The Relationship Between Facebook Usage, Narcissism, And Self-Esteem In Adolescents

Introduction to Social Networking Sites and Adolescents

The emergence and ever increasing presence of the Internet in our everyday lives has provided the opportunity for easy and frequent social activity. According to studies conducted in the U.S., 70 percent of adolescents below age 17 use Social Networking Sites (Ong et al., 2011), and invest upward of six hours a day using them (Pempeck et al., 2009). Social networking sites are defined as web-based avenues for individuals to create personal profiles and communicate with online friends (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). While various social networking sites exist, Facebook is the most widely used with more than 1.86 billion active monthly users sharing photos, comments, and personal information (Facebook, 2016).

The escalation of social networking site use has attracted many scholarly reviews that investigate the link between Facebook use and increased levels of narcissism (Ong et al., 2011; Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). Studies reported weak positive correlations in males, and very weak positive correlations in females (Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport & Bergman, 2016). Investigated attributes of Narcissism include: a sense of self-importance and entitlement, interpersonal exploitation, lack of empathy, and excessive admiration needs (Ang & Yusof, 2006). 

Research examining Facebook use and its relationship to self-esteem amongst adolescents have also been an area of interest in the literature (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Mehdizadeh, 2010). Self-esteem refers to the level of value, respect, like or approval of oneself, and previously linked to the level of Facebook use. That is, those with low-level self-esteem tend to use Facebook as an activity to improve self-image (Tazghini & Siedlecki, 2013; Blachnio, Przepiorka & Rudnicka, 2016). Research evaluating the link between narcissism, self-esteem, and Facebook use in adolescents lacks robust evidence and deserves further consideration. The present study aims to investigate how Social Networking Sites relate to narcissism and what role self-esteem plays.

Subclinical narcissism (no recognisable findings), is considered a normal, healthy personality trait with varying degrees amongst individuals, and exists to a lesser degree than its clinical counterpart (Bergman et al., 2011). Nonetheless, both subclinical, and clinical narcissists embody the same attributes, hereafter referred to as ‘narcissism’. Over the past three decades, increasing debate about the prevalence of narcissism in subsequent generations of adolescents has been a focus. One claim is that empathetic concern has decreased, along with increased narcissistic levels (Panek, Nardis & Konrath 2013), while another contention is that no such apparent change in narcissism or narcissism prevalence exists (Trzeniewski, Donnellan & Robins, 2008). More recently, studies conducted in the past decade have taken factors like social networking sites, declining social support, and increasing opportunities to express individualism into consideration (Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport & Bergman, 2011; Barry & Rowland, 2015; Trzeniewski, Donnellan & Robins, 2008; Ong et al., 2011). A recent study conducted by Barry & Rowland (2015) found no empirically correlated relationships supporting increased narcissism in adolescents. However, due to the mixed findings to date, more research on this area is certainly warranted to understand this more comprehensively.

Narcissism and Self-Esteem in Adolescents

The present study examined the relationship between Facebook usage and levels of narcissism and self-esteem in a sample of adolescent participants. In particular, this study examined whether levels of narcissism positively correlated to social networking site use and whether the relationship is different for adolescents with low and high self-esteem. The hypotheses for this study were: 1) A significant moderate positive correlation between narcissism and social networking site use would be present; 2) The relationship between narcissism and social networking site use would be stronger for those who have high self-esteem than those with low self-esteem. 

Four hundred and twenty-nine students (197 male, 232 female) from selected Victorian schools took part in this experiment. Individuals ranged in age from 10 to 17 years (M = 13.87, SD = 1.70). All participants had parental consent to participate.

Narcissistic Personality Questionnaire for Children (NPQC, 2006).

The NPQC, is a self-report measure used to determine levels of narcissism in children (Ang & Yusof, 2006). The scale consists of 18 items evaluating narcissism-related cognitions/behaviors. Respondents indicate how often they perform or experience items, using a five-point Likert scale; 1 (“Not at all like me”) to 5 (“Completely like me”). Greater values indicate higher narcissism. NPQC demonstrated an acceptable level of internal consistency (α =.81; Ang & Yusof, 2006).

Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale (SES) (Rosenberg, 1965). 

The SES measure is used to determine an individual’s level of self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965). The scale consists of 10 self-rated single items, utilising a four-point Likert scale; 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 4 (“Strongly Agree”). Higher scores indicating higher self-esteem. SES demonstrated an acceptable level of internal consistency (α= .82; Rosenberg, 1965).

Data on gender, age, and SNS behaviors relating specifically to Facebook (e.g., average time per day, number of photos posted, number of friends) was collected.

Ethical approval was obtained from the university’s Human Research Ethics Committee, and the Department of Education. Participants were invited to take part in research via letters sent to principals of selected Victorian schools. Information and consent forms for parents were subsequently sent home with students. Completed consent forms were returned to teachers. A suitable date/time data collection was prearranged with participating school/s. On the day of data collection, students with parental permission were briefed regarding aims/objectives of the project and their voluntary contribution. Participants responded to the NPQC followed by the SES questionnaires and asked to answer instinctually without over analysing.  Upon completion of questionnaires, participants answered five Facebook demographics questions.  

