Katerina Avgeropoulou Research Methods Project FALL SEMESTER 2014

Research Proposal and Pilot Study
Narcissism on Social Media:
“Sharing” your self-love on Facebook and Twitter
Katerina Avgeropoulou
ID: 132084
Professor: Dr. Simon Leader
CN3532A1
Fall Semester 2014

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Abstract
Social media are “holding” a large part of our lives and they are gaining more and
more attention and members daily. Moreover various studies have been conducted in
order to explore whether and how social media have an impact on society, and also if
they are contributing to the increase of narcissism in society. Existing researches on
social media though, indicate uncertain findings and they are also mentioning that
further research is needed in order to gain a “deeper” knowledge on how social media
influence society and individuals. As a result, I decided to conduct research and a pilot
study about the relationship of social media and narcissism.
For the purposes of my research I chose to explore Facebook, Twitter and their
relationship with narcissism. I chose these two platforms because they are the most
popular and commonly used, and also because of the way that they are structured;
which allows the researcher to gain valuable data about their users.
At the first part of my research (literature review) I am discussing previous findings of
studies; conducted on social media and also on narcissism, in order to gain a better and
“deeper” understanding about my topic and also of what people have said about it.
After the literature review, I am discussing possible methods that I could use for my
pilot study and I am also explaining their advantages and disadvantages. Continuing, I
am explaining that I chose survey as the actual method for my pilot study. The results of
my pilot study indicated that people with high narcissistic traits tend to have more than
1000 friends on Facebook and more than 1500 “followers” on Tweeter. Moreover,

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results of the questionnaires indicate that people with high narcissistic traits are using
their real names on their Facebook accounts but they use fake names or nicknames on
their Twitter account. The sample of this research though is relatively small and
homogeneous as a result further research is needed in order to obtain general and more
solid assumptions on the topic.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction................................................................................................................4
Literature Review .......................................................................................................5
Methodology............................................................................................................36
Focus Groups ......................................................................................................37
Intensive Interviews............................................................................................41
Survey .................................................................................................................44
Pilot Study ................................................................................................................46
Results......................................................................................................................49
Conclusion................................................................................................................74
References................................................................................................................76
Appendix 1................................................................................................................82
Appendix 2................................................................................................................88

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Introduction
Today we live in the digital era where online communities and platforms have
transformed the way that we communicate with each other. Moreover, social media
and blogs are gaining more attention and members daily. Consequently, as a
communication student I think that it is very important to explore and learn more about
social media, how they work, and how they influence society.
The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between narcissism and social
media. The main purpose of this research proposal is to explore whether Facebook or
Twitter or both, can contribute to the rise of narcissism in our society. Moreover, this
study aims to examine whether Facebook and Twitter can be used as indicators so that
people can “detect” narcissistic personalities on the online world.
Moreover, not enough research has been conducted yet, in order to understand the
impact of social media on individuals and on society. Furthermore, most of the studies
that have been conducted on social media are presenting ambiguous and uncertain
findings, thus more research is needed. As a result I chose to explore if and how
Facebook and Twitter are related with narcissism, and also if is it possible to “detect”
narcissistic personalities through their Facebook and Twitter accounts. I chose to
conduct research about Facebook and Twitter because these two platforms are among
the most popular and commonly used social networking websites.

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Literature Review
This literature review is organized according to the source type (books, articles,
additional sources) and each type is also chronologically organized.
Books
 Marshall L. Silverstein, 2002, Disorders of the Self: A Personality-Guided
Approach.
This book describes and analyzes various psychological disorders, it provides a wide
historical context in which they were first described and evolved through time, and it
also discusses various theoretical approaches. The main characteristic of this book is
that Silverstein is interested in analyzing and exploring psychological and psychiatric
disorders by focusing on personality as the main variable, which can help experts to
understand better these disorders and also to treat them even more effectively. As
Silverstein mentions: “We are at the dawn of the 21st century, ready to focus our
attentions even more seriously on the subject of personality trait differences and their
impact on a wide variety of psychological subjects”.
The book describes various disorders such as: Narcissistic Personality Disorder,
Schizoid Avoidant personality disorder, Paranoid, Antisocial, and Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorders form different theoretical points of views.

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Chapter 2 in particular, describes the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). In this
chapter Silverstein mentions that it is complex to understand narcissism because it is a
condition that has been described with imprecise terminology more than any other
personality disorder. Silverstein first describes clinical characteristics, descriptive
psychopathology of Narcissism, and also its relationship with other personality
disorders, by stating different approaches of various experts.
The author presents Beck and Freeman’s (1990) cognitive approach, which describes
the narcissistic personality with traits such as: a pompous self-image combined with
insensitivity, little or no cooperation with other people, and lack of reciprocity in their
social relationships (p.29). Moreover the author mentions, Widiger’s (1994) viewpoint;
that narcissists are characterizes mainly by low agreeableness1 (p.29), thus a direct
relationship is created among narcissismand the big five personality traits2.
Moreover, Silverstein cites a very interesting description of narcissistic personality
stated by Kernberg in 1975 (p.33):
Feel restless and bored when external glitter wears off and no new sources feed their
self-regard. They envy others, tend to idealize some people from whom they expect
narcissistic supplies and to depreciate and treat with contempt those from whom
they do not expect anything. (p.228)
1 Agreeableness: This personality dimension (oneof the bigfive) includes attributes such as trust,
altruism,kindness,affection,and other prosocial behaviors.
2 Psychologistsbelievethat there are five major personality dimensions,which can help experts
understand and describebetter, psychological disorders.

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This book and especially chapter two helped me understand and familiarize with the
concept of narcissism and its traits. It provided for my research a rich theoretical
background not only in terms of the historical development of the term, but also by
presenting various and sometimes even contradictory descriptions of narcissism, it
helped me gain a wider knowledge of what has been said about this disorder from
various perspectives. Furthermore, the book by giving emphasis; for the description of
disorders on personality traits (such as low agreeableness), it helped me create a
connection among the big five dimensions of personality and narcissism.
This was very helpful, because whenever during my research I read in a source about a
positive correlation of social media and people with low agreeableness, it directly
referred me also to a relationship with narcissism; as one of the characteristics of
narcissists is low agreeableness.
 Ronningstam Elsa, 2005, Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic
Personality.
Ronningstam in her book provides a deep understanding of narcissism, as the book
includes a wide spectrum of information on the subject. Beginning on chapter one, the
author provides a detailed record of how the term begun as a myth and how it gradually
evolved to a psychological disorder. Ronningstam also describes how the term
narcissism was perceived during Renaissance and how this perception was transformed
in the 21st century. Moreover, the book mentions how narcissism was depicted in art
and especially paintings during the Renaissance.

