Busman, 2011). Thus, social media appears to facilitate a behavior individual’s with narcissism already engage in. It is possible that social media can allow these social comparisons with more ease due to the profiles and information that others share via social media.

Another behavior that an individual with narcissism or anyone could perform through social media is impression management. One study conducted on undergraduate students found

27 narcissism to be a significant predictor for users on social media to use a profile picture on

Facebook that emphasized personality and the attractiveness of the individual (Kapidzic, 2013).

The findings were consistent for both men and women. The need to impress or give the impression that one is attractive is easily met on social media by sharing pictures or media that make the user appear attractive. Another study examined the relationships between social networks, millennials, and narcissism. The study found that there was no relationship between narcissism and how frequently individuals posted status updates, posted pictures of others, checked on their SNS friends, or the amount of time they spent on an SNS. However, the study did find that narcissism predicted why individuals were using an SNS. The reasons included wanting to let SNS friends know what they were doing, believing that their SNS friends were interested in whatever they were doing, having as many friends as possible, and making their profiles on SNS project a positive image of the user (Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport, &

Bergman, 2011). Impression management is important to a narcissistic individual on social media and appears to be one of the reasons they participate on social media. Other reasons such as having many friends and letting others know what he or she was doing can also contribute to the impression the user is attempting to create. Therefore, the need to manage one’s impression or image is easily accomplished through social media.

Along with impression management, some narcissistic individuals may engage in self- promotion. One study found that the grandiose exhibitionism subscale of the Narcissistic

Personality Inventory (NPI) predicted self-promoting behaviors on Facebook (Carpenter, 2012).

Self-promotion behaviors included posting status updates, accepting friend requests from strangers in order to gain a larger audience, and posting pictures of themselves. Self-promotion, similar to impression management, is an easily achievable task on social media, especially

Facebook. Self-promotion behaviors, however, are not exclusive to Facebook. One study from

South Korea found that individuals who had greater narcissistic characteristics were more likely to rate their Instagram profile pictures as more physically attractive as well as engage in self- promotion behaviors on Instagram (Moon, Lee, Lee, Choi, & Sung, 2016). These behaviors included updating their profile pictures more often, posting selfies and self-presented photos, and spending more time on the application than individuals who did not have greater levels of narcissistic characteristics. In addition, the subscales of leadership/authority and grandiose exhibitionism from the NPI had a negative relationship with the frequency of selfie posts and profile picture evaluations and updates (Moon et al., 2016). Facebook is, therefore, not the only social medium to facilitate self-promotion for narcissistic individuals. Ultimately, since social media allow users to post selfies and makes otherwise less publicized actions such as connecting or making friends more public and noticeable, social media easily meet the need for narcissistic individuals to self-promote.

In addition to utilizing impression management and self-promotion, individuals who have greater narcissistic characteristics also communicate on social media differently than others. One study that focused on Facebook and Twitter use found that greater levels of narcissism had a relationship with greater numbers of friends on Facebook and more “tweets” on Twitter that were self-focused (McKinney, Kelly, & Duran, 2012). The narcissistic individuals communicated more about themselves than those who were less narcissistic. Another study examined the relationships between narcissism and behaviors on Facebook and Twitter among college students. The researchers found that posting on Twitter had a relationship with the

Superiority aspect of narcissism. Facebook posting however had a positive relationship with the

Exhibitionistic (or flaunting) dimension of narcissism. Those with high Superiority posted more

29 on Facebook than Twitter. Finally, both sites were utilized more by users who were concerned about their appearance and, in the case of college students, showing off (Panek, Nardis, &

Konrath, 2013). Therefore, not only are narcissistic individuals more likely to post about themselves, but also more likely to post in general on their social media of choice. Finally, another study found that narcissistic individuals who used less first-person singular pronouns such as “I” or “me” were more likely to display sexy photos of themselves on Facebook and engage in more self-promoting behaviors (DeWall, Buffardi, Bonser, & Campbell, 2011). This type of narcissistic individual is also more likely than non-narcissistic individuals to use aggressive and profane language when asked to write about themselves. Thus, along with promoting themselves using photos or using aggressive language, these individuals are less likely to use first-person singular pronouns. Therefore, the way narcissistic individuals communicate via social media posts and how frequently they post can be characteristically different than individuals who are not considered narcissistic.

With so many observable ways that narcissists can behave on social media, non- narcissistic individuals have some awareness as to who is narcissistic on social media. A study found that narcissism predicted certain tendencies on SNSs (in this case, Facebook); these included greater self-promotion on the respective user’s Facebook profile page and greater social activity on the online community. Individuals who were determined to be narcissistic via a self- report inventory were also determined to be narcissistic by strangers who judged their Facebook profile pages. The judgements made by strangers were influenced by the self-promotion features in the user’s profile photo, the attractiveness of the profile photo, and the quality of the social interaction (the number of wall post messages and number of friends linked to the user’s page)

(Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). Impression management, communication on posts, and self-

30 promotion are all observable behaviors on social media. Non-narcissistic users are aware of these behavior patterns and can identify individuals who are more narcissistic on social media.

Excessive selfies have been perceived as narcissistic by society. In fact, one study found that individuals rate social media posts with selfies as more narcissistic and socially inappropriate than social media posts without selfies (Taylor, Hinck, & Lim, 2017). The same study also found that social media posts with selfies were also rated as less socially attractive.

Thus, people in general associate selfies with narcissism. Along with being perceived as narcissistic, some of the motivations for taking selfies can also be at least somewhat narcissistic.

One study found that primary motivations for taking a selfie included communication, seeking attention, entertainment, and archiving. Of these four motivations, seeking attention, communication, and archiving significantly predicted plans to post selfies. However, narcissism also predicted plans and frequency to post selfies (Sung, Lee, Kim, & Choi, 2016). Therefore, not only is narcissism associated with selfies, but the motivation for taking and posting selfies on social media can also be narcissism.

While some have argued that selfies are the cause of narcissism and of narcissistic attitudes in smartphone and social media users, some studies show that the relationship is more complex than a simple cause and effect model would predict. One study found that although taking selfies increased levels of narcissism, narcissists already took selfies more frequently than non-narcissists (Halpern, Valenzuela, & Katz, 2016). Thus, while taking selfies may increase narcissism, individuals with greater levels of narcissism are likely already engaging in this behavior and taking many selfies. It is also possible that certain facets of narcissism predict selfie sharing. Another study found that two of the three facets of narcissism, Leadership/Authority and

Grandiose Exhibitionism, could also predict increased selfie sharing. The third facet,

Entitlement/Exploitativeness, could not predict selfie sharing. Age did not moderate any of the predictive effects (Weiser, 2015). The Leadership/Authority and Grandiose Exhibitionism likely contribute to an increased need for the user to self-promote, receive more attention, and maintain positive impressions. Posting and sharing selfies is the way a narcissistic individual can achieve those goals. Another study found that self-esteem could moderate the relationship between selfie-posting and narcissism (March & McBean, 2018). In this study higher grandiose-type narcissism and lower self-esteem were found to be related to more selfie-posting. However, the relationship between narcissism and selfie-posting was only significant when self-esteem was average or below average. It is possible that selfie sharing is a form of impression management that attempts to mask the lack of self-esteem the individual actually has. Thus, there are interesting relationships between selfie sharing and narcissism.

However, selfies in general may not necessarily be related to narcissism. One study found that neither selfies nor photos taken featuring the social media user were significantly correlated with narcissism (grandiose, vulnerable, or non-pathological) (Barry, Reiter, Anderson,

Schoessler, & Sidoti, 2017). Self-esteem also was not significantly correlated with any themes of selfies; these themes included physical appearance, event/activity/location/accomplishment, affiliation with others, collage, and other/undifferentiated. More specifically, however, collage- style selfies were found to have a significant negative correlations with non-pathological narcissism; event selfies were found to have a significant positive correlation with grandiose narcissism; event/activity photos that featured the user (but were not selfies) had a significant positive correlation non-pathological narcissism; and collage-style photos were the user posed that were not selfies were negatively correlated with non-pathological narcissism (Barry et al.,

2017). The relationship with event-related selfies and narcissism may be the results of

32 impression management for narcissists. A user being shown to attend events and activities may be an attempt to promote one’s self and appear more sociable, affluent, or attractive.

Aside from the behaviors themselves, attitudes about selfie taking may also have relationships with narcissism. One study found that perceived behavioral control, attitude about selfie-posting, subjective norm (whether other people the individual cares about think about selfies), and narcissism positively affect a user's intention to a post selfie on an SNS. Intention to post a selfie positively affected an individual’s actual selfie posting behavior on SNSs (Kim, Lee,

Sung, & Choi, 2016). Thus, having a positive attitude about posting selfies along with narcissism, can make a person more likely to post a selfie on social media and SNSs. Similarly, another study found positive a relationship between millennials’ attitudes about and desire to participate in selfie-oriented marketing, and narcissism (Fox, Bacile, Nakhata, & Weible, 2018).

Thus, the desire to participate in selfie taking, even in the context of marketing has positive relationship with narcissism.

Positive attitudes about selfies does not require users to participate in selfie-oriented marketing. One study found that individuals with greater levels of narcissism are more likely to perceive posting selfies as positive (Lee & Sung, 2016). In addition, they also were more likely to be involved in the feedback others gave to them and be aware of other user’s selfies. Thus, narcissistic individuals are more likely to regard selfie posting positively as well be more aware of the feedback on the post. Similarly, another study found a relationship between individuals with greater narcissism and positive perceptions of selfies (McCain et al., 2016). Grandiose narcissism was found to have a relationship with feeling greater positive affect when taking selfies, taking more selfies, and posting more selfies. Grandiose narcissism was also found to have a positive relationship with self-reporting impression management as a reason to take and

33 post selfies. Interestingly, individuals with vulnerable narcissism were more likely to experience negative affect when taking selfies and self-esteem had no relationship with taking selfies

(McCain et al., 2016). Thus individuals with grandiose narcissism (what most people associate as narcissistic) view and feel selfie sharing and posting positively.

