Daily Times

A study by researchers from Ohio State University has found that men who post tons of selfies on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook scored higher on measures of psychopathy and narcissism.

The researchers used a sample of 800 men between the ages of 18 and 40 and had them fill out an online questionnaire that asked about their selfie posting habits on social media. The survey asked how often they posted pictures, and whether and how they edited them before posting. They were also asked to fill out standard surveys measuring anti-social behaviours and self-objectification, which shows how much they focus on their appearance.

The results found that posting more selfies did correlate with narcissism and psychopathy, but editing photos only correlated with narcissism. Psychopathy is marked by a lack of empathy and a tendency toward impulsiveness. Narcissism involves the belief that you’re more attractive, smarter and better than others, but with some underlying insecurities.

“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 the study’s lead researcher, Jessie Fox. “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.”

Fox emphasizes that the results don’t explicitly mean that all men who are selfie addicts are necessarily narcissistic psychopaths, but it does mean that they score higher than other men for the trait. She is doing a follow-up study to see if the results apply to women who are selfie addicts.