Does posting selfies make you a psychopath?

John Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Just when men thought it was cool to start taking pride in their appearance, it turns out that doing so could mean we are a narcissist, a psychopath or both. Well, if we take enough pride to post regular selfies on social media that is – and these days that applies to quite a lot of us.
According to research from Ohio State University, men who posted more online photos of themselves than others scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy. Accusations of narcissism may sound a little embarrassing, but not surprising. But being told you might be a psychopath? That’s a little worrying.
Men who were prone to editing their selfies before posting scored higher not only in narcissism but in self-objectification too, a measure of how much they prioritize their appearance in life. The absence of psychopathy from that group is of little consolation, because it is simply explained by the fact that psychopaths are so impulsive and keen to get their selfie in front of the world that they have no time for editing.  They are no less vain, just less patient.
“It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” said Jesse Fox, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University.
“The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification,” she added.
Narcissism, according to Ohio State, is marked by a belief that you’re smarter, more attractive and better than others, but with some underlying insecurity. Psychopathy involves a lack of empathy and a disregard for others, and a tendency toward impulsive behavior. However, before treatment is sought, it may be comforting to know that the results don’t mean that men who post a lot of selfies are necessarily narcissists or psychopaths, just that there’s a link between the two things. The men in the study all scored within the normal range of behavior, but had higher than average levels of the anti-social traits.
Fox conducted the study with Margaret Rooney, a graduate student at Ohio State. Their results are published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. The sample included 800 men from age 18 to 40 who completed an online survey asking about their photo posting behavior on social media. The participants also completed standard questionnaires for anti-social behaviors and for self-objectification.
“We know that self-objectification leads to a lot of terrible things, like depression and eating disorders in women,” Fox said. However, little study of self-objectification in heterosexual men has ever taken place.
“With the growing use of social networks, everyone is more concerned with their appearance. That means self-objectification may become a bigger problem for men, as well as for women,” she added.
Follow-up research suggests the same findings will also apply to women. Women who post more selfies also show higher levels of narcissism and psychopathy, and self-objectification plays a larger role with women which apparently would be expected, according to the experts at Ohio State.
“We are all concerned with our self-presentation online, but how we do that may reveal something about our personality,” Fox concluded.
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