Posting Selfies Indicates Narcissistic Behavior

Yes, the number of selfies you post on social media is an indicator of narcissistic traits.

I know plenty of women who post too many damn selfies on Facebook but here’s a surprising fact; research shows that men take almost twice as many seflies as women.

And what’s even more shocking is that men who plaster the internet with seflies are more likely to have narcissistic traits than men who don’t share images online.

It gets worse.

Men who take the added step of editing (Photoshop, cropping, filtering) their selfies before posting on social media score high in “self-objectification”. Self-objectification means prioritizing your appearance for others and is usually discussed in the context of women and can lead to eating disorders and depression.

All of these findings are based on a recent study that analyzed narcissism and social networking sites.

Narcissistic Selfie Study

The study, ““The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s use and self-presentation behaviors on social networking sites”, examined 800 men in the United States between the ages of 18-40.

The study examined how much time the men were on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest) each day.

Also observed were how many pictures the men took of themselves and posted on social networking sites over a week as well as how often they edited the photos to make themselves look better (cropping, photographic filters, Photoshop, etc..).

The men also answered questionnaires which measured antisocial behaviors and self-objectification.

Narcissistic Selfie Results

The study found that narcissism, among other things, was related with time spent on social networking sites and selfies posted.

Men high in “self-objectification” more frequently edited photos of themselves that they posted on social networking sites.

Male narcissists may overestimate their attractiveness and be compelled to share more pictures of themselves on sites like Facebook and also edit their photos to maximize their attractiveness”.

Taking a bunch of selfies doesn’t mean a guy is going to be a serial killer or something awful but it can indicate narcissistic behaviors and even worse, self-objectifying state of mind which, as mentioned above, are associated with eating disorders and depression in women.

Conclusion

Selfies on social media networking sites like Facebook can indicate narcissistic behavior by men.

I can’t tell you how many of my guy friends do this. I always thought a man who constantly takes selfies had issues.

It never occurred to me that selfies indicated narcissistic behavior but it makes sense after reading the study.

Do you post selfies all the time?

Just remember that it may indicate you may be a narcissist.

One last point is that taking too many selfies and worrying about what to post on social media may cause you to miss important events in your life.

One study in England revealed that a third of Brits have missed a great live moment because they’ve been too busy taking selfies.

Don’t miss the small things in life. It’s not worth it.

Just something to consider the next time you take your phone out to take a selfie.

Please leave a comment below because I’d like to hear what you think.