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As Ronningstam describes in the first chapter, the word narcissism comes from the
myth of Narcissus (Melville, 1986), who was a very beautiful young man who was cold
and distant from the young boys and girls that loved him. Narcissus in the end fell in
love with his own image which was reflected on the river, and when he realized that he
was in love with himself, he felt so depressed and incapable to handle his love for his
own self, that he faded away.
Moreover, in chapter one Ronningstam mentions: “in art and literature during the
medieval and early Renaissance eras the theme was used to illustrate the dangerous
sinfulness and deadly punishment attached to excessive self-preoccupation and self
adulation.”(p.3). The Narcissus theme as she continues inspired many artists and the
first attempt to depict him was in a wall painting in Pompeii. Gradually the portraits of
Narcissus instead of man were depicting women who, as Ronningstam mention:
“Representad the fatal sin of self-admiration and vanity.”(p.4)
The book in chapter one also mentions the first psychiatric and psychoanalytic theories
on narcissism. For example, Ellis in 1898 was the first who introduced the term
narcissism in his study on autoeroticism. Then Freud mentioned the term narcissism in a
footnote in 1910 at Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, as a stage in the
development of male homosexuality (p.5). Moreover, Freud connected narcissism with
aggression as Ronningstamsays (p.8).
In the second chapter of the book, the writer introduces the distinction between
normal and pathological narcissism. As it is mentioned in the book normal narcissism is

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not a bad thing; instead it mobilizes us to strive for the best in life, to protect and
defend ourselves, manage challenges, trauma, and loss (p.32). Pathological narcissism is
described extensively in chapter four.
Continuing in chapter two, Ronningstam describes the connection among culture and
narcissism. She says that the structure of society can enhance or provide a “fertile”
ground for the development of narcissism. An example is the emphasis on the
individualistic values that dominate in current society and contribute to the reduction of
family, group, and community affiliation (p.44). As she mentions: “Western cultures,
which promote inner separateness and independent self-motivation, assertiveness and
mobility, would urge narcissistic functioning (p. 44).
In chapter four, Ronningstam emphasizes and explains pathological narcissism and she
defines it as: “Pathological narcissism differs from healthy or normal narcissism because
self-esteem is deregulated, serving to protect and support a grandiose but fragile self.”
(p. 70). In this chapter the author describes that narcissism can be more obvious or less
according to the degree that the narcissistic traits are expressed. Some of the traits that
the book defines as narcissistic are: aggression, lack of empathy, superficial short-term
relationships, low self esteem, and insecurity; which is expressed though as a confident
person that many times is the leader of the social group.
This book was valuable for my research, because it provided me the origins and the
evolution of narcissism in great detail and through various different stages. As a result, it
filled the gaps and answered my questions in terms of how narcissism became what we

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know today. Moreover, chapters two and four “cleared” the blurry lines between
normal and pathological narcissism and provided knowledge of various forms of
narcissism that exist such as: extraordinary narcissism, the psychopathic type of
narcissism, the shy type of narcissism, and malignant narcissism. All these types share
the common characteristics I described above, but some types include other
characteristics and also the characteristics differ to the extent which they exist in the
different types. To sum up, this book made clear; what is narcissism, how and when did
begun, and how it evolved to what it is today.
 D.E. Wittkower et al, 2010, Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on your mind?
The most interesting thing about this book is that each chapter is written by a
different author, and the authors come from various backgrounds lawyers, sociologists,
professors of communication, and professors of philosophy. This book discusses and
tries to identify; what is Facebook, who uses it, why and how Facebook affects society
and our privacy, and also what impact has in Democracy.
In chapter two Graham Meikle discusses how facebook follows the convergence that
characterizes 21st century societies. Facebook combines news feeds, mixes personal
updates with random trivia, videos, personal confessions, and links from people that
some of them we know very well and some we barely know them if at all. As Meikle
says:“facebook is a weird blend of personal communication and public media.” (p. 13).
Marinucci in chapter six, discusses about “the online desinhibition effect” that is
evident in facebook. The online disinhibition effect was first introduced by psychologist

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John Suler who says: “Whereby people engaged in online interaction loosen up, feel less
restrained, and express themselves more openly.” Suler also says: “While online, some
people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person.”
(p. 67).
Thus, according to Marinucci, online communication in social media creates a net of
safety. The possibility of fake profiles in facebook creates an anonymity which gives
users a sense of freedom, and they express more freely than they would do in a face-to-
face interaction. This is a reason for the increase of anger and aggression in social
networking sites.
According to Marinucci, there are five factors that contribute to the online disinhibition
effect. The first factor is anonymity, the potential of fake profiles that facebook provides
and in general online anonymity gives as I mentioned a sense of freedom and people do
not afraid to give for example harsh or offensive criticisms or comments. The second
factor is “being invisible”, in online communication there is an absence of non vernal
cues which in face to face interaction complete the meaning of a conversation. Thus,
this lack of nonverbal cues makes easier to disregard the feelings of others.
The third factor is the “out of sync” factor, as Suler describes: “Communicating online,
may lead to a person feeling that the interactions are part of his own internal fantasy
world. And this too can lead to the shrinking of inhibitions.” (p. 69). The forth factor is
the “it’s not real”, which according to Suler means that people online tend to forget that
what they are writing is real, record and remains forever. According to Suler cited by

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Marinucci: “It’s not surprise that people are less inhibited online given how easy it is to
forget, even momentarily, that what we do online can have real life consequences.
The fifth factor is described as “The minimization of status and authority” which
basically implies that in online interaction there is a mutual peer-to-peer type of
connection, race ethnicity and economic status tend to be forgotten and that reduces
inhibition. In the end though, Marinnuci concludes that these five factors do not apply
so much in facebook. She mentions that in facebook it is more possible to have a real-
name profile, emoticons serve as non verbal cues, and because we know most of our
friends in person, these five factors apply to online communication but not so much in
facebook.
In my personal opinion that is not the case, by communicating with friends and other
acquaintances, the five factors do apply also in communication through facebook. That
is because people create fake profiles all the time, emoticons can’t replace non verbal
cues and in general it is very easy to alter or hide your identity in facebook and have the
disinhibition effect.
To sum up, this book was an interesting source because of the plurality of the voices
and opinions, and even though I don’t agree with everything expressed in the book, it
provided me with the six reasons that affect (in my opinion) the way that we interact in
social media and as a result it expanded my knowledge on facebook and of what
“happens” in online communication and the differences with face-to-face interaction.

