Histrionic Personality, Narcissistic Personality, and Problematic Social Media Use: Testing of a New Hypothetical Model

Mustafa Savci,Mark D Griffiths,Mustafa Ercengiz,Mehmet Emin Turan

doi:10.1007/s11469-019-00139-5

Abstract

In the present study, a hypothetical model examining the relationships between histrionic personality belief, need for social approval, desire for being liked, social media disorder, and narcissistic personality belief was proposed and tested. The effect of histrionic personality belief on the need for social approval and desire for being liked was tested first. Then the effect of the need for social approval and desire for being liked on social media addiction were tested. Finally, the effect of social media addiction on narcissistic personality belief was tested. The present study comprised 305 adolescents (165 girls and 140 boys) and they were administered the Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form, Need for Social Approval Scale, Desire for Being Liked Scale, and Social Media Disorder Scale. Before the proposed hypothetical model was tested, each latent variable was tested with measurement models to determine if it could be used in structural models. Findings demonstrated that histrionic personality belief positively affected the need for social approval and desire for being liked. The need for social approval and desire for being liked positively affected social media addiction. Finally, social media addiction positively affected narcissistic personality belief.

Highlights

In the present study, a hypothetical model examining the relationships between histrionic personality belief, need for social approval, desire for being liked, social media disorder, and narcissistic personality belief was proposed and tested
The fit indices of the hypothetical model showed that the model had a relatively acceptable fit [χ2 = 2524.92, df = 1531, χ2/df = 1.65, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.046, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.77, adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) = 0.75, confirmatory fit index (CFI) = 0.82; incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.82, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) (NNFI) = 0.81]
It was found that histrionic personality belief positively affected the need for social approval and desire for being liked

Summary

Introduction

A hypothetical model examining the relationships between histrionic personality belief, need for social approval, desire for being liked, social media disorder, and narcissistic personality belief was proposed and tested. Histrionic personality disorder, viewed as a derivative of hysteria (Novais et al 2015), is accepted as a psychiatric disorder comprising seductiveness, emotional shallowness, and dramatics (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) They they exhibit histrionic patterns such as sexually seductive or provocative behavior, displaying social skills to manipulate people, self-dramatization, and extreme emotionality (Lewis and Mastico 2017; Sorokowski et al 2016). Individuals with histrionic tendencies want lots of social media friends (Berryman 2014; Rosen et al 2013b)

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Conclusion