Narcissism in Social Media Driven By Insecurity Rather Than Inflated Sense of Self

A team of psychology researchers from New York University found that narcissism in social media is driven by insecurity and not by the inflated sense of self.

The study, entitled "Narcissism through the lens of performative self-elevation" published in Personality and Individual Differences, suggests a detailed understanding of the long-examined phenomenon of narcissism that might also explain the self-focused nature of social media activity, like the constant posting of selfies on social media platforms.

The researchers said that one type of narcissism called vulnerable narcissist manifests as self-promoting behaviors because of low self-esteem and extreme sensitivity to criticisms. They added that it is not 'self-love' but rather 'self-loathing in disguise.'

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Narcissism in Social Media Driven By Insecurity Rather Than Inflated Sense of Self

Two Types of Narcissism

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a condition where people have an inflated sense of self-importance. These people have the excessive need to be always at the center of attention and admiration. However, narcissistic people lack empathy towards other people.

Among the types of narcissism, grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism is the most notable. The different types of this disorder explain the emotional and mental processes that motivate their narcissistic behaviors.

The researchers said that vulnerable narcissism stemmed from insecurity, anxiety about attachments, low self-esteem, and extreme sensitivity to criticism, MailOnline reported.

On the other hand, people with grandiose narcissism have high self-esteem, self-aggrandizement, and self-importance. It is linked to affliction and psychopathy, which displays amoral and antisocial behavior, according to a 2017 study entitled "Dominance and Aggression in Humans and Other Animals."

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People Who Frequently Posts Selfies Might Suffer From Vulnerable Narcissism

Clinical associate professor Pascal Wallisch of New York University's Department of Psychology explained that narcissists' unpleasant behavior was unclear for many years. It only makes others think less of them. But since it has become quite prevalent in social media, this behavior has now been called "flexing."

"Our work reveals that these narcissists are not grandiose, but rather insecure, and this is how they seem to cope with their insecurities," Wallisch said.

The findings reveal that narcissism is a compensatory adaptation to overcome and cover-up low self-worth, study lead author Mary Kowalchyk said.

Science Daily reported that narcissists are insecure individuals, and flexing is their way to cope with these insecurities. But along the way, this makes others think less of them, which will aggravate their insecurities and leads to a vicious cycle of flexing.

The researchers examined the link between narcissism and social media through the novel measure of Performative Refinement to soothe Insecurities about SophisticatioN (PRISN) that produced perFormative seLf-Elevation indeX (FLEX), which captures self-conceptualizations driven by insecurity.

The results show a high correlation between FLEX and narcissism. For instance, the need for social validation is associated with the tendency to engage in vulnerable narcissistic behaviors. More so, the results suggest that narcissists are insecure and are described as vulnerable narcissists.