Content uploaded by Oytun Erbas
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Oytun Erbas on Dec 30, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
doi: 10.5606/dsufnjt.2020.014
Demiroglu Science University Florence Nightingale Journal of Transplantation 2020;5(1-2):32-38
The relationship between social media use and narcissism
Mihriban Akkoz1, Oytun Erbaş1,2
1Institute of Experimental Medicine, Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey
2Department of Physiology, Medical Faculty of Demiroğlu Bilim University, Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence: Mihriban Akkoz . Deneysel Tıp Enstitüsü, 41470 Gebze-Koca eli, Türkiye.
e-mail: mihribanakkoz@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The relationship between social media use and narcissism has been a subject of research, since the first social media sites emerged. Research has
shown that social media use can cause narcissism on the one hand, and narcissism on the other hand, and it can increase social media use with a
potentially mutual effec t between the two of them. Currently, the narcissistic culture is reproduced and narcissism is encouraged in social media. It
has been observed that social media sites are an ideal environment to meet narcissistic needs, and narcissistic behaviors are rewarded. In addition,
the narcissistic attitudes and behaviors in real life are also reflected in the behaviors on social media and their narcissistic levels increase further.
Keywords: Addictio n, behavior, narcissism, so cial media use.
NARCISSISM
The origin of the term narcissism is evolved
from the story of Narcissus in Greek mythology.
The most known and detailed version of the
story, which has various versions, was written
by Ovid, the Roman poet. Young and handsome
Narcissus arrogantly rejected many admirers of
him. Goddess Nemesis (the goddess of retribution
and revenge), responds to the prayer of one of
his lovers that Narcissus humiliated and rejected,
punishes Narcissus with unrequited love. Narcissus
sees his reflection in the pond that he went
to drink water, falls in love with the image he
sees. He cannot take his eyes off from his own
reflection even for a moment and remains without
eating and drinking, and he dies on the shore of
the lake due to his passion for himself.[1]
In the psychology literature, the term narcissism
was first referred in relation to the mythological
story mentioned in 1898 by the English sexologist
Havelock Ellis who used the term "Narcissus-like"
for autoerotic (sexual pleasure from his own body)
behavior, which he believed to be observed mostly
in women, and defined this term as "the tendency
to absorb sexual feelings in self-adoration and
often disappear completely".[2]
Narcissism was a concept that has been
researched in many subfields of psychology
and studied in various dimensions. Until now,
narcissism has been divided into subtypes as
primary, secondary, grandiose, and vulnerable.
Sigmund Freud discusses narcissism under
two types and defines primary narcissism as a
normal maturation phase of healthy psychosexual
development (oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital)
in his article "On Narcissism: An Introduction"
published in 1914. This stage is a stage in which
the child is completely egocentric, insensitive to
the feelings and thoughts of others, and directs
his libidinal (life) energy to himself or herself.
Secondary narcissism was explained as the libidinal
energy being withdrawn from external objects and
directed toward the ego due to the deviations
experienced in this process, while the child is
expected to separate the libidinal energy from
himself or herself and direct it to other objects.[3]
Grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism
Cite this article as:
Akkoz M, Erbaş O. The relationship between s ocial media us e and narcissism. D J Tx Sci 2020;5(1-2):32-38.
33
The relationship between social media use and narcissism
have opposite characteristics in many respects.
Grandiose narcissists are defined as individuals
who are extroverted, egocentric, arrogant, desire
to attract attention, insensitive to the needs of
others, exaggerated self-esteem and low anxiety
levels. Vulnerable narcissists, on the other hand,
are defined as individuals who are introverted,
sensitive, have a high level of anxiety, sensitive to
criticism, and extremely modest.[4-6]
The concept of narcissism, with different
classifications in the literature, is mainly studied
from two perspectives. These are the distinctions
between normal narcissism and pathological
narcissism. Every individual has needs to be liked,
approved, cared for, appreciated, and loved.
