PSYC327 - Self esteem, narcissism and the internet

how is self-esteem linked to mental health disorders?

High self-esteem better life outcomes, fewer mental distress and better wellbeing scores. Not related directly to mental illness so low self-esteem not related to mental distress

what is self-presentation?

ability to present ourselves as someone we are not, on social media.

how is the internet a seminal invention?

new devlelopment in social interaction, Human behaviour is changing because of the internet. Levels of narcissism growing because of internet use, nowadays have to think in context of the internet around human behaviour due to its huge influence.

what is the growth % of the internet? (ref)

in 1995 less than 1% of the worlds population had internet access. 64% of the world's total population actively use social media (September 2025). This figure was 42% in 2019

what are positives and negatives of facebook use?

excessive facebook use has been linked with isolation, skipping meals and headaches (Al-Dubai et al, 2013)

however Grieve et al, 2013, found that Facebook use was associated with lower depression, lower anxiety and higher life satisfaction +(N = 274)

why do we continue to use social media even though we know its bad for us?

Short term pleasure, gratification, communication with other people, ways to connect, news and politics (practical), source of information

why might social media lower our self-esteem?

through comparison with others. Process of comparing with others to learn more about ourselves. Problem is cant turn it off so continue comparing with social media which is normally glorified and ideal. Biased vision of peoples lives which we then compare. Also unrealistic images.

what is the difference between active and passive use of the internet?

-Active = presenting self, confirming identity and communicating (good for self-esteem).

-Passive = looking at other people, challenges self-esteem and undermines

why is facebook important despite limitations?

used by 18 to 24 year olds, and the importance of these years for identity formation (building close relationships and joining peer groups) Facebook may play a significant role in young people's psycho-social development and personality development (Eskisu et al, 2016)

why do people with low-self esteem use social media more?

could be protected by anonymity, manipulate personality and could be unauthentic like an alter ego online, control of persona you are presenting on the internet

what is self-determination theory?

Ryan & Deci (2019), believe social networking sites (SNS) satisfy three innate and universal needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness which together motivate human behaviour and achieve high self-esteem

what is the role of autonomy, competence and relatedness?

-Autonomous feel capable and independent and rely on own abilities,

-competence capable of achieving goals and challenges,

-relatedness want to feel connected with other people, innate social tendencies of humans

what are examples of the 3 aspects of social determination theory on social media?

-Stay in touch with friends and family and make new friends(relatedness)

-Learn new information (competence and autonomy)

what is the problem of social media on life satisfaction?

use of social media negatively associated with life satisfaction, with this negative relationship being mediated by the 'belief that other people have happier lives' (Chou & Edge, 2012)

how can facebook use lead to low self-esteem?

use relates to negative social comparison (everyone on the internet looks happy) which leads to negative self-perception and low self-esteem

what is self-esteem?

overall sense of personal worth, value and confidence in your abilities

who uses social media more: high or low self-esteem?

Social media use is generally associated with lower self-esteem (Andreasen et al 2017). However most research in this area has been on Facebook use

why do people with low-self esteem use social media?

-Those with low self-esteem regard social media as a safer place to express themselves than do people with high self-esteem (Forest & Wood, 2012). Social media is easy to control

-Social media can also be used as a welcome distraction for people with low self-esteem (escapism)

what is the short term gain and long term loss of using social media?

Browsing close friends on social media briefly boosts self-esteem (by finding new friends, increase a sense of belonging, obtain 'likes' and positive comments), but also reduces self-control leading to increased likelihood of problematic internet use, over-eating and credit card debt (Wilcox & Stephen, 2013)

what is the actual and ideal self (Higgins 1987)?

part of self-discrepancy theory, how people manifest 'two selves' our true self and the self we present to the world. self-discrepancy is the gap between the two. self- present to the world ian ideal self of what you want to be. Social media offers a context to this.

Want to be accepted for true self. Individual difference (self-monitoring) vary on if people want their true self to be presented.

why are people more likely to post their authentic self on social media?

Our online personality can be closely scrutinised by many people and glaring contrasts between our actual and online self will be noticed by friends and family (Twomey & O'Reilly, 2017)

what is the link between inauthentic self-presentation and personality traits and self-esteem?

Twomey & O'Reilly (2017) Found that inauthentic self-presentation on social media is consistently related to:

- low self-esteem and elevated levels of social anxiety

- more likely in people high in neuroticism and narcissism

- Authentic self-presentation was consistently associated with high-self- esteem and perceived social support

what is limitations with Twomey & O'Reilly (2017) research?