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 Mary Cross, 2011, Bloggerati, twitterati: How Blogs and Twitter are
Transforming Popular Culture.
This book was useful for my research because: it describes how twitter and blogs
work, it gives a brief historical context of when twitter was created, provides statistics
about the fast growth of twitter’s members, discusses how it affects or even transforms
society, and explains why twitter is so attractive.
In the first chapter, Cross discusses how twitter has transformed popular culture. She
says: “Twitter allows everyone, from Joe the plumber to Lady Gaga to record their every
thought and movement.” She also mentions that: “Twitterati are first responders
whenever there’s a crisis, and Twitter has become the first place to look for an
eyewitness account of whatever’s happening.” (p. 2). As cross discusses, twitter is the
first place where everybody can see the latest news; from earthquake reports and
politicians popularity to what Jessica Alba wears today at the grocery store. As a result
twitter has transformed popular culture and the convergence element is obvious,
nowadays there is no separation between high and low culture; important and
unimportant news. Today there is the popular culture, which combines both high and
low culture.
Cross continues by explaining the reasons which made twitter so popular and fast
growing, with an exponential growth of its members annually. The reasons are that:
twitter gives the gratification of connection people can connect with millions in few
seconds, instant gratification; meaning that connecting almost instantly gives such a

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high level of pleasure that can even lead to addiction. As cross mentions: “This can get
to be addictive. In fact, one of the first rehab programs for Internet addicts (RESTART)
has just opened up in Redmond, Washington.”
Another important reason of twitter’s popularity is “spontaneity of self expression”. As
Cross explains, in all social media you can say whatever you want whenever you want
and this satisfies people (p.4). The most important reason of twitter’s tremendous
appeal is the fact that you have a big audience. Cross says: “on Twitter, you are not just
expressing yourself; you’re performing for an audience, often an audience of complete
strangers. They’re going to reply and comment on your performance, rate it, critique it,
love it or hate it!” (p. 4).
In chapter four Cross say that major twitter users are separated into three groups: 1)
young adults age 18-29 that are significantly more likely to user twitter more in
comparison to older adults, 2) African Americans and Latinos who are twice more likely
to use twitter than white users, 3) Urbanites: urban residents are more likely to use
twitter than rural citizens (p. 52).
In addition, in Chapter four Cross connects directly twitter with narcissism as she says
that Twitter brings out everyone’s hidden exhibitionistic traits. Cross speaks about
“attention junkies” (p. 53) who seek for gratification through the approval of their
audience. Moreover, according to the website: monitoring.com Cross mentions that the
main twitter users are 18-34 years old.

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This book had great value for my research because it informed me about: who uses
twitter and why, how twitter affects popular culture and most important it connected
directly twitter users with narcissism or narcissistic traits. It was a great source which
helped me understand how twitter may be even more influential (especially for young
people) than facebook.
 Marichal, José, 2012, Facebook Democracy: The Architecture of Disclosure and
the Threat to Public Life.
In this book José discusses how facebook “erases the fog around us” and describes the
decline of privacy through facebook’s “Architecture of Disclosure”. The author also
points, how the sense of community has been reduced in the real world and she
characterizes the new kind of citizen as the “Personal Citizen”3.
José in chapter one says that facebook changed the paradigm of the internet it
connected the public with the private sphere, people use their real names and real facts
about their lives but these information are mixed with public media news and are
accessible to millions of people. This shift of paradigm that mostly Facebook created
according to José, is one of the major reasons for its popularity. Also another advantage
that contributed to the great appeal of Facebook according to the author is the ability to
“self-select” a community in which one can construct his identity and “hand-pick”
his/her interactions. This sense of control into one’s image creates a great appeal for
3 With the term “personal citizen”the writer means that becausewe livein a highly individualisticsociety
the major concern of people is their personal growth, health and prosperity,thus people are less
concerned about community’s welfare.

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people and attracts constantly new Facebook members (p. 6). Also the author says that
Facebook differs a lot from the real- world/offline community. In Facebook only 10% of
the people who are labeled by the platform as our “friends” are regarded as close
friends, while 90% are friends of friends or people that we met only few times and we
wouldn’t call them friends in the offline world.
In terms of Facebook’s design and architecture, José says that the creator of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, chose “an architecture of disclosure”. As the author mentions,
Zuckerberg designed Facebook in a way that promotes “the ethos of radical
transparency”, meaning that everyone has one identity in order to eliminate the lack of
transparency. This personal disclosure though, is the key to Facebook’s existence,
because this transparency provides the content for tailored-made ads for each user (p.
7, 8). Also this architecture of disclosure according to the author makes Facebook a
“performative space” in which through likes, photos and newsfeeds the real self is
revealed. As José cites Beck in chapter one she mentions that “Facebook users create
identities that mirror their offline personas” (p. 8).
Moreover, José relates Facebook with narcissism by mentioning what Valkenburg et
al. said; that the form of communication created in Facebook (through news feeds,
photos, and status updates), encourages users to constantly seek for more attention by
their “friends”. As a result people reveal more and more about themselves and the
question that arises is “How does one attract interest?” (p. 8).

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To conclude, this book informed me about the way Facebook is structured (with the
architecture of disclosure), and also it informed me about what its creator had in mind
and what goals he had when he first introduced the platform in Harvard. Another
valuable element of this book which helped me during my research was the notion that
this architecture of disclosure clearly creates a desire of wanting more and more
attention and this connects Facebook directly with narcissism; as a fertile ground for the
development of narcissistic traits.
Journal Articles
 Laura E. Buffardi, W. Keith Campbell, 2008, Narcissism and Social Networking
Websites.
This article is one of the first articles that tried to examine the relationship among
narcissism and social networking sites (SNS). In this research, Buffardi and Campbell
are trying to examine how narcissism is expressed in SNS, and especially Facebook.
In order to test their hypotheses they collected narcissistic personality self-reports
from web page owners, then the pages were coded for objective and subjective
feature regarding their content, and also strangers rated the owners in terms of
their agentic4, communal traits5, and narcissism.
4 Agentic: refers to the user’s activities which aremostly self-promotional;status updates,uploading
pictures etc.
5 Communal: refers to user’s activities thatfocus on others; likingother’s updates, replyingin posts etc.

