I love my selfie! An investigation of overt and covert narcissism to understand selfie-posting behaviors within three geographic communities

Abstract

What motivates selfie-posting on social media? Although several studies suggest that narcissistic traits predict online behaviors, different types of narcissism may influence specific online behaviors. In the existing literature, two types of narcissism are frequently considered, overt (externally directed) and covert (internally directed) narcissism, where overt narcissism is the better-known construct. The utility of using the broader construct of overt narcissism, as opposed to specific sub-components, is a matter of ongoing debate in the literature and little research has explored the factor structure of covert narcissism at all. The subcomponents of both types of narcissism are used to explore participants' motivations for selfie-posting, in addition to community membership (i.e. culture) and demographics. Therefore, the current study investigated whether selfie-posting could be predicted by narcissism, demographics, and community membership. Participants from the Midwest US (n = 194), Northeast US (n = 276), and the Lebanese Republic (n = 260) took an online survey. Results supported a two-component structure for covert narcissism, suggesting that this variable should be considered multidimensional in nature. Selfie-posting frequency was predicted by gender, geographic community, and grandiose narcissism. Participants who were female, from the Northeast, and reported more grandiose narcissism posted selfies more frequently. Findings suggest that selfie-posting is favored by those with more histrionic tendencies (grandiose narcissism) and that community norms, including those which shape gendered behavior, likely play a role in the active use of social media sites.