These narcissistic personality traits-like needs are
present in every individual somewhat. Normal
narcissism is having sufficient amounts of these
features and having positive effects on the mental
health of the individual. The inflated perspective
that the individual is special and superior from
others is pathological. Pathological narcissism is
defined as extreme self-admiration, the need to
be approved and appreciated constantly, apathy
to others, and lack of empathy.[7-9] The diagnostic
criteria for narcissistic personality disorder to
differentiate normal narcissism from pathological
narcissism are defined in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Egotism, disregard for others, egocentrism, and
low empathy are traits associated with all subtypes
of narcissism.[10]
Recently, the neural basis of narcissism has
also been the subject of studies. In a study, the
focus was the neurological process of motor
resonance, the activation of corresponding motor
representations in the brain during the observation
of both performance and actions. The same
neural motor zones are activated, when someone
exhibits and observes the same behavior. This
tendency can be demonstrated behaviorally in
the automatic mimicry task where a series of
cues point participants to raise their index finger
or middle finger. However, each index is placed
over the video of a hand raising the index
finger or middle finger. Thus, in a particular
experiment, when participants observe one hand
while raising the middle finger, they can see 1,
which is the numerical sign that indicates raising
the index finger (Figure 1). Typically, following
an incompatible action hinders the ability to
perform the flagged response. As a result of this
study, narcissists were relatively unaffected by
social stimuli and exhibited a significantly low
interference effect. In other words, narcissists
resonate less with the actions of others. These
findings indicate a neural mechanism which can
support and even contribute to the general lack
of empathy of narcissists and their ability to
understand others.[11]
Index
Index
Observed movement
Cued response
Middle
Middle
Figure 1. Experimental conditions.[11]
D J Tx Sci
34
In a neuroimaging experiment conducted
on the example of non-clinical narcissists, the
patients were divided into high-narcissism and
low-narcissism subgroups and given the task of
empathizing with pictures of emotional faces.
At the end of the study, the patients in the high-
narcissism group showed significantly reduced
deactivation during empathy, particularly in the
right anterior insula (RAI) (Figure 2). The RAI
is an important brain structure in experiencing
and predicting emotions,[12 -16] plays a role in self-
representation,[1 7,18 ] and is typically associated
with empathy with others.[19]
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social network sites are virtual communities
where users can create individual public profiles,
interact with their real-life friends and meet other
individuals based on their common interests.
Social media use has become an increasingly
popular leisure activity in many countries around
the world in the last few years.[20] Currently,
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and
WhatsApp are the most used social media
applications. In the Digital in 2020 report
prepared by We Are Social and Hootsuite, it is
stated that more than 4.5 billion individuals use
the internet worldwide and 3.8 billion of them
are active social media users. This number has
increased by 9.2% compared to the previous
yea r.[21]
Individuals use social media for two main
reasons: (i) connecting with others and
(ii) managing the impression they make on
others.[22] Social media takes advantage of
pre-existing social impulses.[23] individuals
are directed to connect with others, manage
their reputations, and gain significant adaptive
advantages of doing so.[24] Finding ways to fulfill
our need to belong to a social group can be just
as important as fulfilling our basic biological
needs, such as food and sexual intercourse,
that are essential for our survival.[25] Strong
social connections increase psychological well-
being and protect individuals from feelings
of loneliness and depression.[26] Social media
provides a platform for individuals to satisfy this
basic social drive (Figure 3).[24]
Social media offers a platform where modern
individuals can meet their basic social needs
with five basic behaviors. These behaviors are
mainly based on three areas: social cognition
(e.g. mentalizing), self-referential cognition, and
social reward process.[24] The nervous systems
underlying these cognitive processes are shown
(Figure 4).
SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM
Social media is a basic environment for
narcissism, and the growth of social media has
been potentially associated with the cultural
growth of narcissism. In literature, social media
Figure 2. Significant changes in signals of empathy and non-empathy between high- and low-narcissism
subjects.[12]
35
The relationship between social media use and narcissism
is associated with narcissism, but it is not known
in which direction the causal arrows are. On the
one hand, narcissism can cause social media
use, and thus narcissism can increase social
media usage; On the other hand, social media
use can cause narcissism, and increased use of
social media can increase narcissism or have a
reciprocal, two-way effect (Figure 5). In addition,
as a third factor, cultural individualism can cause
both.[27 ] Lowen[28] outlines that narcissism defines
both a psychological and a cultural situation.
