WASHINGTON — Does this photo make me look psychopathic?
A new study of men who post many photographs of themselves on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram score higher on measures of anti-social traits, including narcissism and psychopathy.
The study also determined that men who snapped and posted selfies in large numbers were prone to self-objectification, which measures how much they prioritize their appearance.
“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 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,” said Fox, who conducted the study with Margaret Rooney, a graduate student at Ohio State.
Narcissism is marked by a belief that you’re smarter, more attractive, and better than others, but with some underlying insecurity, according to the report, which is published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Psychopathic behavior involves a lack of empathy and regard for others and a tendency toward impulsive behavior.
The 800 male participants, ranging in age from 18 to 40 completed an online survey about how often they posted photos of themselves on social media.
The questionnaire also included standard questions used for measuring anti-social behaviors and self-objectification.
Women were not included in the study.
Fox said many of the participants acknowledged editing their photos before posting, by cropping, applying filters and using photo-editing software.
“Most people don’t think that men even do that sort of thing, but they definitely do,” Fox said in an article on the Ohio State University website.
Fox says posting more photos is related to narcissism and psychopathy, but psychopathy was not related to editing photos, since “psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity — they are going to snap the photos and put them online right away.”
The photo editing is more indicative of self-objectification, which has rarely been studied in heterosexual men, Fox said.
Fox says the results don’t mean that men who post a lot of selfies are narcissists or psychopaths, and that the men in the study all tested within normal ranges.
While the study doesn’t include women, Fox says she is doing follow-up work that suggests the same findings in this research apply to women.
“We are all concerned with our self-presentation online, but how we do that may reveal something about our personality,” said Fox.
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