Previous Studies on Narcissism in Adolescents

To test the research aims and hypothesis of this study, several analyses were used. The means and standard deviations for all variables used are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. 

Means and Standard Deviations of Age, Narcissism, Social Networking Sites and Self-esteem variables used in this study

Variable	M	SD	Scale
Age	13.87	1.7	(10-17)
Narcissism	54.82	6.54	(35-73)
Social Networking Sites
Time	70.56	22.40	(7-140)
No. of Friends	142.17	58.65	(6-312)
No. of Photos	200.02	64.99	(0-395)
Self-esteem	25.26	4.89	(10-40)

N = 429

Correlations between variables were considered and a significant weak positive linear relationship was present between Narcissism and Social Networking Sites (SNS) use (r = .32, p<.001). Those who reported more time using SNS, also reported higher levels of Narcissism. Additionally, a significant very weak positive linear relationship was present between Narcissism and number of SNS friends (r = .22, p<.001). Those who reported more friends on SNS, also reported higher levels of Narcissism. Furthermore, a significant moderate positive linear relationship was present between Narcissism and number of SNS Photos (r = .49, p<.001). Those who reported more photos on SNS, also reported higher levels of Narcissism. Table 2 and Table 3 show the intercorrelations between the variables in this study, respectively.

Table 2

Correlations among Narcissism, Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Low Self-esteem.

Variable	Narcissism	SNS- Time	SNS- Friends	SNS- Photos
Low Self-esteem	–
SNS – Time	.21**	–
SNS – No. of Friends	.07	.25***	–
SNS – No. of Photos	.38***	.34***	.28***	–
N = 223 ** p <.01, *** p <.001

Table 3

Correlations among Narcissism, Social Networking Sites (SNS) and High Self-esteem.

Variable	Narcissism	SNS- Time	SNS- Friends	SNS- Photos
High Self-esteem	–
SNS – Time	.33***	–
SNS – No. of Friends	.21**	.27***	–
SNS – No. of Photos	.42***	.47***	.24***	–
N = 206 ** p <.01, *** p <.001

The relationship between Narcissism and SNS time use was stronger for those who had high self-esteem (r = .33, p<.001), than for those who had low self-esteem (r = .21, p =.002). Furthermore, the mean level of Narcissism for those who had high self-esteem (M = 57.91, SD = 5.93) compared to those who had low self-esteem (M = 51.96, SD = 5.73) was significantly different t(427) = -10.58, p<.001 according to an independent samples t-test.

The current goal of this study aimed to investigate the relationship between Facebook usage, narcissism and self-esteem in adolescents. More specifically, this study aimed to examine whether narcissism positively correlates to social networking site (SNS) use, and whether the relationship was different for adolescents with low, and high self-esteem. Concerning these aims, this study predicted 1) A significant moderate positive correlation between narcissism and SNS use (time, friends, photos) would be present; and 2) The relationship between narcissism and SNS use would be stronger for those who have high self-esteem than those with low self-esteem.

It has been found by many research studies in the past that subclinical narcissism is quite normal and should be considered as a healthy personality trait that may vary in degree from individual to individual, and Bergman et al. (2011) have suggested that the existence of subclinical narcissism, when compared to its clinical counterpart, reveals a lesser degree of prevalence. But over the past years the debate on the prevalence of narcissism in subsequent generations of adolescents has gained prominent, and in this respect Panke, Nardis and Konrath (2013) have opined that today’s young generation lack empathy due to the increase in their levels of narcissism. Moreover, recent studies conducted on the rise in the degree of narcissism among the youths have shown that there are several factors that have contributed to the rise in the degree of narcissism among youths and such factors include excessive use of social networking sites, declination in social support, and increase in opportunities to express individualism more explicitly (Bergman, Ferrington, Davenport & Bergman, 2011).

Research Aims and hypotheses for the current study

As expected, hypothesis 1 was supported. Narcissism and Social Networking Site usage did significantly correlate; however, this relationship was not as strong as the hypothesis predicted. A positive weak correlation between Narcissism and Social Networking Site usage was the result of our findings.  The study did find that there are correlations between variables and such relationship has been identified as weak positive linear relationship existing between Narcissism and Social Networking Sites (SNS) use. Participants who reported investing more time in SNS were the ones who also reported higher levels of Narcissism. The participants who reported having more friends on social networking sites also reported to have higher levels of Narcissism, and the study has found that there is significant linear relationship between Narcissism and number of SNS photos. It was found that those participants who posted more photos in SNS were also the ones who experienced higher levels of Narcissism. Those participants having higher self-esteem were the ones who showed higher relationship between Narcissism and SNS time use, and those participants who had low self-esteem showed lesser time investment in SNS usage. Those participants having high self-esteem had the mean level of Narcissism than those who had low self-esteem.

