Personality and selfies: Narcissism and the Dark Triad

Abstract

Selfies, or pictures taken of oneself and shared on social media, have become a worldwide phenomenon. In the present research, we examine the relationship between narcissism, both vulnerable and grandiose, and the frequency of and motivations behind selfie-taking. The Dark Triad of personality (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and self-esteem were also measured. In Study 1, 348 adults on Amazon Mturk completed measures of personality, demographics, and several questions about selfie behavior online. In Study 2, 491 undergraduate students completed the same measures and a subset of these provided access to their Instagram and Iconosquare accounts, which were rated for narcissism by naive judges. Results from both studies indicate that grandiose narcissism is associated with taking and posting more selfies, experiencing more positive affect when taking selfies, and self-reported self-presentation motives. The Dark Triad traits resembled grandiose narcissism. Vulnerable narcissism was associated with negative affect when taking selfies. Self-esteem was unrelated to selfie-taking.