'Let Me Take a Selfie': Associations Between Self-Photography, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem

Psychology of Popular Media Culture

Christopher T. Barry

Hannah Doucette

Della C. Loflin

Nicole Rivera-Hudson

Lacey L. Herrington

No terms assigned

narcissism

self-esteem

selfie

social media

The proliferation of social media in day-to-day life has raised numerous questions about how individuals present themselves in these arenas. The present study examined the associations of narcissism and self-esteem with the posting of self-photographs (“selfies”) on a popular photo sharing social networking site (i.e., Instagram). Participants were 128 undergraduate students (19 males, 109 females) ranging in age from 18 to 43 (M = 20.46, SD = 3.59). Selfies were coded according to their frequency relative to participants’ nonselfie posts and their apparent themes (i.e., physical appearance, activity/event/location, affiliation with others, collage, other/undifferentiated). The hypothesized relations of narcissism and self-esteem with the posting of selfies independent of theme were not significant. However, there was a significant relation between some dimensions of narcissism and specific categories of selfies (e.g., vulnerable narcissism with physical appearance selfies). The limitations of the present study, particularly in terms of sampling and other issues that may influence online presentations, as well as the implications for future research on social media photographic displays are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)

2015

Psychology of Popular Media Culture

'Let Me Take a Selfie'

10.1037/ppm0000089

2160-4134

2015-28942-001