Ps tend to be young. There is wide variety in how concepts are operationalised undermining efforts at comparisons between studies

what are interventions to highlight how dysfunctional behaviour can form from self-presentation on the internet?

x

what are limitations with the interventions?

Such interventions will sometimes be welcome - e.g., highlighting the connection between inauthentic self-presentation and social anxiety, and sometimes unwelcome - e.g., highlighting the link between inauthentic self-presentation and narcissism

what is pathological internet use (PUI)?

use internet in way that negatively impacts other parts of our lives. Not just how often but when we use the internet. For example going on the internet rather then spending time with family.

what are common demographics for PUI?

■4.4 % of European adolescents have pathological internet use, with significant differences between countries (Durkee et al 2012)

■Vulnerabilities for pathological internet use (PIU) include: being male, living in an urban area, having family problems

how can excessive internet use lead to negative effects?

■A person displays anxiety when disconnected from the internet

■ negative impact on friendships and increases loneliness

■interferes with sleep

■interferes with healthy eating and exercise

■ relates to depression or anxiety

what is the cycle that PUI can lead to?

The loneliness Caused by problematic internet use cannot be cured by internet use (Yao & Zhong, 2014); the lonely person remains on the internet seeking an end to their loneliness which will only be found by breaking away (catch-22)

■PIU can trap people in cycles of dysfunctional behaviour

what is a problem with studying PUI?

that people use the internet for a variety of different reasons

E.g., Kim et al (2008) studied players of Massive Multi-player Online Role-playing Games (MMORPG); players found such games to be more satisfying than real life, allowing them to express aggressive impulses and satisfy narcissistic desires. Online game addiction was associated with aggressiveness, low self-control and narcissistic personality traits

what was Sideli et al (2017) study on age and PUI?

653ps from Italy,

■Found a negative correlation between PIU and age (younger ps were more prone to PIU)

■PIU was related to higher levels of impulsivity, sensation seeking, aggression, sociability and perceived lack of personal competence

■PIU was related to low self-esteem

what is support for Sideli et al study?

Other studies support the finding that adolescents are more prone to PIU (e.g., Kuss et al, 2014). This may relate to brain development - specifically of the nucleus accumbens and orbito-frontal cortex BUT

what is narcissism?

an inflated view of self, especially about one's own power and importance. narcissism is related to feelings of superiority (and focus on hierarchy.

what is the link of narcissism with self-esteem?

High self-esteem - grandiose narcissist (everybody looking at them, wanting attention, tend to feel happier)

Low self-esteem - vulnerable narcissist (want attention, but less confidence to do that)

how does social media benefit narcissists?

■Social media allows individuals to express their ambitions and display their success to a potentially large audience and obtain highly visible rewards and recognition through likes and positive comments

how can social media negatively impact narcissists?

■Being overtly narcissistic on Facebook is viewed negatively by other users due to being less likeable and worthy of friendship. Users high in narcissism are less likely to receive 'likes' and comments (Choi et al, 2015)

what did Bergman et al (2011) find about the catch-22 with narcissists on social media?

found that narcissists did not use Facebook any more than non narcissists, but used it for a different reason - to make numerous shallow social connections

Challenged as want audience and want attention however audience can tell narcissistic and then it will lead to rejection.

is narcissism increasing?*

Narcissism tendency may be increasing due to more so then earlier generations and due to change in parenting style(Twenge & Campbell, 2013)

; BUT Wetzel et al, 2017 disagree)

?This increase may be due to use of social media (Rosen et al, 2013)

what was Reed et al (2018) study on PUI and narcissism?

Four-month time lag correlation study, attempt to make correlations indicate causality. Initial problematic internet use predicted later narcissism scores, but only for users of visual forms of social media. It may be that problematic internet use enhances a nascent narcissistic tendency by making the individual feel like the centre of attention and a person to be admired

■BUT small sample, and used self-report measures

what is social media addiction?

being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable motivation to log onto or use social media, and devoting so much time and effort to social media that it impacts other important life areas

what is the difference between social media addiction and PUI?

■Social media addiction is about compulsion to use the internet; PIU is about social media use having a negative impact on other parts of one's life

what are demographics of those who have social media addiction?

