BPD Central

Narcissistic Show Their True Colors on Facebook

A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a "socially disruptive" narcissist. The research comes amid increasing evidence that Facebook and other social media are creating a generation of young narcissists.

People who score highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire:

• Are self-absorbed and vain
• Think they are superior
• Have exhibitionistic tendencies
• Are obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships
• Feel they deserve respect
• Are willing to manipulate and take advantage of others
• Can't stand wasting a chance of self-promotion
• Constantly need to be the center of attention

When it comes to Facebook, they:

• Tagged themselves more often
• Updated their newsfeeds more regularly
• Responded more aggressively to derogatory comments made about them
• Changed their profile pictures more often
• Said more shocking things and inappropriately self-disclose personal matters
• Had more than the usual number of friends (800 or more)
• Were more likely to accept friend requests from strangers
• More likely to seek social support, but less likely to provide it

The researchers pointed out that it is difficult to be certain whether individual differences in narcissism led to certain patterns of Facebook behavior, whether patterns of Facebook behavior led to individual differences in narcissism, or a bit of both.