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First, in the article the authors describe the construct of narcissism. As Campell et
al. define narcissism they say: “From a basic trait perspective, narcissism is
associated with a high degree of extraversion/agency and a low level of
agreeableness or communion.” (p. 1304).
Continuing, the authors explain another characteristic if narcissism; the use of
social relationships in order to enhance self-esteem. As they explain, narcissists lack
on interpersonal intimacy, and warmth, they usually form short-term relationships
which they use in order to look popular and successful (p. 1304). In these superficial
relationships as Campell et al. describe, the narcissist is perceived as a leader,
exciting, sexually desirable,and self-confident (p. 1304).
Buffardi and Campbell also explain why SNS provide a fertile ground for a
narcissistic personality. They explain that, narcissists function better in a “shallow”
environment and SNS provide this environment through superficial friendships.
Another reason is that SNS are highly control environments, where users can reveal
and conceal whatever they want about themselves they can construct their ideal
self-depiction (p.1304).
Buffardi and Campbell’s experiment results indicate that: people higher in
narcissism according to NPI6 , they were interacting more on Facebook. Moreover,
SNS owners with higher scores at the NPI were writing more self-promotional
quotes. Moreover, it was found that others by seeing one’s Facebook page can
6 NPI: narcissistic personality inventory;which is a widely used measure of narcissism.

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understand a person with higher narcissistic personality traits, through their profile
picture.
To sum up, this article was very useful for my research in terms of clarification of
the narcissistic construct, and also it correlated positively that people higher in
narcissism have also a higher Facebook activity and more self-promoting content in
their pages. This research also helped me understand that other people can
understand one’s narcissistic traits accurately by viewing a person’s Facebook
profile.
 Soraya Mendizadeh, 2010, Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and Self-Esteem on
Facebook.
This study researches how narcissism and self-esteem are expressed on Facebook.
One hundred college students from York University participated in this study; 50
males and 50 females whose Facebook pages were coded based on self-
promotional content features. The study results indicated that people higher in
narcissism and lower in self-esteem had a greater activity on Facebook and had also
more self-promotional content. Moreover, gender differences were found in terms
of how males and females use differently their Facebook content in order to
promote themselves.
Mehdizadeh in this article points the differences between online and offline self
construction. In the offline world we have “identity announcement”; the way a
person describes himself/herself, and “identity placement”; how other people

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perceive one’s announced identity (p. 357). On the online world though, individuals
have a controlled environment where they can construct an ideal identity and others
can only see what the individual wants them to see. So there is subjectivity in online
identity announcement.
For the current study five features of Facebook profiles were coded in order to
measure the relationship of SNS and narcissism: the “about me” section, the profile
photo, the first 20 pictures on the “photos of me” section, the “notes” section and
the “status update” section (p. 359).
The study results indicate that individuals higher on narcissism (according to NPI)
were checking Facebook more often on a daily basis and also they spent more time
per session. Moreover, also it was found that college students preferred promoting
themselves through the main photo section rather than through the “about me”
section. As Mehdizadeh says: “it is the preference of show versus tell among college
students” (p. 360). In addition, gender differences were found in this study in the
way that students higher in narcissism choose to promote themselves through
Facebook features; males chose the about me section to promote themselves while
females chose to have better looking main photos. As a result, from this study
Mehdizadeh claims that men higher on the NPI choose to promote themselves by
presenting a higher status, while women promote themselves by “investing” in their
appearance through better looking or even sexier photos (p. 361).

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Even though this study had a relatively small sample of college students, it provided
me further knowledge about how and which features people higher in narcissism
choose in order to promote themselves. Moreover, the study confirmed a positive
correlation about narcissism and higher activity on Facebook, and it also provided
me with further knowledge about the different feature that males and females
choose to use in order to promote themselves on SNS.
 Robert A. Ackerman, Edward A. Witt et al., 2011, What Does the Narcissistic
Personality Inventory Really Measure?
This article discusses and explains, what the NPI is what it measures and also it
provides a historical context about narcissism and how various psychologists
described it. Moreover it conducts four studies in order to explore and clarify the
factor structure of the NPI.
The article in the beginning describes what narcissism is and provides a historical
context from different scientists. The author says that the earliest mentions of
narcissism as a psychological term came from the British sexologist Havelock Ellis
who as Ackerman cited him: “In 1898 wrote about a “Narcissus-like” tendency (p.
280) to engage in autoerotic activity.” (p. 68).
Moreover in this article the author discusses the two distinct types of Narcissism:
normal and pathological. The author says that according to Pincus and Lukowitsky:
“normal narcissism reflects the strategies used to promote a positive self-image and
facilitate agency by otherwise psychologically well-adjusted individuals”, while

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pathological narcissism is characterized by “maladaptive self-regulation processes
that cause significant distress and impairment.” (p. 68).
Moreover, Ackerman et al. continue by explaining that pathological narcissism is
expressed primarily in two ways: grandiosity; expressed by arrogant attitudes,
inflated self-esteem, and exploiting other people in interpersonal communication,
and vulnerability; described by the authors as: “psychological dysfunction
characterized by fragile self-esteem, emotional instability, and internalizing
pathology.” (p. 68).
Ackerman et al. describe that in their study participated 19,001 college students,
who completed the 40-item NPI questionnaire and all the questionnaires were
completed online.
Moreover, in the article follows a discussion about the findings of the 4 studies.
The discussion explains that the results of the study demonstrate a significant
association among NPI scales and the big five traits of personality, specifically with
Extraversion and agreeableness. Moreover a significantly positive correlation was
found among the NPI scale and Entitlement/Exploitativeness.
This article helped me understand what exactly the NPI is and how it is used to
measure narcissism or narcissistic traits, it also revealed a relationship among big
five traits of personality and narcissism and how narcissism affects them.
Furthermore, this article provided me with historical knowledge and deeper

