Narcissism, Internet, and social relations: A study of two tales

Abstract

Much scholarly literature has investigated the connection of narcissism and Internet use, specifically focused on online social networks. However, there is no consensus about how the narcissists' Internet use impacts their social relations. In part, mixed findings might be explained by failure to account for two distinct types of narcissism, namely a grandiose type and a vulnerable type. In the present study, we expected these two facets of narcissism to show different patterns of associations with Internet behaviors and social outcomes. Anonymous, self-report data were collected from N=532 late adolescent/young adult participants (mean age=23.33, 54.9% female). Findings from SEM analyses showed that the links between narcissism and social anxiety/social self-efficacy were partially mediated by preference for online social interactions (POSI); however, the two types of narcissism show distinct links to the two outcomes. Vulnerable narcissism was positively associated with POSI, which indirectly predicted problems for both measures of social relations; in contrast, grandiose narcissism was only directly and positively associated with social self-efficacy and negatively with social anxiety.