Thus, Twenge and Campbell[29] attribute the rise
of narcissism to the focus on self-admiration that
dominates culture. In addition, they state that the
narcissistic culture is reproduced on social media
and narcissism is encouraged through social
sharing platforms.
The most important opportunities provided
by social media to its users can be counted as
presenting oneself, buildi ng and maintaining one's
own ideal identities, and voluntary disclosure of
private information.[3 0,31] Social media platforms
Figure 4. Brain networks allegedly involved in the use of social media. Extensive brain imaging research into social
cognition, conducted with offline paradigms, has revealed several major brain networks that could be involved in social
media use. (i) The mentalizing network (brain regions in blue): dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), temporoparietal
junction (TPJ), anterior temporal lobe (ATL), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC);
(ii) the self-referential cognition network (brain regions in red): medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and PCC; and (iii) the
reward network (brain regions in green): ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventral striatum (VS), and ventral
tegmental area (VTA).[24]
Figure 3. Five Key Social Media Behaviors. Social media users can: (1) broadcast information;
(2) receive feedback on this information; (3) observe the broadcasts of others; (4) provide
feedback on the broadcasts of others; and (5) compared themselves with others.[24]
D J Tx Sci
36
Figure 5. Reasonable causal pathways linking narcissism
and social media. Way A is narcissism that affects
social media. Way B represents social media influencing
narcissism. Together, pathways A and B represent a
two-way effect.[27]
Path B
Path A
Narcissism Social media
are a unique and ideal environment for meeting
narcissistic demands and studies indicate that
narcissistic individuals use social media sites
compulsively.[32] Individuals have had the
opportunity to express themselves through
social media, to announce their achievements
to wide populations and to be recognized by
other individuals.[33] In addition, social media
rewards narcissistic needs, such as getting too
much appreciation and having great number
of friends.[29] Excessive photo sharing, frequent
situation updates, and the number of friends are
related to narcissistic tendencies.[34] Individuals
with high scores on the narcissism scale share
more photos on social media platforms.[35]
In addition, individuals with high narcissistic
tendencies tend to remove posts that do not
reach the desired number of likes.[36] Narcissistic
individuals focus on short-term relationships to
achieve more popular, successful and higher
status rather than interpersonal intimacy,
intimate, and longer-term relationships.[30] In
this regard, social media allows individuals to
establish a large number of, but superficial
relationships. Therefore, it is reasonable for
narcissists to have more friends on social
media.[37]
Studies reveal that narcissistic behaviors
increase the use of social media. Indeed, it
has been observed that individuals exhibiting
narcissistic behaviors control their Facebook
accounts frequently and spend more time
compared to non-narcissistic ones.[38] Those with
narcissistic attitudes and behaviors in real life
are reflected in their behaviors on social media,
tend to use Facebook more frequently, frequently
update their status to show themselves more, and
their narcissistic levels increase even more with
their posts being appreciated.[38,39] In a study with
a total of 945 participants as 790 Facebook users
and 155 non-Facebook users, various personality
traits and differences in mental health among
these groups were examined. The results showed
that Facebook users score higher on narcissism,
self-confidence, and extroversion than non-
Facebook users.[40]
Individuals use social media to
self-importance, to gather attention,
appreciation, and status. In a study, individuals
uploaded attractive photos and shared the
most interesting information about themselves
to achieve these achievements.[29] The relation
between the narcissism and selfie-taking
behavior is also intriguing. In a study conducted
to examine this relationship, the authors found
that those with high levels of narcissism paid
more attention to the comments and likes of
others on social media and followed others’
selfies more.[41] Another study showed that
sharing a selfie was associated with narcissism
only in male participants and not in female
participants.[42] In another study, the link
between the selfie-posting and three aspects of
narcissism (leadership/authority, magnificent
exhibitionism, authority/exploitation) was
investigated.[43] According to the results, a positive
significant relationship was found between the
frequency of sharing selfies and leadership/
authority and magnificent exhibitionism, as
well as authority/exploitation.[44,45]
In conclusion, as active social media users
increased, so did the interest in social media
websites and narcissim. Although most people use
social media to connect with others, research has
shown that social media use and narcissism are
related. I hope that the evidence of narcissism will
be investigated more in these rapidly developing
platforms.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no conflicts of interest with
respect to the authorship and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the
research and/or authorship of this article.