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understanding of what narcissism is and its two distinct types, and how the term
evolved through time.
 Christopher J. Carpenter, 2011, Narcissism on Facebook: Self-promotional and
anti-social behavior.
In this article Carpenter researches about the anti-social use of Facebook and its
relationship with trait narcissism. The author says that as Facebook has become a
big part of people’s lives it is necessary to explore this issue. In the beginning
Carpenter gives a definition of narcissism and describes it as: ‘‘a grandiose sense of
self-importance or uniqueness, an inability to tolerate criticism’’, and ‘‘entitlement
or the expectation of special favors without assuming reciprocal responsibilities’’ (p.
482).
The author continues, and explains that Facebook can promote people with
narcissistic traits to use it more because Facebook is a platform that allows people
with narcissistic traits to seek for support and attention. In the study 294 people
participated from 18 to 65 years and they completed a survey. In this study two
main personality characteristics were used as an indicator of narcissism in Facebook
users; the first is grandiose exhibitionism (GE) 7 , and the second is
exploitativeness/entitlement (EE)8.
7 Grandioseexhibitionism:vanity,superiority and exhibitionistictendencies.
8 Exploitativeness/entitlement: willingness to exploitand manipulateothers in order to increaseyour self-
esteem.

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The results of this study indicated, that people with GE have more friends on
Facebook. Moreover, GE was associated with increased likelihood of being more
angry when someone makes negative comments or no comments at all in the
person’s (high on GE) Facebook profile. Continuing, GE was positively associated
with seeking more attention in SNS.
As a result, with this article I understood that there is a strong connection among
the big five personality traits9 and narcissism and also especially with GE and EE.
Moreover, it was very important to learn that people with increased sense of
exhibitionism and entitlement tend to have an aggressive and anti-social behavior
on Facebook.
 Yoram Bachrach et al., 2012, Personality and Patterns of Facebook Usage.
This study written by Bachrach et al., explores how Facebook usage and user’s
profiles can “reveal” one’s personality, in order to test this they use the big five
personality model. In this study the participants were 180,000 people from various
backgrounds and from different age groups.
Bacharach et al., are discussing how Facebook is embedded in our lives and report:
“Currently it facilitates daily interactions of over 800 million users spending more
than 40 minutes daily on the platform on average” (p. 1).
9 Big fivepersonality traits:openness,conscientiousness,extraversion,agreeableness,and neuroticism.

25
Bachrach et al. in order to study how personality is manifested through Facebook
profiles they separate profile’s content into two categories, the first is: content
which is solely dependent on the user’s actions; such as events she/he has attended,
the “likes”, or the groups she/he has created. The second category consists of the
aspects in a user’s facebook profiles that depend on the user and his friend’s actions.
These aspects are: the number that he/she has been tagged in photos, the “check
ins” made by friends, and also from the size of their friendship network (p. 1,2).
The results of the study indicate, that personality can be predicted by “checking”
one’s Facebook profile. Specifically, extraversion; which is described as the tendency
to search for stimulation by people around you, wanting the company of others and
also not mind being the center of attention (relates to narcissism), was positively
correlated with more “likes”, and status updates. As Bachrach et al. describe:
“Extraverts seem to be more likely engage with content and objects shared by their
friends by “liking” them, indicating their appreciation or sympathy.” (p. 5).
Neuroticism was also positively correlated with the number of Facebook “likes” as it
is described by the authors, neurotics often have feelings of anger, aggression and
foe them one way to feel better about themselves is by seeking their “friends”
approval through “likes” on their Facebook profiles (p. 6).
This study was very helpful for my research first of all because the sample was
large and heterogeneous and as a result more representative of the general
population. Moreover, the study says that people do manifest their personality on

26
their profile pages, and especially characteristics such as neuroticism, and
extraversion (both associated with narcissism). As a result, this study indicates that
we can, to a large extent, understand people’s personality through their Facebook
page and the way they use it.
 Elliot T. Panek et al., 2013, Mirror or Megaphone?: How relationships between
narcissism and social networking site use differ on Facebook and Twitter.
In this study Panek et al. examine whether SNS use is positively associated with
narcissism. The study examines the hypothesis in both a college student sample and
in a general adult sample. The study also examines the differences among general
adults and college student’s use of the SNS; how and with which features of the SNS
are expressing their narcissistic characteristics.
According to Panek et al., SNS are the ideal “place” for a narcissist to be expressed
and interact with other people, as the authors say: “Given that narcissism is
associated with the use of personal interaction as a means for self-enhancement
and self-promotion, various attributes of SNS make them seem like an ideal tool for
achieving these narcissistic goals.” (p. 2005).
Therefore, the study distinguishes important differences among the two SNS in
order to understand better the motives of user’s in each medium. Major differences
exist among these two SNS; Facebook is a better tool for self- promotion because
twitter allows only a 140-character message and until recently the direct posting of

27
photos wasn’t an option. Moreover, Twitter allows greater anonymity and does not
offers the same degree of control in how one will present himself/herself (p. 2006).
Research questions of this study, explored how Facebook and twitter are related
with narcissistic characteristics, how narcissism is related with how often one
“tweets” or shares something on Facebook, and the differences among general
adult and college students use of these platforms (p. 2006).
The results of the research indicated that SNS are positively associated with
narcissism; adults high in the superiority component of narcissism preferred using
more often Facebook, while college students use more Twitter as a way of “showing
off”. Furthermore, superiority component of narcissism was positively correlated
with the exhibitionism component of the big five personality traits. Moreover, both
Facebook and twitter was used by adults with high superiority complex as a means
to promote their appearance (p. 2010, 2011).
This article was very helpful for my research as it associated narcissism and the big
five traits of personality with Facebook and Twitter use. Moreover, it demonstrated
that general adult population use more often Facebook as a mean to promote their
appearance, while college students use more often Twitter as a “megaphone” in
order for the students to convey their superiority.