Aside from selfies, some research suggests that narcissists spend more time on social media than non-narcissists. One study found a positive correlation between narcissism and time spent on social media. The correlation between the number of social media used and narcissism was not significant (Sommerville, 2015). Thus, individuals with narcissism are more likely to spend more time on social media than non-narcissistic individuals. However, time spent on social media may be influenced by the type of narcissism an individual has. One study found that the relationship between time spent on social media (in this case Facebook) was influenced by the type of narcissism a narcissistic individual was. Vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism were correlated with greater Facebook use. However, when core narcissism (or the overlapping facets of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism) was controlled, only vulnerable narcissism was correlated with greater Facebook use and social comparison (Ozimek, Bierhodd,

& Hanke, 2018). Thus, while grandiose narcissists post and share more content on social media, vulnerable narcissists are spending more time on social media, perhaps to perform social comparisons. It is also possible that narcissism is not the only influential factor for how long an individual may spend on social media. One study found that narcissism, self-esteem, and stress could significantly predict the intensity (frequency and duration) of Facebook use in a multiple regression model. Additionally, the study found that after using Facebook, there was a small to medium effect of an increase in self-esteem (O’Sullivan & Hussain, 2017). Thus, it is possible that along with narcissism, issues with stress and self-esteem contribute to how long an

34 individual spends on social media. Overall, however, there appears to be some relationship between narcissism and time spent on social media.

Somewhat similar to long periods of time spent on social media, is social media addiction. One study from India examined the relationship between narcissism, low self-esteem, and social media addiction (Thiagarajan, Venkatachalam, & Sebastian, 2017). The study found that women with social media addiction had a greater tendency to have lower self-esteem and higher narcissism. The same relationship for men with social media addiction was not significant

(Thiagarajan et al., 2017). Thus, there appears to be some relationship between social media addiction and narcissism, at least for women.

Individuals who are narcissistic may also present themselves on social media differently.

While relatively many studies have addressed the relationships between selfie sharing and narcissism, few studies have addressed how frequently these photos may be edited. One study examined how different Dark Triad traits and self-objectification could predict different ways to use social networking sites (Fox & Rooney, 2015). The Dark Triad consists of psychopathy,

Machiavellianism, and narcissism. Self-objectification is the presentation of oneself in a sexually objectifying manner. Narcissism and self-objectification predicted greater time spent on an SNS, narcissism and psychopathy predicted greater sharing of selfies on an SNS, and narcissism and self-objectification predicted for heavier editing of photos on SNS (Fox & Rooney, 2015). Since

Snaphat is highly image- and selfie-oriented, it is possible that different usages of the application may be able to predict narcissism.

One major concern or at least recurring theme among older generations is that younger generations are more narcissistic than previous ones. However, one study found that the narcissists of different generations use social media but have preferences for which they prefer to

35 use (Davenport, Bergman, Bergman, & Fearrington, 2014). Narcissistic college students preferred to use Twitter while narcissistic adults preferred to use Facebook. Thus there are narcissistic users of different ages on social media, but they are not necessarily all on the same social medium. Indeed, it appears that younger users who are narcissistic prefer the same social media as their non-narcissistic counterparts. Another study also found a relationship between older adults, narcissism, and Facebook use. Baby Boomers who had greater exploitativeness according to the subscale of the NPI preferred to use blogs as well as Facebook to generate content to manipulate and exploit others. This relationship however did not exist for Generation

Xers and the Net Geners (people born between 1977 and 1997) (Leung, 2013). Thus the relationship between social media and narcissism is not exclusive to younger generations.

Instead these relationships seem to be consistent for older individuals as well.

Research Purpose and Hypothesis

Despite the quantity of research that has been produced regarding mental health or psychological concerns and social media, the majority of these studies have either focused on

Facebook or general social media usage. Few studies had examined these relationships with specific social media that are not Facebook despite the growing number of users in social media.

The different features and uses of social media may also influence who is attracted to specific social media and how individuals (both with and without certain qualities) use these specific social media. More specifically, can the frequency and number of filter usages on Snapchat predict greater grandiose narcissism? Additionally, does the frequency of sharing selfies on

Snapchat have a relationship with narcissism, like other social media such as Facebook? On account of previous literature, I hypothesize that (h1) greater selfie sharing will predict greater narcissism, and that greater modification of pictures and videos sent to friends through (h2)

36 filters and (h3) other features including text, emojis/stickers, and doodles will predict greater narcissism.

CHAPTER 2

METHOD

Participants

Participants were adult undergraduate students enrolled at California State University,

Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). Students were recruited via flyers and through lower-division social-behavioral sciences and psychology classes during Fall 2017. The participants consisted of active Snapchat users, non-active Snapchat users, and non-Snapchat users. Active Snapchat users are defined as reporting that they are logging into and using Snapchat at least once a month.

Non-active Snapchat users are defined as logging into and using Snapchat less than once a month. Non-Snapchat users are defined as not using Snapchat at all. No participants were rejected from the study because of their Snapchat user status, but the study only examined and analyzed the responses of those who identified themselves as active Snapchat users.

Data were collected from 325 respondents, 88% of which are active Snapchat users.

Thus, there were 279 participants. Participants were all CSUDH students during fall 2017.

Participants who completed took less than 7 minutes on the survey were removed from the data.

Participants who spent more than 1 hour on the survey were also removed from the data. All participants were 18 years old and older. The average age of the participants was 21.31 (SD =

3.64). However, the ages for the participants ranged from 18 to 56 years old. In order to create a normal age distribution, ages 30 through 56 were removed since they accounted for less than 2% of the data and were contributing to the data’s skew. The skewness of age prior to cleaning was

4.34 (SE = .15) and the kurtosis of 32.91 (SE = .29). After removing the participants who were aged 30 years-old or older, the skewness was 1.22 (SE = .15) and the kurtosis was .95 (SE = .29).

Thus, there were 274 participants. The age then ranged from 18 to 28 years old with a mean age of 20.97 (SD = 2.39).

The sex distribution of the participants was 23.7% male and 76.3% female. The ethnic distribution for the participants was as follows: Hispanic/Latino at 70.4%, Asian at 9.5%,

White/Caucasian at 8.0%, Other at 5.5%, Black/African American at 4.4%, Native

Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 1.8%, and American Indian/Alaska Native .4%. The distribution of the class standing for the participants was 10.9% Freshman, 27.0% Sophomore, 39.4%

Junior, and 22.6% Senior. The postal codes of the participants were also collected in order examine any correlations with median income within the postal codes. The postal codes were then converted to a median income based on the postal code. Median income data was based on

2014 data on the median incomes that resided within postal codes. The participants came from areas where the estimated annual median household income was a mean of $51,462 (SD =

$20,119).

Procedure

A questionnaire was distributed to participants via SurveyMonkey.com. Participants were presented with an informed consent that was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of CSUDH. Participants were told that the purpose of the study was to examine relationships between Snapchat usage and psychological well-being. Participants were also informed that they needed to be at least 18 years old or older to participate. After consenting to participate in the study, participants were asked to indicate if they were an active Snapchat user. The definition of an active Snapchat user was also given to the participants. If the individual indicated they were not an active Snapchat user, the survey logic skipped them past all the survey items regarding

Snapchat usage. If, however, the participant responded that they were an active Snapchat user,

39 the survey presented them with items regarding Snapchat usage. These items included time, picture, sharing, and filter-oriented behaviors on Snapchat.

Following the items that examined Snapchat usage, participants were asked to select as many other SNSs that they logged into and used at least once a month. The list of SNS options included Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, and Twitter. There also was a “None of the Above” option. Next, participants were presented with the Daily Media Usage Scale

(Carrier, Cheever, Rosen, Benitez, & Chang, 2009). Next, participants responded to the

Narcissism Personality Inventory-13 (NPI-13) (Gentile et al., 2013). The participants were also presented with an “Online” version of the NPI-13 which essentially were items from the NPI-13 with an added online context. Following the “online” NPI-13, the participants were presented with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Lastly, the participants answered questions regarding demographics. After answering all items and measures, the participants were thanked for their participation and informed that the study would examine the relationships between Snapchat usage and self-esteem and narcissism. The participants were also given contact information if they had any questions or concerns regarding the study.

Measures

Snapchat Items

In order to assess the amount of time participants were spending on Snapchat, 6 different items were used. The first two items examined how frequently participants used Snapchat. These two items were on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 being less than once per month; 7 being several times per day). The items asked how frequently users logged into and checked their Snapchat application and how frequently they used their Snapchat application. In addition to assessing frequency of use, participants were also presented with items asking about how much time they spent using

40 the application. One item examined how much time the participants spent on the application each time they used the application with a 7-point scale (1 being less than 5 minutes; 7 being more than 30 minutes). Participants were also asked how much time they spent per day using

Snapchat, checking other people’s snaps, and taking snaps on a 7-point scale (1 being less than

15 minutes; 7 being more than 60 minutes).

Participants were also asked questions about their sharing-related behaviors on Snapchat.

These items were adapted from the items regarding photo-sharing behavior from a study by Fox and Rooney (2015) that examined Dark Triad traits including narcissism and social networking behaviors. Participants were asked how many snaps, snaps that include themselves (including selfies), and snaps that did not include themselves they shared in the past week. Participants could indicate how many snaps they shared using a drop-down menu of options ranging from 0 to 100+. Participants were also asked with how many other users or friends they usually shared their snaps, snaps that included themselves (including selfies), and snaps that did not include themselves in the past week. Participants could indicate how many other users or friends they typically shared their snaps with using a drop-down menu of options ranging from 0 to 100+. In addition to items about sharing snaps, participants were also asked about whether they shared their location on Snapchat. Specifically, participants were asked how often they shared their location and checked their friends’ locations on Snapchat using a 5-point scale (1 being never; 5 being always).

