Running head: FACEBOOK AND SELF-PERCEPTION!
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Facebook and Self-Perception
Bishop Harber
Angelo State University
FACEBOOK AND SELF-PERCEPTION
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Abstract
With connections being made every day between people all over the world, Facebook
provides an unparalleled opportunity for study into the behavior of individuals and their
personalities, presentations, and pathologies. Are there certain types of behaviors that relate more
to narcissistic traits and, if so, what does a general sociodemographic profile look like for an
individual who most often exhibits those behaviors? Nearly sixty participants were included in
the study. Despite the limitations, this study concluded like several before it, no significant
correlations were found in the data to support a hypothesis that narcissistic individuals are more
likely to utilize Facebook in any more grandiose manner than the rest of us.
FACEBOOK AND SELF-PERCEPTION
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Facebook and Self-Perceptions
Facebook stands as a global giant in the world of social media. With connections being
made every day between people all over the world, Facebook provides an unparalleled
opportunity for study into the behavior of individuals and their personalities, presentations, and
pathologies.
In some cases, like with Toma and Hancock (2011), researchers believe the evidence
shows individuals can turn to Facebook to feel better when they are distressed in personal
circumstances. Other researchers (Skues, Williams, & Wise, 2012) determined that lonely people
used Facebook to connect with others but that narcissism and other similar traits did not have
significant association with Facebook use. Conversely, the Carpenter study (2012) revealed that
certain behaviors presented on Facebook did relate to narcissism when examining self-
presentation and anti-social behavior.
There are mixed findings on studies correlating the posting of selfies to Facebook as an
indicator of narcissism. Posting too many times on Facebook might make someone else look
desperate or it may conjure up that psychological catchphrase, “attention-seeking behavior.” The
information is confusing with so many different studies and results. The current study seeks to
add a dimension by taking a Cerberus-type approach to the question of narcissism and Facebook
by seeking to correlate social media use—in particular, Facebook—with specific demographic
information in relation to narcissistic traits.
Simply put: are there certain types of behaviors that relate more to narcissistic traits and,
if so, what does a general sociodemographic profile look like for an individual who most often
exhibits those behaviors?
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Method
Participants
The participant pool consisted of 46 females (79%) and 11 males (19%) and 1
transgender female (2%) for a total of 58 individuals with ages ranging between Under 21 and
21-40 [M = 1.4, SD = 0.7]. The sample consists of 35 White or Caucasian or European American
(60.3%), 2 African-American or Black (3.4%), 19 Hispanic or Latina or Latino (32.8%), 1 Asian
or Asian American (1.7%), and 1 Multiracial or Biracial (1.7%).
All participants were college students from Angelo State University and volunteered
through the Department of Psychology and Sociology. Extra credit for a psychology course was
awarded for participation.
Materials
Descriptive Data. A questionnaire requesting information about each participant’s gender
identity, racial identity, age, marital status, sexual identity, level of education, religious
worldview, political affiliation, housing situation, and work situation was administered to
participants.
Facebook Usage Questionnaire. The Facebook Usage Questionnaire (FUQ) was a
researcher-designed measure that examined Facebook usage along five dimensions: frequency,
opportunity, location, content, and audience. Participants were asked questions about how often
they logged into Facebook, how many devices they used to log into Facebook, where they
logged into Facebook, the types of content about which they posted on Facebook, and the
audience filters they used when posting on Facebook.
FACEBOOK AND SELF-PERCEPTION
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Narcissism. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16 (NPI-16; Ames, Rose, &
Anderson, 2006) is a forced choice format of 16 items with choices such as “I really like to be
the center of attention” and “I am an extraordinary person” on a 4-point scale. In one study to
establish validity, the NPI-16 proved an internal consistency of .72; mean inter-item correlation
= .13; loadings on the first unrotated factor ranged from .13 to .66 with the first factor capturing
19.9 percent of variance; correlated with the NPI-40 at r = .90 (p < .001)
Procedures
The study included an informed consent form, which all participants prior to the
administration of the surveys, in which they acknowledged their understanding of the process
and basic details of the study.
Once all participants completed the sociodemographic survey, the FUQ, and the NPI–16,
respectively, all participants were debriefed as to the full nature of the study and assured of the
anonymity of their responses.
Results
A bivariate correlation was conducted between the Narcissistic Personality Inventory–16
(NPI-16) and the Facebook Usage Questionnaire (FUQ). There was no significant correlation
revealed between the narcissistic traits (M=19.79, SD=3.10) chosen by an individual and his or
her expressed Facebook habits (M=157.45, SD=21.92), r = .046, p = .732.
No significant correlations were found in the data to support a hypothesis that narcissistic
individuals are more likely to utilize Facebook in any more grandiose manner than the rest of us.