COLUMBUS, Ohio – Guess what. Men who post more selfies are more likely to think they are better than others and to show a lack of empathy.
A new study by researchers at OSU showed that men who posted more online photos of themselves than others scored higher than average on measures of the anti-social personality traits narcissism and psychopathy.
Men who were more likely to edit their selfies before posting scored higher in narcissism and self-objectification, which measures how much they prioritize their appearance, according to the online survey of 800 men from age 18 to 40, said lead author Jesse Fox, assistant professor of communication at Ohio State.
“It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” she said. “The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification.”
Narcissism is marked by a belief that one is smarter, more attractive and better than others, but with some underlying insecurity. Psychopathy involves a lack of empathy and regard for others and a tendency toward impulsive behavior.
Fox conducted the study with Margaret Rooney, a graduate student at Ohio State. Their results are published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Fox emphasized that the results don’t mean that men who post a lot of selfies are necessarily narcissists or psychopaths. The men in the study all scored within the normal range of behavior – but with higher than average levels of these anti-social traits.
The survey did not just ask how often the men posted photos but also asked about whether the photos had been cropped or whether the men had used filters or editing software. Editing was related to higher levels of self-objectification, defined as valuing oneself mainly for appearance, rather than for other positive traits, Fox said.
“With the growing use of social networks, everyone is more concerned with their appearance. That means self-objectification may become a bigger problem for men, as well as for women,” Fox said. “We know that self-objectification leads to a lot of terrible things, like depression and eating disorders in women.”
While this study didn’t include women, Fox said she is currently conducting follow-up work that suggests women who post more selfies also show higher levels of narcissism and psychopathy.
Fox said she believes there is a self-reinforcing cycle: People who score higher on the measure for self-objectification post more selfies, which leads to more feedback from friends online, which encourages them to post even more selfies.