Participants were also presented with items that examined how they modified their snaps when using the application. The items asked how frequently the participants applied each of the following to their snaps: text or captions, filters, emojis, and doodles. Participants could indicate frequency by selecting an option on a 5-point scale (1 being never; 5 being always). These items

41 were adapted from a previous study on picture editing and narcissism (Fox & Rooney, 2015).

Participants were also asked to indicate how many filters they typically applied to their picture and video snaps respectively using a dropdown menu of options ranging from 0 to 5. Currently,

Snapchat allows for a maximum of 5 filters on a snap so there was no option greater than 5.

Participants were also asked about how frequently they modified their photos with the intent of making themselves look better. Specifically, they were asked if they used an individual filter, multiple filters, emojis, doodles, and text respectively to improve their self-presentation.

Participants could indicate how frequently they engaged in these modifying behaviors on a 5- point scale (1 being never; 5 being always).

In order to identify the types of pictures and videos that are shared on Snapchat, participants were asked to indicate what kind of snaps they share on Snapchat. Participants were provided a list of options and could select as many as applied to them. These options were as follows: animals; being part of an information loop (or sharing information); beautiful things; distraction or procrastination; drunk photos; events; flirting or finding new love interests; food; funny things; joke sexting; keeping in touch with family; keeping in touch with friends; keeping touch with past romantic partners; legally questionable activities; meeting new friends; myself; people; seeing what people are up to; sexting; staying in touch with current romantic partner(s) or spouse; what I’m up to; and other. These items were adapted from another study that examined what Snapchat users were sharing on Snapchat and how it impacted relationship jealousy (Utz et al., 2015). More items were added than were in the study by Utz et al. (2015) in order to account for the variety of pictures and videos that are shared on Snapchat.

Finally, participants were presented with items regarding “Memories” or saved pictures and videos from Snapchat. Participants were asked items including how often they save to

Memories their snaps, snaps of themselves, snaps of other people without them, and snaps without themselves or others. Frequency was indicated with a 5-point scale (1 being Never; 5 being Always). The same scale was also used to measure how frequently participants saved pictures with and without filters as well as how often people shared snaps, snaps of themselves, and snaps without them that they had already saved to Memories that they did not share at the time they took the photo.

Social Networking Site Usage

In order measure how many and which other Social Networking Sites (SNSs) participants used in addition to or instead of Snapchat, participants were presented with a list of popular

SNSs that they might use at least once a month. This list included Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

Tumblr, Pitnerest, and Reddit. The list included a “none of the above” option as well.

Participants could select as many SNSs that they used at least once a month.

Daily Media Usage Scale

A measure of media and technology use was administered within the survey. The Daily

Media Usage Scale measures the technology and media usage of individuals based on 12 different tasks (Carrier et al., 2009). The usage is measured by the number of hours participants spent on each of these tasks per day on a 4-point scale (1 being 0-1 hours; 4 being 6 or more hours). These tasks include emailing, instant messaging or chatting online, talking to other people face to face, going online and visiting websites, talking on the telephone, texting, playing video games, listening to music, watching television, reading a book or magazine (not for work or school), and using a social network or application. A score for Total Tech Use was calculated by summing the points on emailing, instant messaging or chatting online, going online and

43 visiting websites, texting, playing video games, listening to music, watching television, and using a social network or application.

Narcissism Personality Inventory-13

The Narcissism Personality Inventory -13 (NPI-13) was used to assess levels of grandiose narcissism within the study (Gentile et al., 2013b). Each item has the participant choose one option from a pair of “attitudes” that most applies to them. This inventory is based on the

Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI) (Raskin & Hall, 1979). The NPI-13 contains only 13 items while the original NPI is 40 items. The NPI-13 has been shown to have good convergent and discriminant validity and adequate overall reliability during its creation (α = .73) and a subsequent study comparing it against the original NPI (α = .82) (Gentile et al., 2013a). The NPI-

13 can also be broken down into three subscales: Leadership/Authority,

Grandiose/Exhibitionism, and Entitlement/Exploitativeness. The following has been reported as the internal consistency for each of the subscales respectively; α = .66, α = .65, α =.55 (Gentile et al., 2013a).

“Online” Narcissism Personality Inventory-13

An “online” version of the NPI-13 was created and included in the survey. This online version contained the same number of items and essentially the same content as the NPI-13.

However, the experimenter added an online context to each of the items. For example, one of the

“attitudes” of the NPI-13 is “I like to show off my body” (Gentile et al., 2013b). On the “online”

NPI-13, this attitude becomes “I like to show off my body online.”

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)

In order assess self-esteem, participants were presented the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

(RSES). The RSES is a 10-item scale with statements that participants respond to using a 4-point

44 response scale (1 being strongly agree; 4 being strongly disagree). An example of one of these items is “I feel that I have a number of good qualities” (Rosenberg, 1965). Item 3, 5, 8, 9, and 10 are reverse-scored.

CHAPTER 3

RESULTS

Preliminary Analyses Regarding Sample Characteristics Snapchat Usage

The majority (63.5%) of participants log into and check their Snapchat application several times per day. As for the rest of the participants, 18.6% check the application a few times per day, 6.2% check at least once per day, 5.8% check a few times per week, 2.2% a few times per month, 2.2% check at least once a month, and 1.5% check their application less than once a month. Participants were also asked how often they used Snapchat (including send snaps, post stories, etc.). 43.1% of participants reported using Snapchat several times per day, 22.3% a few times per day, 10.6% at least once per day, 12.4% a few times per week, 6.2% a few times per month, 3.6% at least once a month, and 1.8% less than once per month. The majority of the participants also spent approximately 5 to 10 minutes at a time on the application (31.8%).

Another large portion of the participants (26.6%) spent less than 5 minutes at a time on the application. As for the rest of the participants, 17.5% spent 10 to 15 minutes at a time, 8.4% spent 15 to 20 minutes at a time, 4.0% spent 20 to 25 minutes at a time, 4.0% spent 25 to 30 minutes at a time, and 7.7% spent more than 30 minutes at a time on the application.

Participants were also asked to estimate how much time a day they spent using Snapchat as well as how much time they spent using specific features on Snapchat. The majority (39.1%) estimated that they spent less than 15 minutes per day on general Snapchat use. As for the rest of the participants, 21.5% estimated they spend 15 to 30 minutes per day, 17.5% estimated they spent 30 to 45 minutes per day, 7.7% estimated they spent 45 to 60 minutes per day, and 14.2% estimated they spent more than 60 minutes per day. More specifically, 55.1% spent less than 15

46 minutes, 24.5% spent 15 to 30 minutes, 14.6% spent 30 to 45 minutes, 2.2% spent 45 to 60 minutes, and 3.6% spent more than 60 minutes per day looking at other people’s snaps, (either sent to them directly or via the story feature). In contrast, 74.8% spent less than 15 minutes,

16.1% spent 15 to 30 minutes, 3.6% spent 30 to 45 minutes, 2.2% spent 45 to 60 minutes, and

3.3% spent more than 60 minutes taking snaps.

In addition to how much time they were spending on Snapchat, participants also were asked how many snaps they shared and how many friends they shared their snaps with.

Specifically, participants were asked to report their answers based on their sharing behaviors on

Snapchat in the past week. Participants shared a mean 16.51 (SD = 20.73) snaps (pictures and videos) during the previous week. Of those snaps, participants reported to sharing a mean of

10.20 (SD = 17.49) selfie snaps (selfies or pictures and/or videos that feature the user) in the previous week. In contrast, participants reported sharing a mean 12.78 (SD = 18.82) snaps in the previous week that did not include themselves in the snap. Participants also indicated the number of friends they typically shared their snaps with in the previous week. In general, participants shared their snaps with a mean of 14.63 (SD = 21.10) friends. In regards to selfies, participants shared the snaps of themselves with a mean of 9.27 (SD = 17.16) friends. As for the snaps that did not feature the participant, participants shared this type with a mean of 12.50 (SD = 19.08) friends.

In addition to sharing snaps, participants were also asked to if they shared their location on Snapchat. The majority (44.9%) reported never sharing their locations. The rest of the participants shared their location to varying degrees. In regards to sharing their location, 23.4% claimed to do so rarely, 19.7% some of the time, 6.9% often, and 5.1% always shared their location. Participants also were asked how frequently they checked their friends’ shared

47 locations on Snapchat. The majority (45.6%) reported to never check it. Meanwhile, 30.3% claimed to check it rarely, 15.7% sometimes, 5.8% often, and 2.6% always checked it.

Participants were asked how they edited and manipulated their snaps. The majority of the participants (51.1%) reported to almost always add text or captions to their snaps. As for the rest of the participants, 17.2% claimed to always add text, 25.2% sometimes added text, 6.2% rarely added text, and 0.4% claimed to never add text or captions to their snaps. In regards to filters,

2.2% reported they never used filters, 8.8% said they used them rarely, 32.1% said they sometimes used them, 40.5% reported to almost always use filters, and 16.4% claimed to always apply filter to their snaps. Participants were also asked about the doodle or drawing feature on

Snapchat and how frequently they applied it to their snaps. 16.8% reported never, 47.4% said they rarely used it, 27.4% reported sometimes using it, 6.6% said they almost always used it, and

1.8% claimed to always use it on their snaps. Finally, participants their frequency of emoji use on their snaps with 3.3% never using them, 15.3% rarely using them, 36.9% sometimes using them, 33.6% almost always using them, and 10.9% always using them. Participants were also asked about how many filters they typically applied to their Snaps. For snaps that were pictures, participants applied a mean of 2.67 (SD = 1.05) filters. For snaps that were videos, participants applied a mean of 2.24 (SD = 1.11) filters.

