“Let Me Take Another Selfie”: Further Examination of the Relation Between Narcissism, Self-Perception, and Instagram Posts

Abstract

The present study sought to replicate and extend recent research on the association between posting self-photographs (“selfies”) and self-perception, particularly narcissism. This study also considered the link between self-perception and photos of oneself that were not selfies (“posies”) to determine if there were intrapersonal implications of selfies versus other self-displays on the popular social media platform, Instagram. Participants with both self-report and observational data were 100 (20 males, 80 female) undergraduates. Selfies and posies were coded according to their frequency relative to participants’ posts that did not include their own image and according to themes (i.e., physical appearance, event/activity/location, affiliation with others, collage, other/undifferentiated). Overall, such posts were not associated with narcissism or self-esteem, with some specific themes showing small correlations with narcissism and concerns regarding societal attitudes about appearance. Some aspects of participants’ Instagram activity (i.e., number of likes for selfies and posies; number of followers) were significantly correlated with posting posies. The implications of these findings for research methodology on social media behavior and in the connection between self-perception and photo sharing on social media are discussed.