If you want to know a little more about the character of the man you like and understand what is hidden behind a pleasant appearance, count the number of selfies in his profile on social networks.
There is nothing special about a man filming himself on the front camera of his phone and posting his photos on social networks. Another question is at what point an innocent hobby ceases to be one. As a new study shows, men who post a lot of selfies show not only themselves, but also high levels of narcissism*. Those who apply additional processing of photographs before publication (using special filters or computer processing), flaunt a couple more qualities — narcissism and a fair tendency to narcissism. “The fact that narcissistic men take a lot of selfies, some of which are subjected to additional processing before publication, is not new. But the fact that such men were more prone to inflated self-esteem has only now received scientific confirmation, ”says study author Jesse Fox from Ohio State University (USA).
The study involved 800 men aged 18 to 40 years who passed three stages of testing:
- described the criteria for selecting photos for their social media profiles;
- completed a survey that reveals the level of social behavior and self-esteem;
- told how often they edit photos before posting them online.
However, as Jessie Fox points out, not everyone who takes a lot of selfies is a daffodil. However, most of those who frequently post their photo tend to be narcissistic. First of all, it is important for them to evaluate their appearance. “We know that problems with self-esteem lead to undesirable consequences (for example, depression). And with the rise of social media, people have become even more concerned about their appearance. It is important to understand that this problem is relevant for both men and women, ”says the author of the study. People with high self-esteem post a lot of selfies, which leads to reactions from their friends and followers, which in turn encourages them to post more photos. The results of the study prove that the features of our character unconsciously influence the behavior on the Internet. We are all interested in successful self-presentation, but how we do it can say a lot about ourselves**.
* J. Fox, M. Rooney «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, April 2015.
** J. Grabmeier «Hey, guys: Posting a lot of selfies doesn’t send a good message», Ohio State University website, January 2015.