Participants were also asked about how often they applied editing (e.g., filters, emojis, text) to “make [themselves] look better” or improve the way they were perceived by others. In regards to using an individual filter improving the way others perceived them, 10.9% of the participants claimed to never do this, 19.0% rarely did this, 30.3% did this sometimes, 20.8% often did this, and 19.0% reported to always do this. Participants were also asked if they

48 attempted to “look better” using multiple filters. 25.2% reported never doing this, 24.5% rarely,

28.1% sometimes, 12.4% often, and 9.9% always.

Participants reported the frequency of attempting to improve their image by using emojis on their snaps with 35.0% reported never doing this, 31.4% rarely doing this, 20.4% sometimes doing this, 8.0% often doing this, and 5.1% always doing this. Next, the majority of the participants (53.3%) never applied to doodles or drawings to a snap to improve the way they were perceived by others. 21.2% rarely did this, 17.9% sometimes did this, 3.6% did this often, and 4.0% always did this. Finally, participants reported data on how frequently they used text on their snaps with the intent of improving the way others perceive them on their snaps. 31.4% never, 28.5% rarely, 25.5% sometimes, 8.0% often, and 6.6% always applied text for this purpose on their snaps.

The frequencies for the types of snaps are displayed in Table 1 with food, events, and beautiful things being the top three most shared type of snaps. Table 2 displays the frequencies if saving different types of snaps to Memories and Table 3 displays the frequencies of sharing or posting saved snaps.

Table 1

Frequencies of types of Snaps participants shared on Snapchat (N = 279)

Theme/type of snap N %

Food 228 83.2

Events 229 83.6

Beautiful things 203 74.1

Keeping in touch with friends 197 71.9

Funny things 193 70.4

Myself 190 69.3

What I’m up to 190 69.3

Animals 187 68.2

Distraction or procrastination 177 64.6

People 143 52.2

Seeing what other people are up to 143 52.2

Keeping in touch with family 112 40.9

Drunk photos 89 32.5

Staying in touch with current romantic 86 31.4 partner(s) or spouse

Meeting new friends 55 20.1

Table continued

Flirting or finding new love interests 55 20.1

Being part of an information loop 47 17.2

Keeping in touch with past romantic partners 41 15.0

Legally questionable activities 29 10.6

Sexting 29 10.6

Joke sexting 21 7.7

Other 14 5.1

Table 2

Frequency of saving snaps to Memories (N = 279)

Item N %

Saved snaps

Always 64 23.4

Often 102 37.2

Sometimes 70 25.5

Rarely 31 11.3

Never 7 2.6

Saved selfie snaps or snaps that feature user

Always 59 21.5

Often 80 29.2

Sometimes 66 24.1

Rarely 50 18.2

Never 19 6.9

Saved snaps that did not feature any people

Always 43 15.7

Often 67 24.5

Sometimes 92 33.6

Table continued

Rarely 52 19.0

Never 20 7.3

Saved snaps that features other people but not the user

Always 46 16.8

Often 76 27.7

Sometimes 81 29.6

Rarely 50 18.2

Never 21 7.7

Saved snaps with filters

Always 50 18.2

Often 76 27.7

Sometimes 76 27.7

Rarely 54 19.7

Never 18 6.6

Saved snaps without filters

Always 37 13.5

Often 75 27.4

Sometimes 96 35.0

Table continued

Rarely 52 19.0

Never 14 5.1

Table 3

Frequencies for sharing saved snaps

Item N %

Sharing saved snaps

Always 15 5.5

Often 46 16.8

Sometimes 88 32.1

Rarely 76 27.7

Never 49 17.9

Sharing saved snaps of yourself

Always 12 4.4

Often 35 12.8

Sometimes 77 28.1

Rarely 77 28.1

Never 73 26.6

Sharing saved snaps that did not include yourself

Always 10 3.6

Often 41 15.0

Sometimes 76 27.7

Table continued

Rarely 91 33.2

Never 56 20.4

Social Media Usage

The majority of the participants (72.3%) described themselves as active users of

Facebook while 27.7% were non-active users or did not use Facebook. For LinkedIn, 5.1% of participants described themselves as active users while the majority (94.9%) either did not use

LinkedIn or were not active users. The majority of the participants (89.4%) were active

Instagram users while 10.6% either did not use Instagram or were not active users. 28.5% of the participants were active Pinterest users while 71.5% reported that they either did not have accounts for Pinterest or were non-active users. Only 5.1% described themselves as active Reddit users while 94.9% were non-active users or did not use Reddit. 44.9% of participants described themselves as active Twitter users while 55.1% described themselves as non-active users or did not use Twitter. Only 3.3% of participants were non-active members of all social media or did not have accounts to any other social media aside from Snapchat.

Daily Media Usage Scale

The frequencies for the Daily Media Usage Scale can be found on Table 4. Emailing, video games, watching TV, and reading book and magazines took 1 or less of the majority of participants’ day. Going online and visiting websites, instant messaging and participating in online chats, talking on the phone, listening to music, talking with someone face to face, and using a social networking site or app took 2 to 3 hours of the majority of participants’ day.

Texting on the phone did not have a distinct majority; instead, the responses were more evenly distributed among the four response options.

Table 4

Frequencies for Daily Media Usage Scale

Item N %

Going online and visiting websites

0-1 hours 97 35.4

2-3 hours 114 41.6

4-5 hours 38 13.9

6 or more hours 25 9.1

Using email

0-1 hours 196 71.5

2-3 hours 57 20.8

4-5 hours 15 5.5

6 or more hours 6 2.2

Instant messaging or participating in online chats

0-1 hours 159 58.0

2-3 hours 65 23.7

4-5 hours 28 10.2

6 or more hours 22 8.0

Table continued

Talking on a telephone

0-1 hours 210 76.6

2-3 hours 47 17.2

4-5 hours 11 4.0

6 or more hours 6 2.2

Text messaging on a cell phone

0-1 hours 75 27.4

2-3 hours 74 27.0

4-5 hours 62 22.6

6 or more hours 63 23.0

Playing video games

0-1 hours 231 84.3

2-3 hours 22 8.0

4-5 hours 13 4.7

6 or more hours 8 2.9

Listening to music

0-1 hours 76 27.7

2-3 hours 82 29.9

Table continued

4-5 hours 71 25.9

6 or more hours 45 16.4

Watching television

0-1 hours 129 47.1

2-3 hours 91 33.2

4-5 hours 40 14.6

6 or more hours 14 5.1

Reading books or magazine (not for school or work)

0-1 hours 212 77.4

2-3 hours 46 16.8

4-5 hours 13 4.7

6 or more hours 3 1.1

Talking to someone face to face

0-1 hours 66 24.1

2-3 hours 86 31.4

4-5 hours 75 27.4

6 or more hours 47 17.2

Table continued

Using a social networking website or app

0-1 hours 52 19.0

2-3 hours 107 39.1

4-5 hours 70 25.5

6 or more hours 45 16.4

NPI-13

The mean NPI-13 score for the study was 3.86 (SD = 2.58). Average scores for the NPI-

13 can vary. The frequencies for each of the responses of the items in the current study can be found on Table 5. One German paper that included three different studies and groups of participants found mean scores for a normative population to be 3.39 (SD = 2.19), 3.55 (SD =

2.16), and 3.45 (SD = 2.36) (Brailovskaia, Bierhoff, & Margraf, 2017). Another study gathered data on mean scores on the NPI-13 among university students in Japan, Poland, and the United

Kingdom. Their mean scores were converted from a sum score to a score between zero and one.

The converted mean NPI-13 score for Japan was 0.28 (SD = 0.19) or 3.64 (SD = 2.47) as a sum score. Poland’s converted mean score was 0.35 (SD = 0.19) or 4.55 (SD = 2.47) as a sum score.

Finally, the United Kingdom’s converted mean score was 0.24 (SD = 0.20) or 3.12 (SD = 2.6)

(Żemojtel‐Piotrowska et al., 2018).

The NPI-13 was found to have questionable internal reliability (α = .66). The

Leadership/Authority subscale also had questionable internal reliability (α = .61). The

Grandiose/Exhibitionism subscale had poor internal reliability (α = .59). Finally, the

Entitlement/Exploitativeness subscale had unacceptable reliability (α = .33).

Table 5

Frequencies for items on the NPI-13 (N = 279)

Attitude pairs N %

Item 1

I find it easy to manipulate people 82 29.9

I don’t like it when I find myself 192 70.1 manipulating people

Item 2

When people compliment me I get 180 65.7 embarrassed

I know that I am a good person because 94 34.3 everybody keeps telling me so

Item 3

I like having authority over other people 88 32.1

I don’t mind following orders 186 67.9

Item 4

I insist upon getting the respect that is 67 24.5 due me

I usually get the respect I deserve 207 75.5

Table continued

Item 5

I don’t particularly like to show off my 228 83.2 body

I like to show off my body 46 16.8

Item 6

I have a strong will to have power 106 38.7

Power for its own sake doesn’t interest 168 61.3 me

Item 7

I expect a great deal from other people 59 21.5

I like to do things for other people 215 78.5

Item 8

My body is nothing special 177 64.6

I like to look at my body 97 35.4

Item 9

Being in authority doesn’t mean that 191 69.7 much to me

People always seem to recognize my 83 30.3 authority

Table continued

Item 10

I will never be satisfied until I get all 78 28.5 that I deserve

I will take my satisfactions as they come 196 71.5

Item 11

I try not to be a show off 227 82.8

I will usually show off if I get the chance 47 17.2

Item 12

I am a born leader 75 27.4

Leadership is a quality that takes a long 199 199 time to develop

Item 13

I like to look at myself in the mirror 136 49.6

I am not particularly interested in 138 50.4 looking at myself in the mirror

“Online” NPI-13

The mean score for the “online” NPI-13 was 3.76 (SD = 2.87). The responses for each of the items was also examined and can be found on Table 6. The “Online” NPI-13 was found to have acceptable reliability (α = .75). The Leadership/Authority subscale of the “Online” NPI-13 also had questionable internal reliability (α = .52). The Grandiose/Exhibitionism subscale had questionable reliability (α = .65). Finally, the Entitlement/Exploitativeness subscale had unacceptable reliability (α = .51). The correlation between NPI-13 and the “Online” NPI-13 is large and statistically significant, r (272) = .63, p < .01, 95% CI [.54, .72]. Individuals who had had high scores on the NPI-13 also had high scores on the “Online” NPI-13. Individuals who had low scores on the NPI-13 also had low scores on the “Online” NPI-13.

