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Associations Between Self-Photography, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem

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Associations Between Self-Photography, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem Psychology of Popular Media Culture © 2015 American Psychological Association 2017, Vol. 6, No. 1, 48–60 2160-4134/17/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000089 “Let Me Take a Selfie”: Associations Between Self-Photography, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem Christopher T. Barry, Hannah Doucette, Della C. Loflin, Nicole Rivera-Hudson, and Lacey L. Herrington The University of Southern Mississippi The proliferation of social media in day-to-day life has raised numerous questions about how individuals present themselves in these arenas. The present study examined the associations of narcissism and self-esteem with the posting of self-photographs (“selfies”) on a popular photo sharing social networking site (i.e., Instagram). Partic- ipants were 128 undergraduate students (19 males, 109 females) ranging in age from 18 to 43 (M ϭ 20.46, SD ϭ 3.59). Selfies were coded according to their frequency relative to participants’ nonselfie posts and their apparent themes (i.e., physical appearance, activity/event/location, affiliation with others, collage, other/undifferentiated). The hypothesized relations of narcissism and self-esteem with the posting of selfies inde- pendent of theme were not significant. However, there was a significant relation between some dimensions of narcissism and specific categories of selfies (e.g., vulner- able narcissism with physical appearance selfies). The limitations of the present study, particularly in terms of sampling and other issues that may influence online presenta- tions, as well as the implications for future research on social media photographic displays are discussed. Keywords: narcissism, self-esteem, selfie, social media Social media platforms have become exceed- culture (e.g., Martino, 2014; Walker, 2013), but ingly popular, exemplified by the frequency empirical data on this issue are quite limited to with which individuals use them and the various date. Because social media inherently involves communicative purposes they have come to self-displays to a virtual audience and because serve. Despite the rapid growth of research per- narcissism includes preoccupation with favor- taining to behavior on social media, the empir- able regard by others (Pincus & Roche, 2011; ical research has been slow to investigate the Raskin, Novacek, & Hogan, 1991), individuals self-photography (i.e., “selfie”) aspect of social with narcissistic tendencies may be more apt media that has been a common topic of discus- than others to post selfies on social media. In- sion in the popular press and everyday life. One deed, a recent study indicated that self-reported avenue of inquiry deals with what one’s social frequency of selfie posts on social networking media behavior might convey about his or her sites was significantly correlated with self- personality tendencies. reported narcissism among adult males (Fox & Within the popular press, narcissism and self- Rooney, 2015). Furthermore, because the for- esteem have frequently been proposed as im- mat of many social media sites allows individ- This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. portant considerations in the rise of a selfie uals to carefully choose, edit, and even delete This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. what is posted or who is allowed to access their posts, individuals with low self-esteem may be more inclined to self-disclose (i.e., post a selfie) This article was published Online First June 29, 2015. Christopher T. Barry, Hannah Doucette, Della C. Loflin, on social media as opposed to making overt Nicole Rivera-Hudson, and Lacey L. Herrington, Depart- displays of their appearance or personality dur- ment of Psychology, The University of Southern Missis- ing face-to-face interactions. On the other hand, sippi. the lack of confidence characterized by low Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Christopher T. Barry, who is now at the Depart- self-esteem (Owens, 1993) and the fragile self- ment of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, esteem thought to underlie some aspects of nar- WA 99164-1067. E-mail: [email protected] cissism (Pincus & Roche, 2011) may deter in- 48 SELFIES, NARCISSISM, AND SELF-ESTEEM 49 dividuals with low self-esteem or high levels of Narcissism and Social Media narcissism from posting selfies. The present study aimed to empirically address some of Narcissism is characterized, in part, by a these issues through naturalistic observation of grandiose self-presentation that is motivated by individuals’ posts of selfies on a photo-sharing the