A new meta-analytic review, printed in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, examines how narcissistic personality types go about using social media today. The researchers reviewed literature from both unpublished and published research samples. They looked at the relationship between both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism, in relation to:

- a person's time spent on social media

- the frequency with which they update their status online

- their number of friends or online followers

- the frequency of their postings of pictures to social media accounts.

The researchers found that grandiose narcissism was related to all of the above: time spent online, frequency of posting status updates, their number of followers, and frequency of posting pictures.

Comparatively, vulnerable narcissism was not found to be significantly related to any social media use, but having a larger sample size might impact that finding.

Narcissism is described as many things: extreme selfishness, arrogance, conceit, vanity, egoism, and worse. There are two different ways of classifying the trait and they are: grandiose and vulnerable. Grandiose types are seen to be less emotionally sensitive than the vulnerable narcissist, they usually come off as being more confident than the other.

The term 'narcissism' originates from Greek Mythology, and it tells the story of a young man who fell in love with his own reflection while looking at it in a pool of water. The term was later popularized by Sigmund Freud throughout psychology circles, in his essay On Narcissism that came out back in 1914. Currently, narcissistic personality disorder is listed on the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Researchers believe that narcissism is on the increase in our society today; the selfie trend is just one indication. Some even suggest that we are experiencing a 'narcissism epidemic' today. Narcissists are said to be more likely to post inappropriate photos, in an effort to show off their physical attributes and attractiveness. And they will also likely post under their real name because they want all the fame and credit to go directly to them.

However, keep in mind that this doesn't mean that anyone who has ever posted a bathing-suit/shirtless pic etc or who uses their real name online, is doing so because they are a narcissist.

In the recent study that was published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, they looked at dozens of research studies and examined data on thousands of participants. And their findings indicate that there is a strong connection between grandiose narcissism and overall social media use.

Are narcissists simply more likely to be drawn to social media though, or is it the nature of social media itself that is working to fuel the onset of this personality in our society?

The researchers admit that there are limitations to their analysis and they suggest that more research in the field is needed.

Pics:
pixabay
Wikipedia
Sources:
http://www.bpdcentral.com/blog/?Is-Your-Narcissist-the-Vulnerable-or-Grandiose-Type-22
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2016-54178-001
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201611/updated-snapshot-the-online-narcissist