Table 6

Frequencies for items on the Online NPI-13 (N = 279)

Attitude pairs N %

Item 1

I find it easy to manipulate people online 72 26.3

I don’t like it when I find myself 202 73.7 manipulating people online

Item 2

When people compliment me online I 142 51.8 get embarrassed

I know that I am a good person because 132 48.2 everybody keeps telling me so online

Item 3

I like having authority over other people 113 41.2 ONLINE

I don’t mind following orders ONLINE 161 58.8

Item 4

When I am ONLINE, I insist upon 74 27.0 getting the respect that is due me

I usually get the respect I deserve 200 73.0 ONLINE

Table continued

Item 5

I don’t particularly like to show off my 226 82.5 body

I like to show off my body 48 17.5

Item 6

I have a strong desire for power 57 20.8 ONLINE

Power for its own sake doesn’t interest 217 79.2 me when I am ONLINE

Item 7

When I am ONLINE, I expect a great 101 36.9 deal from other people

When I am ONLINE, I like to do things 173 63.1 for other people

Item 8

When I am ONLINE, I know that my 217 79.2 body is nothing special

I like to look at my body when I am 57 20.8 ONLINE, I like to look at my body

Table continued

Item 9

Being in authority doesn’t mean that 209 76.3 much to me ONLINE

People always seem to recognize my 65 23.7 authority when I am ONLINE

Item 10

When I am ONLINE, I will never be 59 21.5 satisfied until I get all that I deserve

When I am ONLINE, I will take my 215 78.5 satisfactions as they come

Item 11

I try not to be a show off when I am 191 69.7 ONLINE

I will usually show off if I get the chance 83 30.3 when I am ONLINE

Item 12

When I am ONLINE, I feel like I am a 71 25.9 born leader

When I am ONLINE, I think that 203 74.1 leadership is a quality that takes a long time to develop

Table continued

Item 13

I like to look at myself ONLINE 98 35.8

I am not particularly interested in 176 64.2 looking at myself when I am ONLINE

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

The mean score on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was 22.48 (SD = 3.21). Scores on this scale range from 10 to 40. One study that compared mean Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scores from a variety of subgroups within the United States found that across ages, ethnic groups, genders, education levels, employment statuses, income levels, and marital statuses, the mean score was 22.62 (SD = 5.80) (Sinclair et al., 2010). Thus, the mean score for the current study was very close to the expected means for the United States.

Factor Analysis for Themes of Shared Snapchat Content

The types of snap variables were reduced using a factor analysis. Inter-item correlations showed that each item was correlated .24 or higher with at least one other item. The Kaiser-

Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .81 and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (훸2 (190) = 881.89 p < .001). The communalities were all above .30, further confirming that each item shared some common variance with other items.

Given these overall indicators, a factor analysis was performed with all 20 items.

Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was used. Initial eigenvalues indicated that the first five factors explained 20.30%, 9.22%, 7.15%, 5.89%, and 5.42% of the variance

69 respectively. The sixth through twentieth components had eigenvalues less than 1. All of the items had factor loadings of at least .37 on one factor. Four items, Distraction/Procrastination,

Funny Things, Keeping in Touch With Family, and Staying in Touch with Current Romantic

Partner(s) loaded into two factors. Ultimately, each item was included in the factor in which it loaded the highest. The final factor-loading matrix for this solution is presented in Table 7.

The first factor label was derived from the names of the different yet interrelated items that loaded into this factor. These items included items on sexuality, legally questionable behavior, romance, and meeting new friends. Thus, this factor was labeled “Sex, Romance,

Relationships, and Risky Behaviors.” For the second factor label, all items were related to relationships. Thus, this factor was labeled “Relationship Maintenance.” For the third factor label, the items included snaps about the use/participant and other people. This factor was labeled “Mundane Content,” since these types of items are typically shared on other social media such as Facebook and Instagram. The fourth factor included Animals, Beautiful things,

Distraction/Procrastination, Events, and Funny Things. Thus, this factor was labeled “Visual

Distraction.” Finally, the fifth factor included Being Part of an Information Loop, Food, and

Keeping Touch with Family. Thus, this factor was labeled “Communication and Food.” The inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors was acceptable, α = .72 (6 items). However, Relationship Maintenance, α = .53 (3 items);

Mundane Content, α =.53 (3 items); and Visual Distraction, α = .57 (5 items); had poor inter- item reliability. Communication and Food had poor inter-item reliability, α =.44 (3 items). In addition, Cronbach’s alpha could not be increased by deleting any of the items from any of the subscales. Therefore, only Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors was considered for inclusion in the statistical model.

Table 7

Factor loadings and communalities based on principal components analysis with Varimax rotation for 20 items assessing the types of snaps participants shared on Snapchat (N = 274)

Item Sex, Relationship Mundane Visual Communication Romance, Maintenance Content Distraction and Food Relationships, and Risky Behaviors

Sexting .78

Keeping in .70 touch with past romantic partners

Joke sexting .68

Flirting/Find .62 ing new love interests

Meeting .56 new friends

Legally .44 questionable activities

Keeping in .71 touch with friends

Table continued

Seeing what .63 others are up to

Staying in .46 touch with current romantic partner(s)

Myself .66

People .66

What I’m up .65 to

Animals .68

Beautiful .55 things

Events .54

Distraction/ .52 Procrastinati on

Funny .37 things

Being part .64 of an information loop

Table continued

Food .59

Keeping in .51 touch with family

Note. Factor loadings >.37 are suppressed and only displayed for factor in which items loaded the highest in.

Factor Analysis of Filter Usage

The filter usage variables were reduced using a factor analysis. Inter-item correlations showed that each variable was correlated .63 or higher with at least one other item. The Kaiser-

Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .71 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (훸2 (10) = 619.77 p < .001). The communalities were all above .75 confirming that each item shared some common variance with other items.

Given these overall indicators, a factor analysis was performed with all 5 items. Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was used. Initial eigenvalues indicated that the first three factors explained 57.69%, 22.95%, and 8.83% of the variance respectively. The fourth and fifth items had eigenvalues of less than .28. All of the items had factor loadings of at least .75 with one other factor. The final factor-loading matrix for this solution is presented in Table 8.

The first factor label was derived from the similarity of what the items measured. Since the item measured the frequencies of filter usage, it was named “Frequency of Filter Usage.” The second factor label was derived from how the two items that comprised measured filter usage by the number of filters participants typically used per snap. Thus, it was named “Number of Filters

Used.” The inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for Frequency of Filter Usage and Number

73 of Filters Used was good, α = .83 (3 items) and α = .85 (2 items), respectively. Additionally,

Cronbach’s alpha could not be increased by deleting any of the items from the subscales. Thus, both of the subscales were included in the statistical model.

Table 8 Factor loadings and communalities based on principal components analysis with Varimax rotation for 5 items assessing the filter usage of participants on Snapchat (N = 274)

Item Frequency of Filter Numbers of Filters Usage Used

Videos—Number of Filters .92 Applied

Pictures—Number of Filters .90 Applied

How frequently do you “snap” .92 and share photos of yourself on Snapchat where you applied a filter to make yourself look better.

How frequently do you “snap” .85 and share photos of yourself on Snapchat where you applied multiple filters to make yourself look better.

How frequently do you apply .75 filters to your snaps?

Note. Factor loadings >.75 are suppressed.

Creation of Self-Enhancement Variable

Three variables were combined due to their similarity. The three variables included how frequently users applied an emojis to a “snap” to look better, how frequently users applied a doodle to a “snap” to look better, and how frequently users applied text to a “snap” to look better. The variable was named Self-Enhancement. Self-Enhancement was found to have poor internal validity (α = .58).

Hierarchical Regression

A hierarchical regression was performed with narcissism (NPI-13 total score) as the criterion variable and demographics (age, sex, ethnicity, median income, and class standing); psychological and behavioral variables (logging on and checking the app, frequency using checking the app, time spent per use, self-esteem, Total Technology Use, and sex, romance, relationships, and risky behaviors); and Snapchat usage (number of selfies, frequency applying filters, the number of filters typically applied to pictures and videos, applying an individual filter to look better, applying multiple filters to look better, applying an emoji to look better, applying doodles to look better, applying text to look better, and average number of friends users share selfies) entered as groups of predictor variables in this order. In regards to ethnicity, the categories Asian and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity were entered as their own variables. However,

Black/African American, Other, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American

Indian/Alaska Native were combined into a new variable labeled other ethnicity since each of these groups comprised less than 6% of the participants. Thus, other ethnicity comprised 12.1% of the participants.

Results are summarized in Table 9. On step 1, age, sex, other ethnicity, ethnicity: Asian, ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino, median income, and class standing were not responsible for a significant part of the overall variance in predicting narcissism. Specifically, none of the variables were significant predictors of narcissism. The regression coefficient relating to demographics to narcissism were also not significant p > .05.

On step 2, demographics and the psychological and behavioral variables were responsible for a significant amount of overall variance in predicting narcissism, F (13, 259) = 3.43.