need to regulate self-esteem (Morf & Rho- social media platform in relation to their self- dewalt, 2001). As social media inherently in- reported narcissism and self-esteem. This study volves self-presentation and feedback from oth- represents the first known attempt to do so. ers, it stands to reason that narcissism would be a factor in how some individuals approach so- Selfies cial media. Research has suggested that narcis- sism is connected to a desire to have a large According to popular news accounts, the social network and a concern over getting the selfie is believed to have debuted in its present attention of others (Bergman, Fearrington, Dav- form in 2004, with its usage reportedly skyrock- enport, & Bergman, 2011). Social media plat- eting by 17,000% since 2012 (Bennett, 2014; forms also offer the unique circumstance of an “A brief history of the selfie,” 2013). Moreover, individual’s audience (e.g., “followers”) being according to a nonscientific poll, 47% of adults largely under the presenter’s control. Therefore, reportedly admit to posting selfies, with 40% of the image presented to others, and the feedback adults aged 18 to 34 reporting posting at least received from them, presumably take on partic- one selfie a week (Bennett, 2014). The popular- ular importance, as the perceivers likely have ity of selfies on social media sites has captured some connection to the person posting on social public attention and has become an aspect of media. current pop culture. Indeed, countless nonem- As might be expected, narcissism is related to pirical articles have been written in an attempt managing a positive image of oneself on social to describe and infer the factors involved in media (Bergman et al., 2011) and to a higher social media posts of selfies. Those who post a level of social media activity overall (Buffardi high number of selfies are believed to be nar- & Campbell, 2008). Specific to sharing photos, cissistic or attention-seeking (e.g., Martino, as previously noted, narcissism is related to 2014), a notion supported by recent research self-reported posting of selfies on social media, utilizing self-reports of narcissism and social with the amount of time an individual spends media behavior (Fox & Rooney, 2015). It has editing photos of themselves on social network- also been suggested that repeated attempts to ing sites (Fox & Rooney, 2015), and with the achieve “the perfect selfie” can perpetuate insecu- selection of profile pictures that highlight one’s rities and high self-consciousness; meanwhile, the physical attractiveness or personality (Kapidzic, absence of feedback, specifically positive feed- 2013). back, on a selfie has been proposed as potentially Additional research has revealed that individ- dangerous for one’s confidence and self-esteem uals scoring high on narcissism tend to post a (e.g., Martino, 2014; Walker, 2013). higher quantity (Bergman et al., 2011) and more However, not all of the attention on selfies revealing (DeWall, Buffardi, Bonser, & Camp- has been negative. For instance, some have ar- bell, 2011) photos of themselves. Other evi- gued that selfies are a healthy form of self- dence suggests that narcissism is associated exploration, allowing individuals to be more with more exhibitionistic or attention-seeking This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. authentic, and that selfies can actually boost posts on Facebook (Carpenter, 2012), including This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. self-esteem (Rutledge, 2013). Others view self- self-referential statements or updates and more ies as a mean of communication that is replac- frequent location check-ins (DeWall et al., ing or enhancing the ever-popular text message 2011; Wang & Stefanone, 2013). Interestingly, (Wortham, 2013). Although opposing theories Buffardi and Campbell (2008) reported that nar- have been presented regarding the usage and cissism was not related to posting self- meaning of selfies, these conclusions are mere promoting or provocative pictures in general; conjecture, as the topic has yet to be analyzed however, narcissism was related to posting pro- empirically. This study began to address the gap file pictures that were deemed by independent between lay theories on the motives behind coders to be self-promoting, sexy, and fun. Con- selfies and scientific evidence. sistent with this line of research, it is conceiv- 50 BARRY ET AL. able that a similar association would be evident over others or preoccupation with others’ ap- for posts of self-photographs (i.e., “selfies”), as praisals (Raskin et al., 1991). Thus, seeking, or presumably such photos are inherently self- responding to, feedback from others via social focused, with some perhaps being blatant at- media would presumably be less clearly indic- tempts to gain attention
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