Research

What are your selfies saying about you?

Sign in Ms. Speer's classroom by  Tim Lauer  (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Sign in Ms. Speer’s classroom by Tim Lauer (CC BY-NC 2.0)

So it seems that too many selfies on your Facebook feed are linked to higher than normal levels of psychopathy. Probably not the impression you’re aiming for.

A new study, published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences*, showed that men who posted more online photos of themselves than others scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy, neither of which are desirable attributes. In addition, men who were more likely to edit their selfies before posting scored higher in narcissism and self-objectification, which measures how much they prioritise their appearance.

‘It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study’, said Jesse Fox, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University.

So before you snap yet another selfie, maybe it’s time for some personal reflection?

* Fox, J. & Rooney, M. C. (2015). The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s use and self-presentation behaviors on social networking sites. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 161 doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.017

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