Specifically, the psychological variables accounted for a significant increase in explained variance in narcissism, ∆R2 = .10. The association between self-esteem and narcissism was also statistically significant (95% CI [-.21, -.03]) and small in effect size. The association between

Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors and narcissism was also statistically significant (95% CI [.29, .90]) and small in effect size.

On step 3, demographics, psychological and behavioral variables, and Snapchat usage were responsible for a significant amount of overall variance in predicting narcissism, F (17,

255) = 3.69. Specifically, the Snapchat usage variables accounted for a significant increase in variance in narcissism, p < .01, ∆R2 = .05. The association between self-esteem and narcissism was statistically significant (95% CI [-.19, -.00], p = .05) and small in effect size. The association between Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors and narcissism was also statistically significant (95% CI [.20, .83]) and small in effect size. Finally, the association between the Self-

Enhancement and narcissism was statistically significant (95% CI [.20, .95], and small in effect size. In conclusion, steps 2 and 3 of the model were significant. More specifically, self-esteem negatively predicted narcissism in steps 2 and 3 of the model. Sex, Romance, Relationships, and

Risky Behaviors was able to positively predict narcissism in both steps 2 and 3 of the model.

Finally, Self-Enhancement was able to positively predict narcissism in step 3 of the model.

Table 9

Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Problematic Narcissism (N = 279)

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

Variable B SE B β B SE B β B SE B Β

Age .06 .09 .05 .11 .09 .10 .08 .09 .07

Sex -.57 .38 -.09 -.63 .37 -.10 -.70 .38 -.12

Other Ethnicity .74 .76 .09 .86 .74 .11 .80 .73 .10

Asian .43 .77 .05 .43 .73 .05 .13 .73 .02

Hispanic/ .07 .77 .05 .15 .65 .03 -.08 .65 -.01 Latino

Median .00 .00 -.04 .00 .00 -.03 .00 .00 -.04 Income

Class Standing -.04 .24 -.01 -.15 .23 -.05 -.12 .23 -.04

Log-In .32 .18 .17 .33 .17 .17 Frequency on Snapchat

Time Spent on -.11 .15 -.07 -.16 .15 -.1 Snapchat

Table continued

Time Spent per .08 .09 .05 .02 .09 .01 Use on Snapchat

Self-Esteem -.12 .05 -.15* -.09 .05 -.12*

Total .06 .04 .09 .03 .04 .05 Technology Usage

Sex/Romance/ .60 .16 .23* .52 .16 .20** Relationships/ ** Risky Behaviors

Frequency of .04 .21 .01 Filter Usage

Number of -.13 .16 -.05 Filters Used

Self- .57 .19 .23** Enhancement

Number of .01 .01 .06 Selfie Snaps Shared per Week

R2 .02 .15* .20** **

F for Change .83 6.36 3.99 in R2

Note: *p < .05; **p < .01; *** p < .001

CHAPTER 4

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to investigate how individuals with specific psychological traits, particularly narcissism, use the popular social media application, Snapchat. The study specifically examined if selfies and the editing or modification of snaps could predict for narcissism. Hypothesis 1 predicted that greater selfie sharing would predict greater narcissism, and hypotheses 2 and 3 that greater modification of pictures and videos sent to friends through

(h2) filters and (h3) other features including text, emojis/stickers, and doodles will predict for greater narcissism. A questionnaire was used to test the hypotheses and participants were recruited from CSUDH. The questionnaire included items regarding frequency of using

Snapchat, filter usage, modification of snaps, snap sharing, what kind of snaps they share usage of Snap Map, and saving snaps. The questionnaire also included the DMU, NPI-13, Rosenberg

Self-Esteem Scale, and an item regarding what other social media participants used.

None of the demographics (age, sex, median income, ethnicity, and class standing) were found to predict or significantly influence the model of narcissism. This was the case both as the first step in the model and the other steps of the model. This supports previous research that found age has no impact on this relationship (Weiser, 2015). However, older participants were eliminated prior to analysis in order remove some skew in the age variable. As a result, no one aged 30 years or older remained in the data set. The conclusions that can be made from age are therefore limited since the participants had a limited age range (18-28).

Similar caution must be taken when looking at the results due to distribution of sex. The majority of the participants were female (76.3%) and thus caution should be taken when

79 applying the conclusions to men. This especially is the case since previous studies have found differences in the social media behaviors of men and women (Dhir et al., 2016; Moran et al.,

2018; Sorokowski et al., 2015; Thelwall & Vis, 2017). Within the context of narcissism, some research has suggested sex has no impact on the relationship between narcissism and the way individuals may behave on social media (Kapidzic, 2013). However, others have found that social media addiction and its relationship with self-esteem and narcissism is significant only for women (Thiagarajan et al., 2017). Another important factor to consider is that majority of individuals diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are male (American Psychiatric

Association, 2013).

Surprisingly, usage frequency and time spent on Snapchat did not predict narcissism.

This seems to contradict previous findings that have suggested that time spent on social media or

SNSs positively predicts narcissism (Fox & Rooney, 2015; Ozimek et al., 2018; Sommerville,

2015). It does support other research which suggests that there is no relationship between time spent on an SNS or social medium and narcissism (Bergman et al., 2011; Moon et al., 2016).

However, the second and third step of the model, which frequency and time spent were part of, was significant. Perhaps time and frequency contribute to a model to predict narcissism but perhaps they cannot predict narcissism accurately on their own or are not a significant predictor when other variables are included in the model. Similarly to usage frequency and time, Total

Technology Use did not predict narcissism but steps 2 and 3, in which it was included was significant. Similarly to frequency and time, it is possible that Total Technology Use cannot significantly predict narcissism when other variables are added to the model. The technology use that was measured included email, texting, going online and visiting websites, instant messaging or chatting online, using a social network or application, talking to other people face to face,

80 listening to music, playing video games, watching television, talking on the telephone, and reading a book or magazine (not for work or school). Sometimes the usage of these technologies can predict or have relationships with certain psychological issues, disorders, or traits. For example, one study found that hours spent texting per day predicted histrionic personality disorder (Rosen et al., 2013). While these behaviors can predict for other issues, there does not appear to be research suggesting that the time an individual spends on emailing for example may be able to predict narcissism.

One of the other two variables that were added in step 2 was self-esteem. Self-esteem was added to the model since problematic self-esteem (typically low self-esteem) is an associated feature of narcissism. While not a symptom that can contribute to a diagnosis according to the

DSM-5, it is listed as an associated feature (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This therefore seems to explain why self-esteem was a significant predictor in step 2 of the model. An important point to consider, however, is that while individuals with narcissism may have relatively low self-esteem, not all individuals with low self-esteem may have narcissism.

Likewise, individuals with high self-esteem are not necessarily disqualified from having narcissism (Bosson et al., 2008). Additionally, other factors may contribute, cause, or be related to low or high self-esteem. Furthermore, while self-esteem may have been a significant predictor in step 2 with the variables entered from step 1 and step 2, the variables entered in step 3 (the

Snapchat usage variables that tested the hypotheses) contributed to it becoming a non-significant predictor of narcissism. It appears that a portion of the effect of self-esteem was due to correlated

Snapchat behaviors; however, the beta weight for self-esteem did not change dramatically, going from -.15 in step 2 to -.12 in step 3. This suggests that most of the effect of self-esteem on narcissism is independent of Snapchat behaviors.

Finally, Sex/Romance/Relationships/Risky Behaviors was added in step 2 of the model.

Sex/Romance/Relationships/Risky Behaviors included photos such as sexting and legally questionable behavior. This variable was added to factor out different themes of “snaps” that are shared on Snapchat. In addition, narcissists are known to behave in ways designed to attract attention both in person and on social media (DeWall et al., 2011). While engaging these behaviors may not necessarily be attention-seeking behaviors, sharing images and videos of these things with other via social media including Snapchat can be considered attention-seeking.

These behaviors may not necessarily performed for the user but rather to capture the attention of the user’s perceived audience. Sex/Romance/Risky Behaviors was significant in both steps of the model and its beta weight barely changed between steps.

Selfie Sharing

With respect to H1 (greater selfie sharing will predict narcissism), selfie sharing was not found to significantly predict narcissism. Thus, H1 was not supported. These findings seem to contrast with research that has found a relationship with the number of selfies and narcissism

(Fox & Rooney, 2015; Halpern et al., 2016; March & McBean, 2018; Sung et al., 2016; Weiser,

2015). However, most of these studies have not examined Snapchat and sharing selfies on

Snapchat. Most instead have investigated selfie sharing on Facebook or general SNSs or social media. One possible explanation for the differences in the relationship between the number of shared selfies and narcissism is that the motives for taking and sharing selfies on Snapchat may be different. One possible motive for taking selfies on Snapchat may be the ease of communication using pictures with Snapchat. It is therefore possible that people may not be taking selfies to self-promote or attract attention but rather facilitate communication. This may

82 then suggest that it is possible that it is not selfies alone that promote narcissism but rather the motives and the medium of where the selfies were shared that matters.

Another possibility is that selfies alone may not necessarily predict narcissism but instead the thematic content of the selfies being shared. Due to thoroughness of the study, many different items were included on the survey that did not necessarily have a relationship with selfies and

Snap editing. One of these variables was the theme or type of snaps that participants sent. After performing factor analyses on these different categories, one reliable group emerged what became the Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors variable. Once again, this variable included flirting/finding new love interests, joke sexting, keeping in touch with past romantic partners, legally questionable activities meeting new friends, sexting, and staying in touch with current romantic partner. This variable was then found to positively predict narcissism. This is consistent which previous research that found that narcissistic individuals are more likely to show sexy photos on Facebook (DeWall et al., 2011). Some of the other types of snaps within the Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors variable, such as legally questionable behaviors may be a way for an individual with grandiose type narcissism to attempt to meet the need for attention (Caligor et al., 2015). While the was an option for participants to select if they sent selfies or snaps of him or herself within the list of possible types, some of these types may overlap. For example, it may be possible to send a legally questionable selfie or a sexualized selfie to participate in sexting. Therefore, it is possible that the number of selfies may not necessarily predict narcissism, but rather the type of content in snaps that users share that predict narcissism.