37
The relationship between social media use and narcissism
REFERENCES
1. Levy KN, Ellison WD, Reynoso JS. A historical review
of narcissism and narcissistic personality. In: Campbell
WK, Miller JD, editors. The handbook of narcissism
and narcissistic personality disorder: Theoretical
approaches, empirical findings, and treatments. New
York: Wiley; 2011. p. 1-13.
2. Pulver SE. Narcissism. The term and the concept.
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 1970;18:319-41.
3. Freud S. On narcissism: an introduction. Freiburg:
White Press; 2014.
4. Akhtar S. Narcissistic personality disorder. Descriptive
features and differential diagnosis. Psychiatr Clin
North Am 1989;12:505-29.
5. Miller JD, Campbell WK. Comparing clinical and
social-personality conceptualizations of narcissism.
J Pers 2008;76:449-76.
6. Pincus AL, Cain NM, Wright AG. Narcissistic
grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability in
psychotherapy. Personal Disord 2014;5:439-43.
7. Pincus AL, Ansell EB, Pimentel CA, Cain NM, Wright
AGC, Levy KN. Initial construction and validation of
the pathological narcissism inventory. Psychol Assess
2009;21:365-79.
8. Campbell WK, Foster JD. The narcissistic self:
Background, an extended agency model, and ongoing
controversies. In: Sedikides C, Spencer SJ, editors.
The self. 1st ed. New York: Psychology Press; 2007.
p. 115-38.
9. Kernberg OF. Borderline conditions and pathological
narcissism. 1st ed. Lanham. Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers Inc.; 2004.
10 American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and
statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). 5th
ed. Washington: American Psychiatric Association
Pub.; 2013.
11. Obhi SS, Hogeveen J, Giacomin M, Jordan CH.
Automatic imitation is reduced in narcissists. J Exp
Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2014;40:920-8.
12. Fan Y, Wonneberger C, Enzi B, de Greck M, Ulrich
C, Tempelmann C, et al. The narcissistic self and its
psychological and neural correlates: an exploratory
fMRI study. Psychol Med 2011;41:1641-50.
13. Carlson JM, Greenberg T, Rubin D, Mujica-Parodi
LR. Feeling anxious: anticipatory amygdalo-insular
response predicts the feeling of anxious anticipation.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2011;6:74-81.
14. Carlson JM, Mujica-Parodi LR. A disposition to
reappraise decreases anterior insula reactivity during
anxious anticipation. Biol Psychol 2010;85:383-5.
15. Nitschke JB, Sarinopoulos I, Mackiewicz KL, Schaefer
HS, Davids on RJ. Functional neuroa natomy of aversion
and its anticipation. Neuroimage 2006;29:106-16.
16. Simmons AN, Stein MB, Strigo IA, Arce E, Hitchcock
C, Paulus MP. Anxiety positive subjects show altered
processing in the anterior insula during anticipation of
negative stimuli. Hum Brain Mapp 2011;32:1836-46.
17. Craig AD. How do you feel--now? The anterior
insula and human awareness. Nat Rev Neurosci
2009;10:59-70.
18. Enzi B, de Greck M, Prösch U, Tempelmann C,
Northoff G. Is our self nothing but reward? Neuronal
overlap and distinction between reward and personal
relevance and its relation to human personality. PLoS
One 2009;4:e8429.
19. Bernhardt BC, Singer T. The neural basis of empathy.
Annu Rev Neurosci 2012;35:1-23.
20. Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD. Online social networking and
addiction--a review of the psychological literature. Int
J Environ Res Public Health 2011;8:3528-52.