Kuss et al (2014):

-Young people score higher on social media addiction scales than do older people

-Single people are more prone to social media addiction than are those with partners

-Women are more likely to be addicted in social interaction contexts

what did Andreassen et al (2017) find about social media habits?

Obtained 23,532 responses from an online survey in norweigan newspapers.

Found significant correlations between:

■Social media addiction and narcissism

■Negative correlation between social media addiction and self-esteem

■Young, single, female, with low education (but also students) and income were most addiction prone

why are females more likely to be addiction prone?

x

what did Nguyen et al (2025) find about narcissism and social media addiction?

■Questionnaire based study in Vietnam on Gen z participants (426 respondents)

■Higher narcissism related to social media addiction

■Social media addiction had a negative impact on self-esteem

■There was a strong negative impact between social media addiction and life satisfaction.

what is the problem with the bulk of narcissism research?

Most research has focused on a broad conceptualization of narcissism, neglecting its complexity (Casale & Banchi, 2020)

what are 4 narcissism sub-types?

Admirative, Vulnerable, Rivalrous and Communal

what is admirative narcissism?

Similar to grandiose, confident and charismatic. Wants to be centre of attention and has traits to do that however also seen as unpleasant to be around.

why do admirative narcissists use social media?

SNS allows for a display of agency (e.g., achievements or material) to a large audience and manifestations of social approval (e.g., "likes" and comments; Andreassen et al., 2017) are visible and countable

what are communal narcissists?

Smug, person who is charismatic and capable. Higher level of emotional intelligence can be centre of attention and skills to not come across as obnoxious. Instead of saying how nice their car is instead talk about how good they are at giving to charity

why do communal narcissists use social media?

■Membership of online social networks does not require concrete action or behaviour and might be based on unverifiable self-serving declarations only

■SNSs provide wide yet largely superficial social networks, presenting large audiences and more frequent communion-based ego-boosts (e.g., acquiring new friends on SNSs) with smaller effort, compared to offline relations

what are rivalrous narcissists?

Wants to be centre of attention but lack emotional and social intelligence. Not good at how they come across and not charismatic. Classic example is internet troll become angry and engage in aggressive online behaviour.

why do rivalrous narcissists use social media?

self-protection strategy might be manifested as aggressive online behaviour (e.g., interpersonal manipulation, cyberbullying, and trolling; Craker & March 2016).

what are vulnerable narcissists?

Characterized by a fragile grandiose self, which might be easily (compared to other aspects of narcissism) undermined by others. Thus, it is associated with self-protection and avoidant/preventing strategies, expressed in hypersensitivity and anxiety

why do vulnerable narcissists use social media?

Creating a fully controlled, unrealistic, positive online image, such as promoting the most attractive self-portrait photos (Fox & Rooney, 2015) derives from self-protective avoidance of ego-threats

what are gender differences in the narcissism subtypes?

-Meta-analytic research (Grijalva et al., 2015) showed that admirative narcissism is higher among men

Gender differences were not found in vulnerable narcissism nor in communal narcissism.

No research for rivalrous narcissism

how does self-esteem distinguish between the subtypes?

■Self-esteem correlates negatively with vulnerable and rivalrous narcissism

■Self-esteem correlates positively with admirative and communal narcissism

what was Balcerowska and Sawicki (2022) study on narcissism sub types?

Questionnaire based study measuring the four different forms of narcissism along with SNS addiction and self-esteem. most were polish students

what did Balcerowska and Sawicki (2022) find about admirative narcissism?

-admirative not uniquely related to SNS addiction. The SNSs might not be the optimal platform for solely agentic self-enhancement. more effective in face to face encounters.

what did Balcerowska and Sawicki (2022) find about communal narcissism?

Positively and independently related to SNS addiction. SNSs are useful platforms for self-promotion in the communal domain (especially in contrast to self-promotion in the agency domain) as SNSs are based on building and expanding social connections

what did Balcerowska and Sawicki (2022) find about rivalrous narcissism?

■Related positively to SNS addiction in all three studies.

■Opportunities to realize narcissistic motives via antagonism without severe interpersonal costs are limited. From that perspective, SNSs might serve as a relatively low-cost (e.g., anonymity) environment for dysfunctional emotional regulation, which may lead to SNS addiction. like online trolling

what did Balcerowska and Sawicki (2022) find about vulnerable narcissism?