Filter Usage

Regarding h2 (greater modification of pictures and videos sent to friends using filters), neither the number of filters nor frequency of filter usage was found to significantly predict narcissism. H2 was therefore, not supported. This seems to contrast with previous studies that have found that editing and enhancing photos can have a relationship with narcissism (Fox &

Rooney, 2015). However, it is important to note that adding filters on Snapchat is different than it is on other social media. While some filters enhance the user’s appearance and many can attract attention, many filters do not improve the appearance of the attractiveness of the user. For example, Snapchat’s dog face filter is attention grabbing but not necessarily enhancing to the attractiveness of the user. This contrasts with Instagram which can change the coloration of an image and ultimately make a photo more visually attractive and flawless. While Snapchat can change the coloration of photos, its options are more limited. Instead, Snapchat has more filters to showcase location, time, and date.

One other factor that may contribute to the lack of a relationship between filter usage and narcissism is the difficulty in editing photos shared on Snapchat. First, some users may be unaware of how to add multiple filters to their content. While these features may be intuitive or easy for some, others might not know how to access these features. Second, Snapchat makes it difficult to share photos that have been edited using external apps and software. For example, if one wanted to retouch a photo taken with Snapchat (or any camera), one would have to add it to

Snapchat’s “Memories” folder on the user’s phone. The file would then be accessible for editing.

The user could then access the picture and share it. The picture would be shrunken down to indicate to viewers that this picture was taken or edited outside of Snapchat. Thus, while heavy editing or retouching is possible, it can be complicated and more time consuming than with other

84 social media. It also might be considered less gratifying to share this media since Snapchat makes it clear to viewers that the media being shared was imported as opposed to created and edited in Snapchat.

Self-Enhancement

H3 (greater modification of pictures and videos sent to friends using other features including text, emojis/stickers, and doodles) was examined using the self-enhancement variable.

Self-enhancement showed a statistically significant, positive relationship with narcissism.

Therefore, h3 was supported. Other studies on photo editing and social media include heavy editing using software like Adobe Photoshop (Fox & Rooney, 2015). Using a photo editing software or app outside of Snapchat is more difficult than other social media. Additionally, photos that are edited, saved, or even not shared shortly after being taken are easily identifiable on Snapchat because the application shrinks the picture down. Thus, the audience would see a much smaller image or video. The use of stickers, drawings, and text to edit photos that are shared on social media was made more popular through Snapchat. Prior to this, text could accompany pictures but was not typically applied directly on the photo. Snapchat requires text to go directly on the picture or video. Similarly, no social media allowed direct editing of media to add drawings or stickers to share on social media. This type of editing would have required additional photo/video editing apps or software.

Perhaps one of the reasons why self-enhancement was a significant predictor is that doodles, stickers/emojis, and text may be perceived as “additional” editing. While many users may utilize filters to help give context to their audience (location, event, time, etc.), adding stickers (especially emojis) seems unnecessary since the app is already picture/video-based and allows the user to show their actual emotions to their audience. Similarly, drawings may add

85 little context for an audience and may be utilized just to attract attention from an audience. This may be especially the case if the content being shared may be considered mundane. Text also has questionable utility in a social medium where communication is strongly image- and video- oriented. While it sometimes may be added, it can also be unnecessary, especially if users are sharing multiple snaps or giving context in the audio of a video shared on Snapchat. Similarly, adding unnecessary text may be interpreted as narcissistic as well as a predictor for narcissism since the user may feel that adding details (especially ones that are personal or intimate) enhances their appearance of superiority to their audience.

Post-Hoc Analysis of Sex Differences in Hierarchical Regression Model

In order to examine the role that sex played, two separate hierarchical regressions were performed: one for female participants and the other for male participants. The hierarchical regressions were performed with narcissism (NPI-13 score) as the criterion variable and demographics (age, ethnicity, median income, and class standing); psychological and behavioral variables (logging on and checking the app, frequency using checking the app, time spent per use, self-esteem, Total Technology Use, and sex, romance, relationships, and risky behaviors); and Snapchat usage (number of selfies, frequency applying filters, the number of filters typically applied to pictures and videos, applying an individual filter to look better, applying multiple filters to look better, applying an emoji to look better, applying doodles to look better, applying text to look better, and average number of friends users share selfies) entered as groups of the predictor variables in this order. As before, the categories Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and Other ethnicity were entered as their own variables. The results of these post-hoc analyses suggest differences between men and women when it comes to how Snapchat related to narcissism.

The hierarchical regression was performed first on the women. On step 1, age; other ethnicity; Asian ethnicity; Hispanic/Latino ethnicity; median income; and class standing were not responsible for a significant part of the overall variance in predicting narcissism.

Specifically, none of the variables were significant predictors of narcissism. The variance accounted for by demographics to narcissism were also not significant, p > .05.

On step 2, demographics and the psychological variables were responsible for a significant amount of the overall variance in predicting narcissism, F (12, 196) = 2.19, (p < .05),

R2 = .12. And, the psychological and behavioral variables accounted for a significant increase in explained variance in narcissism, F (6, 159) = 3.67, ∆R2 = .06, (p < .01). The association between Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors and narcissism was statistically significant (b = .46, 95% CI [.09, .82], p < .05) and small in size (β = .17).

On step 3, demographics, psychological and behavioral variables and Snapchat usage were responsible for a significant amount of the overall variance predicting narcissism, F (16,

192) = 2.09, (p < .05), R2 = .15. However, the Snapchat usage variables did not account for a significant increase in explained variance in narcissism, (p > .05). The association between Sex,

Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors and narcissism was also statistically significant (b

= .40, 95% CI [ .02, .79], p = .04), and small in size (β = .15). The association between self- enhancement (b = .46, 95% CI [ .04, .89], p = .03), and small in size (β = .18). In conclusion, only step 2 of the model was significant. More specifically, Sex, Romance, Relationships, and

Risky Behaviors was able to positively predict narcissism in step 2 of the model.

Next, the hierarchical regression was performed on the men in the data. On step 1, age; other ethnicity; Asian ethnicity; Hispanic/Latino ethnicity; median income; and class standing were not responsible for a significant part of the overall variance in predicting narcissism. None

87 of the specific variables were significant predictors on narcissism. The variance accounted for by demographics to narcissism were also not significant p > .05.

On step 2, demographics and the psychological and behavioral variables were responsible for a F (12, 51) = 2.47, (p < .01), R2 = .37. Specifically, the psychological and behavioral variables accounted for a significant increase in explained variance in narcissism, F (6, 51) =

4.51, ∆R2 = .22, (p < .01). The association between Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky

Behaviors and narcissism was also statistically significant (b = .91, 95% CI [.33, 1.48], p < .01) and medium in size (β = .38). The association between Total Technology Use and narcissism was also statistically significant (b = .15, 95% CI [.01, .30], p = .04) and small in size (β = .27).

The association between self-esteem and narcissism was also statistically significant (b = -.20,

95% CI [-.38, -.02], p = .03) and medium in size (β = -.27).

On step 3, demographics, psychological and behavioral variables and Snapchat usage were responsible for a significant amount of the overall variance predicting narcissism, F (16,

47) = 2.43, (p < .01), R2 = .45. However, the Snapchat usage variables did not account for a significant increase in explained variance in narcissism, (p > .05). The association between Sex,

Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors and narcissism was also statistically significant, (b

= .71, 95% CI [.10, 1.32], p = .02), and small in size (β = .29). In conclusion only step 2 of the model was significant. More specifically, Total Technology Use and self-esteem were able to positively predict narcissism in step 2 of the model. Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky

Behaviors was able to positively predict narcissism in steps 2 and 3 of the model.

In both sexes, Sex, Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors seems to have a relationship with narcissism. This seems consistent with previous research that suggests that both

88 sexes of individuals who are narcissistic engage in some form of these behaviors online (DeWall et al., 2011).

Self-Enhancement was also significant for women in the third step of the model but the step was not significant in the men’s model. In the model that included both men and women,

Self-Enhancement was a significant predictor of narcissism. This is inconsistent with previous literature that has found the men who are highly narcissistic edit their photos on social media

(Fox & Rooney, 2015). One possible reason for this inconsistency in the models is that there are very few men in the sample compared to women, resulting in uncertainty in the model for men.

The study only consisted of 65 men or 23.7% of the sample. It is also possible that Self-

Enhancement is only a predictor of narcissism for women. Perhaps the inclusion of the Sex,

Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors captured the self-editing for men, as maybe men are doing their self-editing with these types of snaps.

Another interesting finding from the analyses was the relationship between Total

Technology Use and narcissism for men. This was somewhat of a surprising finding since this relationship was not found in the model that included both men and women. However, previous research has found a relationship between time spent on social media and narcissism

(Sommerville, 2015). While Total Technology Use includes emailing and texting, it also includes social media. Perhaps it is possible that individuals, particularly men, engage in greater technology usage, in addition to social media, that promotes self-enhancement than women.

However, it is difficult to draw a strong conclusion due to the low levels number of men in the sample.

Finally, the relationship between self-esteem and narcissism was found in step 2 of the model with only men. Self-esteem was found to be significant in the original model with both

89 men and women. This may be due to the complicated and still debated role of self-esteem for narcissistic individuals. Another possibility is that women’s self-esteem does not predict narcissism. Once again however, it is difficult to establish a strong conclusion since the sample largely consisted of women and few men.

