Narcissists love other narcissists on Instagram, study finds

For narcissists, social media is the ultimate platform for self-promotion - so you'd be forgiven for thinking they have no time for competition.

But it turns out that narcissists actually love following other narcissists on social media, according to a recent Sejong University study.

Narcissism has previously been linked to attention-seeking behaviour on Instagram, such as selfies, in a 2016 study of 200 participants from the University of Swinburne.

Lead author of the Sejung University study, Seunga Venus Jin, agreed with this conclusion.

He told PsyPost :

Posting selfies is a popular activity that exemplifies narcissistic self-promotion on Instagram.

Narcissism is a positive indicator of willingness to take selfies and frequency of posting selfies.

Why do people not only post selfies but also ‘like’ and ‘follow’ others who post selfies?

The study of 276 adults - a relatively small sample size - found most Instagram users who post selfies and group were perceived as more negatively and as more narcisstic.

But those who tested high for narcissistic traits showed a more favourable attitude to selfie-heavy Instagrammers.

Though if immortal hashtags such as #like4like and #follow4follow have taught us anything, it is worth noting that engaging with other social media accounts is a form of self-promotion in itself.

Another limit of the research is that it only focused on grandiose narcissism, which is linked to extraversion, self-admiration and a higher self-esteem, rather than vulnerable narcissism, which is associated with insecurity, social withdrawal and a lower self-esteem.

It will come as no surprise that many associate Instagram with narcissism.

In fact, a survey of 20,000 millennials found that 64 per cent believe Instagram is the most narcissistic social media platform.

HT PsyPost

More: If you have these traits, you might be a narcissist