21. Available at: https://wearesocial.com/digital-2020
22. Nadkarni A, Hofmann SG. Why do people use
facebook? Pers Individ Dif 2012;52:243-9.
23. Tamir DI, Ward AF. Old desires, new media. In:
Hofmann W, Nordgren L, editors. The Psychology of
Desire. New York: Guilford Press; 2015. p. 432-55.
24. Meshi D, Tamir DI, Heekeren HR. The emerging
neuroscience of social media. Trends Cogn Sci
2015;19:771-82.
25. Baumeister RF, Leary MR. The need to belong:
desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental
human motivation. Psychol Bull 1995;117:497-529.
26. Helliwell JF, Putnam RD. The social context of
well-being. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
2004;359:1435-46.
27. McCain JL, Campbell WK. Narcissism and social
media use: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of
Popular Media Culture 2018;7:308-27.
28. Lowen A. Narcissism. 1st ed. New York. Touchstone;
19 9 7.
29. Twenge JM, Campbell WK. The narcissism epidemic:
Living in the age of entitlement. 1st ed. New York:
Free Press; 2009.
30. Morf CC, Rhodewalt F. Unraveling the paradoxes
of narcissism: A dynamic self-regulatory processing
model. Psychological Inquiry 2001;12:177-96.
31. Blachnio A, Przepiórka A, Rudnicka P. Psychological
determinants of using Facebook: A research review.
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
2013;29:775-87.
32. Andreassen CS, Pallesen S, Griffiths MD. The
relationship between addictive use of social media,
narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large
national survey. Addict Behav 2017;64:287-93.
33. Alarcón RD, Sarabia S. Debates on the narcissism
conundrum: trait, domain, dimension, type, or
disorder? J Nerv Ment Dis 2012;200:16-25.
34. Carpenter CJ. Narcissism on Facebook: Self-
promotional and anti-social behavior. Personality and
Individual Differences 2012;52:482-6.
35. Bergman SM, Fearrington ME, Davenport SW,
Bergman JZ. Millennials, narcissism, and social
networking: What narcissists do on social networking
sites and why. Personality and Individual Differences
2011;50:706-11.
D J Tx Sci
38
36. Madden M, Lenhart A, Cortesi S, Gasser U,
Duggan M, Smith A, et al. Teens, social media,
and privacy. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.
org/internet/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-
privacy/ [Accessed: November 30, 2020]
37. Davenport SW, Bergman SM, Bergman JZ,
Fearrington ME. Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring
the role of narcissism in the motives and usage
of different social media platforms. Computers in
Human Behavior 2014;32:212-20.
38. Mehdizadeh S. Self-presentation 2.0: narcissism and
self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc
Netw 2010;13:357-64.
39. Buffardi LE, Campbell WK. Narcissism and social
networking Web sites. Pers Soc Psychol Bull
200 8 ;34:1303 -14 .
40. Brailovskaia J, Margraf J. Comparing Facebook
Users and Facebook Non-Users: Relationship between
Personality Traits and Mental Health Variables - An
Exploratory Study. PLoS One 2016;11:e0166999.
41. Lee JA, Sung Y. Hide-and-Seek: Narcissism and
"Selfie"-Related Behavior. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc
Ne t w 2016;19:347-51.
42. Sorokowski P, Sorokowska A, Oleszkiewicz A,
Frackowiak T, Huk A, Pisanski K. Selfie posting
behaviors are associated with narcissism among men.
Personality and Individual Differences 2015;85:123-7.
43. Weiser EB. #Me: Narcissism and its facets as predictors
of selfie-posting frequency. Personality and Individual
Differences 2015;86:477-81.
44. Ahn H, Kwolek EA, Bowman ND. Two faces of
narcissism on SNS: The distinct effects of vulnerable
and grandiose narcissism on SNS privacy control.
Computers in Human Behavior 2015;45:375-81.
45. Arble EP. Evaluating the psychometric properties of
the hypersensitive narcissism scale: Implications for
the distinction of covert and overt narcissism. Master’s
Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 2008. p. 236.