28
 Shaun W. Davenport et al., 2014, Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring the role of
narcissism in the motives and usage of different social media platforms.
This article examines the motives and usage of Facebook and twitter in both
college students and general adult samples. The article connects Facebook and
twitter with narcissistic motives, and it also studies “active usage” of SNS and not in
general the usage of SNS. Davenport et al. explain that with the term “active usage”,
they mean user’s who generate content in SNS for example uploading pictures and
creating status updates.
Moreover, Davenport et al. explain in their research the major differences among
Facebook and twitter. First, they mention that statistics showed that twitter grows
faster in popularity than Facebook and this happens because as they say: “Twitter
has certain inherent characteristics that might make it more conducive to narcissistic
motives and behaviors than other popular SNS, such as Facebook.” (p. 212).
As it is mentioned above, major differences exist among these two SNS. These
differences are significant and are making Twitter more attractive to narcissists. As
Davenport et al. mentions, that on Facebook which is a profile-based platform, the
user is allowed to control his/her online community; he/she can send or accept
friend requests and he/she can ignore other. As a result on Facebook the user has
the ability to choose the “size” and the “quality” of his/her community.
On the contrary as Davenport et al. say, twitter is a micro-blogging platform (with
140-character messages) and this platform is designed in order its members to have

29
one way interaction with their followers mostly for “tweeting” information to their
contacts. Moreover, as the authors point even the label that these two SNS use to
name contacts indicates the more fertile ground that twitter provides to narcissists;
twitter contacts are labeled as “followers” while Facebook as “friends”. As a result
according to Davenport et al. on Facebook communication is reciprocal while on
twitter not so much (p. 213).
Davenport et al. conducted research in both general adult sample and college
student sample. Results of their research indicate that narcissists mostly use both
SNS on an active way by generating content. Moreover, narcissists prefer using
twitter and have “followers” rather than Facebook. Also the study indicates that
number of friends and followers is an indicator to distinct people who score higher
on narcissism. Another interesting result of the study was that adults with narcissism
or narcissistic traits are more probable to use SNS in such a way that promotes their
image and self, rather than college students.
This higher probability for adults to use SNS in a more “narcissistic way” rather
than students stems according to Davenport et al., to the fact that younger people
(millenials born late 1980s -90s) were born in a “social media environment” and are
more familiar with them, while adults with narcissistic “predisposition” saw this
major change in communication as something innovative and different to what they
used to know and thus as a great opportunity to promote themselves (p. 219).

30
This source was valuable for my research for three reasons: 1) wider sample than
previous researches and heterogeneous, 2) more concentrated research on active
usage and separate research for each platform, 3) explanation of the major
differences among Facebook and twitter which made clear why someone would
prefer to use Facebook rather than twitter or the opposite.
Additional Sources
 Lisa Firestone, 2012, Is Social Media to Blame for the Rise in Narcissism?,
Huffington post.
Firestone discusses about the increased narcissism which exist in modern societies
and how social media have contributed to this. Firestone mentions different study
results that confirm a positive correlation among social media and narcissism. She
also mentions that even though social media provide a fertile ground for narcissistic
personalities, SNS cannot alone cause narcissismbut only enhance it.
Furthermore Firestone, claims that SNS distort reality as she mentions: “Recent
studies shown that students who were more involved with Facebook were more
likely to think other people's lives were happier and better." Firestone concludes in
her article that Facebook enhances narcissism but also because narcissism stems
from inadequacy feelings; it is very important for parents to provide a sense of
affection, security and also offering guidance to their children. According to
firestone, effective parenting can build a strong self-esteem to children, and this is

31
essential for a healthy adult that believes in himself/herself; which can prevent the
appearance of narcissistic traits.
This article was useful to my study because it states that narcissism is enhanced in
modern societies but Facebook also contributes to this enhancement. Moreover, it
described the connection between low self-esteem and how affects one’s
personality; narcissistic personalities stem from low self-esteem, and the role that
parents can play on young adults’ self-esteem.
 Owen Thomas, 2013, What Your Selfie Says About You.
In this article Owen Thomas interviewed Pamela Routledge; director of the Media
Psychology Research Center, in order to discuss whether “selfies” are an indication
of narcissistic personalities. Ms Routledge explains that we live in a digital
environment and because this is something new we tend to “demonize” it, but as
Routledge continues: “"In this environment, the only way to get to know people is to
disclose something of yourself.”
This article supports that narcissism cannot be promoted or enhanced through
social media, it was interesting to read a different opinion from the majority I have
read through my research and from this perspective this article was interesting. As a
result, even though I don’t agree that social media have nothing to do with
narcissismit was an interesting different point of view.

32
 Huffington Post, 2013, Facebook And Twitter Are Magnets For Narcissists.
This article on Huffington post presents and discusses the results of a research
conducted by university of Michigan. In this article it is mentioned that SNS are very
attractive to narcissists and work as “ego-boost” tools. In the article it is also
mentioned that young adults-college students prefer twitter in order to broaden
their social cycles and “broadcast” themselves and their views to their peers.
On the other hand, adults with narcissistic traits prefer using Facebook rather than
twitter, in order to gain approval and not so much to “show off”. As the article
claims: “Adults who exhibit narcissism tend to prefer Facebook, which serves as a
mirror.”, while twitter serves as a megaphone mostly for college students.
This article was useful for my research as it mentions that: 1) Facebook and twitter
are the best places for a narcissist to attract his/her audience and 2) it explained that
adults prefer Facebook and use it in such a way in order to gain social approval and
not so much for promoting themselves; that happens as the article explains, because
adults have already formed their social selves in contrast to college students and
that is why they seek approval from SNS and not so much to “loudly” express their
own opinions.
 Kendra Cherry, about.com, The Big Five Personality Dimensions.
This article provides a brief historical review of how the theory of the big five
personality dimensions was established and acknowledged by psychologists.

