Posting selfies, caring about feedback make you a narcissist

Are narcissists more likely to post selfies and care about the feedback they receive? According to a new study, "yes."

Korean researchers studied how narcissism relates to a person's selfie-posting behavior on Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and interest in the comments they receive back.

The authors describe the link between degree of narcissism and self-promotion through selfies in the article "Hide-and-Seek: Narcissism and 'Selfie'-Related Behavior."

Jung-Ah Lee and Yongjun Sung found that individuals with a higher degree of narcissism have a more favorable attitude toward the act of posting selfies. Their involvement in the comments received to their own selfies and their interest in other people's selfies did not, however, mean that they were more likely to provide feedback.

Across all social media technologies, narcissists as compared to non-narcissists tend to engage in more self-enhancement strategies in hopes of gaining admiration, said Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, adding "However, since narcissism does not completely explain selfie posting, future studies are needed to uncover additional psychological or social factors that influence selfie posting behavior."

The study is published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.