The study that has been done reveals the degree of narcissism and its impact on usage of social media, Facebook, in regards to the participants of adolescent age group. The study, specifically, emphasizes on the question whether the degrees of narcissism imparts positive impact on the teenagers or it has absolutely separate impacts on the teenagers with different levels of self esteem. The outcome of this study hypothetically are: 1) Primarily there would be a positive correlation between narcissism and the activities on social networking sites 2) Next, the degree of relationship would be specified by the level of self esteem of the adolescents like the one with high self esteem would have stronger impact than those with lower self esteem. The research study finding correlates with the facts revealed in the research study, “Narcissism and Social Networking Web Sites,” in which Buffardi and Campbell (2008) have suggested that, the higher the levels of social activity in the online community the higher is the prediction for Narcissism, and they have also argued that, those individuals who are interested in more self-promoting contents in several aspects of the social networking sites (SNS) are more prone to show Narcissistic attitude. Buffardi and Campbell (2008) have argued pointed out that, “mediational analyses revealed several Web page content features were influential in raters’ narcissistic impressions of the owners, including quantity of social interaction, main photo self-promotion, and main photo attractiveness.” Moreover, quite interestingly, the study’s findings can be related to the findings in the study, “Narcissism and Social Networking Sites: The Act of Taking Selfies,” in which Wickel (2015) has suggested that there is an intricate relationship between higher SNS use and development of narcissistic attitude in the users. In this respect Wickel (2015) has pointed out that, “the act of taking selfies and posting them to the Internet is a factor leading to an increase in narcissistic and selfish behaviors.” Furthermore, Wickel (2015) did find that about 55% of the research participants agreed that whenever they did post selfies to different social networking platforms, they became more motivated to encourage their narcissistic and selfish behaviors. And this again proves the relationship between narcissism and excessive use of the SNS.

Methodology and data collection

References:

Ang, R. P., & Yusof, N. (2006). Development and initial validation of the narcissistic personality questionnaire for children: A preliminary investigation using school-based Asian samples. Educational Psychology, 26, 1-18. doi:10.1080/01443410500340942

Barker, V. (2009). Older adolescents’ motivations for social network site use: The influence of gender, group identity and collective self-esteem. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, 209-213. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0228

Barry, C. T., & Lee-Rowland, L. M. (2015). Has there been a recent increase in adolescent narcissism? Evidence from a sample of at-risk adolescents (2005-2014). Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 153-157. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.07.038

Bergman, S. M., Fearrington, M. E., Davenport, S. W., & Bergman, J. Z. (2011). Millennials, narcissism, and social networking: What narcissists do on social media networking sites and why. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 706-711. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.12.022

Blachnio, A., Przepiorka, A., & Rudnicka, P. (2016). Narcissism and self-esteem as predictors of dimensions of Facebook use. Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 296-301. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.018

Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210-230. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Buffardi, L.E. & Campbell, W. K. (2008). Narcissism and social networking web sites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1303-1314. doi:10.1177/0146167208320061

Carpenter, C. J. (2102). Narcissism on Facebook: Self-promotional and anti-social behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 482-486. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.011

Davenport, S. W., Bergman, S. M., Bergman, J. Z., & Fearrington, M. E. (2014). Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring the role of narcissism in the motives and usage of different social media platforms. Computers in Human Behavior, 32, 212-220. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.12.011

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143-1168. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x

Facebook (2016). Retrieved from https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/

Mehdizadeh, S. (2010). Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13, 357-364. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0257

Ong, E. Y.L., Ang, R. P., Ho, J. C.M., Lim, J. C.Y., Goh, D. H., & Lee, C. S. (2011). Narcissism, extraversion and adolescents’ self-presentation on Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 180-185. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.022

Panek, E. T., Nardis, Y., & Konrath, S. (2013). Mirror or megaphone?: How relationships between narcissism and social networking site use differ on Facebook and Twitter. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 2004-2012. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.012

Pempek, T. A., Yermolayeva, Y. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students’ social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30, 227-238. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.010

Rosenberg, Morris. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, edited by Morris Rosenberg, Princeton University Press, 1965. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/lib/swin/detail.action?docID=4070962.

Skues, J. L., Williams, B. & Wise, L. (2012). The effects of personality traits, self-esteem, loneliness, and narcissism on Facebook use among university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 2414-2419. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.012

Tazghini, S., & Siedlecki, K. L. (2013). A mixed method approach to examining Facebook use and its relationship to self-esteem. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 827-832. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.11.010

Trzeniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (2008). Do today’s young people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular trends in narcissism and self-enhancement. Psychological Science, 19, 181-188.

Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9, 584-590. doi:10.1090/cpb.2006.9.584

Wickel, T.M. (2015). Narcissism and Social Networking Sites: The Act of Taking Selfies. ELON Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communication, 6(1), 1-2.