33
Cherry also explains what each of the “big five” dimensions means. Specifically she
explains that the first dimension which is extraversion is characterized by sociability
and high emotional expressiveness. She continues with Agreeableness;
characterized by kindness and affection, then explains Conscientiousness;
characterized by effective impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Futhermore,
she explains Neuroticism; emotional instability, anxiety and increased anger, and she
describing Openness which is characterized by enhanced imagination, creativity and
broad range of interests.
This article helped me understand better the big five personality dimensions which
as a have found from my previous research are related with narcissism; for example
low agreeableness is a characteristic of narcissistic personalities.
 Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014, Sharing the (self) love: the rise of the selfie
and digital narcissism.
In this article Premuzic describes how social media contributed to the increase of
narcissism and he also suggests that a solution should be found in order to regulate
the rapid increase.
Premuzic says that narcissism has increased in modern societies even before the
rise of SNS, but as he claims after the rise of SNS narcissism has been increased even
more and now we can talk about “digital exhibitionism”. Along with the increase of
narcissism Premuzic notes the decline of empathy in society, and he says: “ humans
are like hedgehogs in the winter: they need to get close to each other to cope with

34
the cold, but they cannot get too close without hurting each other with their
spines.”
Continuing, Premuzic says that not everyone who is a member of SNS is a narcissus
but SNS promote narcissism and are pressuring people to set unrealistic goals and
expectations in order to impress others. Furthermore Premuzic suggests that as
algorithms exist in order to predict illnesses maybe an algorithm could also built into
Facebook in order to study narcissismand SNS in an individual and population level.
This article provided me knowledge about how narcissism is a continuously growing
issue that should be taken seriously and even try to find a solution in order to
control it or at least to know its actual impact and effect in society.
 Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (n.d.). Narcissistic Personality Inventory-40 (NPI-40)
Statistics Solutions: Dissertation and Research Specialists.
This document presents the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-40); which is a
test of 40 questions designed to explore whether and to what extent a person has
narcissistic traits. The document presents all 40 questions of the NPI, and also how
we can calculate the score of the test, in order to understand whether and to what
degree a person expresses narcissistic traits.
The test is designed in order for the person who completes it, to choose one of the
two provided statements that he/she mostly agrees with, on each question.

35
The test explores whether the person who completes it considers himself/herself
as a leader, if the person likes looking himself/herself in the mirror and various other
questions which can “reveal” a narcissistic personality.
This document helped me “construct” some of my questionnaire’s questions; which
assisted me to distinguish which of those participating in my survey were expressing
a higher degree if narcissistic traits; in order to choose their questionnaires and to
extract results of how people with high narcissistic traits use Facebook and Twitter.

36
Methodology
In order to decide which research method is the most suitable for my pilot study, I
had to consider advantages and disadvantages of various methods that can be used
for a research study. After research that I conducted, and the knowledge I gained
about my topic through the literature review, I decided that the three most suitable
methods for my research are: extended focus groups, intensive interviews and
descriptive survey.
As a result I decided to describe extended focus groups and intensive interviews as
the two hypothetical methods that I could use for my research, and I also decided
that descriptive survey is the most suitable method for my research; in terms of
result’s extraction and minimum effort, to use it as the actual method in my pilot
study.

37
Hypothetical Methods
Extended Focus Groups (Qualitative method)
Extended focus groups consist of an efficient way for understanding people’s
attitudes and behaviors, and if I used focus groups for my research, I would choose
to use extended focus groups instead of simple focus groups. The difference of an
extended focus group from a focus group is that on extended focus groups (before
the moderator starts the discussion) you give your participants to complete a
questionnaire. For my topic this would be necessary in order to understand (through
the questionnaire) whether and to what extent my participants have narcissistic
traits or personality.
Continuing, extended focus groups have certain advantages and disadvantages
which are important to consider, in order to decide whether they are the best
research method for the study or not. The first advantage of an extended focus
group is that it provides a first insight about a topic. Because extended focus group is
a qualitative method; it explains the “how” and “why”, it can be used in order to
detect opinions, and ideas which can be later used for further research about a
specific topic, with a different method.
The second advantage of extended focus groups is that they can be conducted in a
relatively short period of time. The most time consuming procedure that the
researcher needs to do for a focus group is to “recruit” participants, which is not
very difficult and it usually takes no more than ten days.

38
The third advantage of focus groups is that they are not very expensive and
especially in academia they cost even less. The only thing that you need in order to
conduct a focus group is: a class, a projector and a recording device; which are
usually free and provided in universities. In the private sector though, focus groups
remain an affordable option but they are not as cost effective as in academia.
Another advantage of extended focus groups is flexibility; the moderator has the
ability to follow up and adjust the discussion if it is necessary. Focus groups are
structured but are not rigid. Furthermore, the moderator has the ability to clear
possible misunderstandings or confusions among participant’s responses or
discussions, which provides a valuable feedback for a researcher.
Another advantage of extended focus groups is that a skilled moderator can also
get feedback about an issue from the nonverbal cues that participants provide in
focus groups; when for example a member of the group expresses his/her opinion
other members may do a facial expression which reveals their feelings or opinion
about an issue, or when a picture is showed to the group the same thing can
happen.
Moreover focus groups have also disadvantages. A main disadvantage is that it is
possible for a participant of the group to appoint himself/herself as the “leader” of
the group, and as a result to impose his/her opinion on other participants.
Furthermore, focus groups are a qualitative method of gathering information. As a
result you can’t extract general quantitative assumptions about an issue because in

39
order to do this you need a bigger sample that is difficult to be accomplished
through focus groups.
Moreover, another disadvantage of extended focus groups is that the moderator
needs to be completely objective and not to affect participant’s responses; as a
result a skilled, experienced and well trained moderator is needed for an effective
focus group.
Continuing as I have explained above, for my study the first hypothetical method
is: extended focus groups. As a result I would conduct three focus groups. Each
group would consist of six members; three female and three male participants; who
have a Facebook and a Twitter account. Before the beginning of the discussion in
focus groups, I would give the participants to complete the NPI-13 questionnaire
(shorter version of the NPI-40), in order to be able to evaluate effectively
participant’s opinions and attitudes; by knowing the levels of narcissism (if any) of
the participants through the NPI-13 questionnaire.
Moreover the focus groups would be conducted in a classroom at Deree, equipped
with a projector and a recording device. After the completion of NPI-16 by the
participants I would explain the topic of the discussion (“how and if narcissism can
be traced or expressed through social media”), and then I would explain that the
discussion is videotaped and the video recordings will be used only for academic
purposes.