Limitations

Perhaps one of the greatest limitations of this study is the poor reliability of the NPI-13 items (α = .66). Additionally, the poor and unacceptable reliabilities of the Leadership/Authority

(α = .61), Grandiose/Exhibitionism (α = .59), and Entitlement/Exploitativeness (α = .33). In the past, researchers found that the reliability for the NPI-13 was found to be adequate (α = .73) and good (α = .82) (Gentile et al., 2013a). Thus, the current study’s reliability for the NPI-13 is not entirely surprising given that other studies have not found the measure to have excellent reliability. Another possible reason that the NPI-13 scores had poor reliabilities was the narrow age range of the participants in the present study. In the previously mentioned study that had adequate reliability, different samples were used which ranged in age from 18 to 60 years old

(Gentile et al., 2013a). In the current study, the participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 29 years old.

The limited age range in the current study may be responsible for the poor reliability since the previously mentioned study had a greater range of age. Since the NPI-13 was tested on samples that included individuals over the age of 29 years old, the items selected for the NPI-13 had the best reliability in that sample. The sample in the current study had a narrower age range and the items on the NPI-13 may not necessarily be the best items to measure narcissism in that specific age range. If the current study had a greater range of age, it is possible that the reliability would have been stronger.

Similarly, Self-Enhancement had poor reliability (α = .58). This is likely due to how few items were included within this variable; this variable included text, emojis, and doodles. If this variable consisted of more items, the reliability might increase. However, this variable was created to examine photo editing’s relationship with narcissism. Snapchat allows users to edit photos in specific ways and these include the items included in Self-Enhancement as well as filter usage. Filter usage was not included within Self-Enhancement however, in order to test H2.

Perhaps a future study could examine more use a more general photo editing variable that included filters, emojis, text, and doodles.

Another limitation of this study is the self-report nature of this study. Unlike most other social media, Snapchat makes it difficult to access all of the content that users are sharing, especially since the content is ephemeral. While other studies have directly examined the social media of its participants, they typically have done so with social media such as Facebook in which content has more permanence than in Snapchat. Due to this difficulty, the study was conducted as a survey and relied on participants’ self-report. Self-report generally can suffer from issues such as the participants’ ability and desire to accurately self-report. While the data was cleaned for any suspicious responses such as participants who took an excessively long or short period of time to complete the questionnaire, it impossible to ascertain the accuracy or truthfulness of the participants’ responses. However, it appears that participants were honest and responded with accuracy to the best of their abilities. In addition, participants who were not active Snapchat users, were still eligible to take other parts of survey that did not include items about Snapchat and were able to be compensated. Thus, there was little to no motivation to lie about being a Snapchat user. Thus, while a certain amount of caution must be taken due to the

91 self-report nature of the study, there seems to be very little indication that participants were intentionally dishonest or poor at self-reporting their Snapchat usage.

An additional limitation of this study is that this is correlational research and not an experiment. While this study has been able to make predictions and examine the relationship between narcissism and other variables, only an experiment would be able to establish causal effects. Thus, while this study may be able to establish relationships it is unable to identify variables as causes or direct contributors to the dependent variable of narcissism.

One other limitation of this study is when the data for this study was collected. This study gathered data in the fall of 2017. Since then, the number of Snapchat users has greatly increased

(Speigel, 2017; Smith & Anderson, 2018). The increase in users might make it more difficult to find significant behaviors on Snapchat that could predict narcissism. More users may share selfies and apply many filters to them and reinforce the finding that they do not predict narcissism. However, the increase in users would not necessarily result in an overall increase in the percentage of users who share content that is more sensitive (as was represented by the Sex,

Romance, Relationships, and Risky Behaviors variable) and in engage in “extra” editing (as was represented by the Self-Enhancement variable). There is the possibility that Sex, Romance,

Relationships, and Risky Behaviors may also increase in effect size, and particularly because these risky behaviors seem less common, even among Snapchat users from 2017. Self- enhancement may remain a significant predictor of narcissism given that using these editing features were not commonly used among the participants in this study. It seems unlikely that

Snapchat’s new users would utilize these editing features more than the previous users, especially if they were rarely used in the sample. Thus, while selfie sharing and filter usage may

92 continue to be unable to predict narcissism among current Snapchat users, self-enhancement may continue to have a predictive relationship with narcissism.

Another limitation of this study was the limited age range. Prior to cleaning the data, the age range of the participants was 18 to 56 years old. However, participants who were 30 years- old or older were removed because they accounted for less than 2% of the responses and skewed the data. When they were removed, the data became less skewed and reduced the possibility of outliers influencing the statistical models. The age distribution then became 18 to 29 years old, which is typical of undergraduate university students. This is also consistent with the age range that typically uses Snapchat. Pew Research Center has found that 68% of adults within this age range are Snapchat users (“Who Uses,” 2018). However, it does not take into account the other adult users of Snapchat who do not fall within this age range. If there were more participants who were over the age of 29 years old, the data would present a model in which age is not an issue.

One other limitation of this study is that this study may not necessarily be applicable to adolescents. While a considerable part of Snapchat’s user demographics are young adults (18 to

29 year olds), Snapchat is used considerably among adolescents. It is difficult to say whether the findings in the present study could apply to adolescents. Motivations for using social media are likely different for adolescents and adults. Adolescents may also experience more social pressure to use and share content on Snapchat as well as other social media. It is therefore possible that they would use Snapchat and its features more but not necessarily be more narcissistic than the average adolescent. This is not the case with adults, as studies that have largely focused on adult users of Snapchat find that they use the application during leisure and to pass time (Phua, Jin, &

Kim, 2016; Juhász & Hochmair, 2018). However, Self-Enhancement may be predictor of

93 narcissism among adolescents. Among many users of Snapchat, sticker or emoji usage and adding doodles to snaps does not appear to be common. Thus, it is possible that self- enhancement may still predict narcissism among adolescents.

Finally, another limitation of the study is the lack of generalizability. The study’s participants were largely Hispanic/Latino and female. This was likely due in part to collecting data from a university whose student body is largely Hispanic/Latino. Due to the study’s largely

Hispanic and female demographics, it is difficult to draw strong conclusions that can applied to the general population. For example, while self-enhancement may predict narcissism in this sample, this finding may not necessarily be significant with non-Hispanic/Latino individuals or men. Thus, the findings in this study must be carefully considered within this context.

Implications for Future Research

Perhaps one of the greatest implications for future research in this study is continuing research on Snapchat. While most studies have examined Facebook and there is beginning to be more research about Instagram and Twitter, there is still little literature on Snapchat. While

Facebook holds the majority of SNS users, young users are less likely to create accounts or actively use Facebook. In fact, only 51% of adolescents claim to use Facebook (Anderson &

Jiang, 2018). Instead, there has been more interest in Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and especially Snapchat with adolescents as was found in a Pew Research Center Survey (Anderson

& Jiang, 2018). Therefore, while there is a plethora of valuable research on Facebook usage, much of it will have limited application on the coming generation of social media users since their social media sites of choice are not the same.

Continuing the general research on Snapchat is also important since there increasing social media options for users. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat not only have

94 different interfaces, but also different uses. It is because of these uses that certain users will be attracted and motivated to use specific social media sites and not to others. And of course, within these specific sites, certain users will (or will not) engage in certain behaviors. If research on

Snapchat does not continue, then a significant opportunity to explore similar relationships as were found with Facebook and personality and other clinical concerns is being missed and as these are popular with younger users, behaviors of a large segment of the social media population is being ignored. As the amount of social media users continues to increase, these relationships may also gain more significance.

Aside from the general exploration of Snapchat, however, it would also be interesting to examine the relationships of narcissism or self-esteem with the Story Feature on Snapchat.

“Stories” on Snapchat have a similar role to posting on other social media. Stories are snaps that can be viewed by anyone or to every one of the user’s list of friends. While many snaps are shared directly to specific users or friends, Stories are accessible to anyone to view if they wish for up to 24 hours. Since posting seems to have a role of importance of for individuals with greater narcissism, it would be interesting to examine if similar relationships exist with Stories.

More simply, however, it would be interesting to execute the same or a similar study as the one described in the methods with a more evenly distributed and broad age range. While a college is a good place to obtain participants who may use popular social media, their usage may not necessarily be representative of the typical users of Snapchat. Another interesting age to consider would be adolescence. Current adolescents have had more exposure and easier accessibility to social media than previous generations. They also appear to have more interest in

Snapchat as compared to Facebook. Thus a study examining a portion of the population that has more ease of access to social media than previous generations of adolescents and seems to utilize

95 social media, though not usually Facebook could provide some interesting insights into the way adolescents use Snapchat and if the frequency or patterns of use on Snapchat can predict for issues such as problematic self-esteem or narcissism.

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

The usage of social media has become widespread in the United States and around the world. As the users of smartphones have increased, it has only become easier to access the online sites and applications that were previously limited to computers with internet access. The use of social media is typically associated with young adults and adolescents. However, anyone may be a social media user so long as he or she meets the requirements to join. In fact, the majority of

Millennials and Gen Xers and more than half of Baby Boomers are social media users (Jiang,

2018). Previous research has examined the relationship between social media and mental health, personality, or wellbeing. As the usage of social media has increased, so will the concerns of its relationship and impact on its user’s well-being and mental health. And as the usage of social media now includes a wide range of mediums such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, research will have to focus less on Facebook and focus on more general social media use or other popular social mediums. This is especially the case since the number users on these platforms, while not as large as Facebook, is still quite significant. Snapchat is one of the platforms as it reported 158 million daily users in 2017 (Spiegel, 2017).

The current study is among the few that have examined Snapchat and its relationship with well-being or personality. While it helps to continue to examine this relationship and the usage of

Snapchat, more research needs to examine this popular medium. Overall however, this study also manages to continue to examine the relationship between social media and personality. More specifically, this study contributes to the ongoing examination of the relationship between social media and narcissism. As more research continues to examine these relationships, a more

97 complete picture of this relationship can help address any issues or concerns. Addressing these issues or concerns is and will be of increasing importance since social media has become a significant part of modern life.

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