■Related positively to SNS addiction. relative safety of controlled SNS interactions may serve them as a compensatory way of fulfilling social needs, and in turn, increase the risk of addiction

what is the problem with online misinformation?

misinformation thrives on uncertainty and public crises and stimulates individuals' attention by using catchy phrases or emotional narratives to accelerate its diffusion via media platforms

how do narcissists use misinformation online?

A narcissism encounters a post on social media which could be fake, more binary outlook to see if it confirms their worldview or not. If want to be viewed positively don't want to be humiliated by fake news so view it more carefully. Or feel excited by dramatic story so want to repost to provoke a response in people

what are findings with how narcissists use misinformation positively?

■Some studies indicate that due to the desire for self-enhancement and self-affirmation, narcissists exhibit better self-regulatory capabilities on task and achievement (e.g. Morf and Rhodewalt, 2001)

■Narcissists are determined not to be wrong or to be fooled by others

what are findings with how narcissists use misinformation negatively?

narcissists also have overconfidence and excessive online presence, which could trigger greater internalization and distribution of misinformation once exposed to inaccurate information.

Narcissistic individuals are more likely to engage with social media content by sharing and forwarding it to others (Meng and Leung, 2021).

how can social media literacy help to combat negative impacts of social media?

The ability to critically consume social media information enhances healthy scepticism and reduces misperceptions (e.g. Xiao et al., 2021). this can then have a positive impact to stop negative comparisons.

what is incidental news exposure?

learn news information even when we are not specifically seeking it

consistent Research on online news exposure, especially incidental news exposure, has yielded promising results ranging from factual knowledge acquisition to political participation

what did Xiao & Su (2022) find on high narcissism and mis-information when consuming incidental news online?

546 individuals, study identified a significant inter-relationship between incidental online news exposure (mis-perception) and propagation of the mis-information to others.

Social media users with an excessive online presence and higher narcissistic orientation could be central players in misinformation proliferation and should be the target audience in future interventions

how might narcissists perceive their ability to spot misinformation?

Narcissists have increased misperceptions and share misinformation when exposed to incidental online news. Narcissists perhaps overestimate their abilities to discern misinformation from a glut of news information. Due to a craving for online interactions

what is an intervention to help stop the spread of misinformation?

Xiao (2022) study demonstrates that mobilizing media-literate narcissists to counter misinformation or train these individuals to pioneer corrective activities on social media could be particularly helpful

what is the problem with vulnerable narcissists and worsening their self-esteem through social media?

■SNS may lead low self-esteem people (including vulnerable narcissists) to shy away from social and participatory activities to the point of risking withdrawal from the community social scene to avoid criticism or disconfirmation of their worth (Pincus and Lukowitsky 2010).

why do vulnerable narcissists have a problem with a sense of community?

interpersonal relationships are not disturbed by a tendency to exploit others (as with grandiose narcissism) but by hypersensitivity to rejection and criticism from others, a factor that justifies withdrawal and disinvestment from community relationships (Gnambs and Appel 2018).

what did Novara et al (2025) find about vulnerable narcissists and community?

381 participants, Vulnerable narcissists with low self-esteem had a particularly low sense of community engagement.

■Adolescents with vulnerable narcissism who use SNSs frequently receive feedback from the web that would help them perceive the community context as less threatening to their self- esteem

what is self-compassion?

involves allowing people to forgive their own drawbacks and accept imperfections

Self-compassion is increasingly proposed as a buffer to negative self-evaluations due to social media use, and promotor of acceptance (Neff et al., 2007).

what was Mosanya et al (2024) study on social media and self-compassion?

conducted in poland, 527 ps. Results were only significant for female participants. There was a significant negative impact of social media addiction on self-esteem.

■Self- compassion was revealed as a substantial buffer to the negative effect of social media addiction on self-esteem, while narcissism was indirectly strengthening this relationship

how can self-compassion help with negative impacts of social media?

Interventions promoting self-compassion could lessen the negative effect of extensive engagement with social media on self-evaluations

what did a meta-analysis reveal about narcissism and aggression?

Kjærvik and Bushman (2021), considering 437 independent studies, revealed a positive correlation between different forms of aggression and both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in clinical and nonclinical samples.

what did Rohmann et al (2024) find about narcissism and online trolling?

■Male participants were more likely than females to engage in trolling behaviour

■Trolling behaviour correlated with aggression

■Trolling behaviour correlated with narcissism (and psychopathy and Machiavellianism). The correlation with vulnerable narcissism was stronger than that with grandiose narcissism

why is facebook important despite limitations?