40
Continuing, I would show to participants through the projector, material (posts and
pictures) which was posted on Facebook and Twitter; such as “selfies”, status
updates, aggressive comments, or “aggressive tweets”. The important thing is that
the material that I would show to participants would not be random; “selfies”,
tweets etc. would have been evaluated by a psychologist in order to present both
posts and pictures which indicate a narcissistic personality and also posts and
pictures that are not.
As a result through the expert’s evaluation of posts which I will present in focus
groups, I would be able to understand (after the discussion in the three focus
groups) whether participants can distinguish these differences on the material, and
also if they can “trace” narcissistic personalities through their social media profiles.
The questions that I would ask to participants of extended focus groups are:
 What do you think that the term narcissismmeans?
 Which personality characteristics/traits (or the lack of them) would you
define as an indication of a narcissistic personality?
 Which are the main criteria for accepting or adding a friend on Facebook
and why?
 Would you respond on a negative comment on a “tweet” that you’ve
posted and if yes, how would you respond?
 Which one of the three “selfies” that I showed you (if any) would you
consider as a “selfie” of a person who expresses higher narcissistic traits?

41
Intensive Interviews
Intensive interviews are the second hypothetical method that I would use for my
research study. Intensive interview is a qualitative method which has both
advantages and disadvantages.
One of the main advantages of intensive interviews is that they provide in depth
and detailed background about the reasons interviewees give specific answers.
Intensive interviews last several hours as a result the researcher can learn in-depth,
about participant’s opinions, predispositions, values and feelings. Through intensive
interviews the researcher collects “rich” data about an issue.
Moreover, because the interviews last for several hours the researcher can observe
and obtain valuable information about a topic through the respondent’s non verbal
cues. Another advantage of intensive interviews is that the researcher can extract
more accurate and honest responds on “sensitive” or taboo topics. This happens
because on an intensive interview there is enough time for the researcher to develop
a rapport with the respondent and this rapport will lead to more honest and accurate
answers.
On the other hand, intensive interviews do not provide a random sample and it is
also difficult to provide a large sample (because one interview may last several hours
or even more than one sessions), as a result it is difficult to make a general
assumption about a topic only through intensive interviews.
Another disadvantage of intensive interviews is that they are “exposed” into the
interviewer’s bias. In an intensive interview because the interviewer (even though

42
she/he is trained) she/he is also a person with certain values, feelings and opinions,
there is a possibility that the interviewer will unintentionally influence a respondent’s
answer through a biased phrasing of a question, or through his/her tone of voice
and/or non verbal cues.
Moreover, data analysis is a problem in intensive interviews; different researchers
may interpret same data from the same interview, in a different way than the
original investigator did. This can happen because different people (even if they are
trained to do this) sometimes are unintentionally biased towards certain issues and
this may affect their interpretation of qualitative data.
For the purposes of this research project, I chose to conduct three intensive
interviews as my second hypothetical method. In the three intensive interviews, I
would include the same pack of questions, but I would be free to change the series or
the wording of the questions in order to adjust them to the discussion with each
respondent.
The first intensive interview would be with a psychiatrist in order to explain to me
what narcissism really means, its effects on personality, and also the various degrees
of the disorder. Moreover, I would ask his/her opinion on how and if, social media
can be a medium through which, people are able to trace a narcissistic personality
through his/her profiles on Facebook and Twitter.
The second interview would be with a sociologist in order to tell me his/her opinion
about the definition of narcissism and how or if social media affect people and
society. Through our discussion I would ask the expert if he/she believes that

43
narcissistic personalities express themselves in a different way than non-narcissistic
personalities in SNS, and also if he/she believes that this can be traced by other
people.
The third interview would be with a college student (22 years old) who has both a
Facebook and a Twitter account. From this interview I would get information about
how a young college student perceives the term narcissism, how he/she uses
Facebook and twitter and also if he/she thinks that SNS can be a predictor of
narcissistic personality.
Some indicative questions that I would ask on the interviews are the following:
 How would you define the term narcissism?
 How would you describe a narcissistic person?
 Do you consider narcissismas a serious disorder that needs certain attention?
 Do you think that people present themselves in a more positive way through
social media?
 Do you think that Facebook or Twitter or both, have contributed to the
increase of narcissismin society?
 Do you think that there is a specific activity either on Facebook or on Twitter
or on both, that could be an indicator of understanding a person with
narcissistic personality? (for example profile picture or status updates)
 Do you think that people disclose too much personal information on social
media?

44
Survey (quantitative method)
The actual method that I chose to use for my pilot study is survey. Before deciding
that survey will be my actual method I had to consider its advantages and
disadvantages.
One of the main advantages of surveys is that a survey can be conducted in realistic
settings. Behavioral patterns about an issue can be examined in the actual place or
location that they are happening instead if being examined in a “fixed” laboratory
environment with artificial conditions. This realistic aspect allows for the researcher
to extract more accurate and unbiased results about an issue.
Another advantage of surveys is that they cost little compared with the amount of
information that they provide. Furthermore, surveys allow the researcher to collect
a large amount of data from a variety of people as they are not restricted by
geographic boundaries; for example a questionnaire or a telephone survey can be
distributed/conducted literally anywhere.
Moreover the large amount of data that surveys can provide and also because of
the various variables that the researcher can examine, surveys are perfect for using
a variety of statistics in order to analyze data. Also it is helpful that various archives
that can be used in a survey already exist; for example data archives or government
documents which can be used as primary or secondary sources.

45
One of the main disadvantages of a survey is that it is difficult to be sure if there is a
causal relationship between dependent and independent variables. This happens
because there is no absolute control or manipulation over independent variables as
it could happen in a laboratory environment. As a result it is difficult to establish
causality.
Another disadvantage of surveys is that the researcher should be very careful about
the way he/she phrases the questions because questions can easily become biased
or direct participants toward a certain response. Furthermore, in surveys it is
difficult to target a specific group of respondents and it is also possible to get the
wrong respondent; for example a questionnaire may be aiming on adults and a
teenager may complete a false age and give a questionnaire which is not useful and
it may mislead the researcher because of false data.

46
Pilot Study
After balancing advantages and disadvantages of methods I mentioned above, I
decided to use a questionnaire as my actual method for this pilot study. The main
reason that I chose questionnaire as the actual method for my study, is that I
wanted to have a large sample and in the amount of time that I had available,
questionnaire was the most efficient way to get a relatively large sample (in
comparison with the sample that I could get through focus groups or intensive
interviews).
Moreover, a questionnaire was the easiest way to find out (through questions
inspired by the NPI-40) whether some of the participants have higher narcissistic
traits than others; which was necessary for my pilot study in order to get useful
results.
The purpose of the questionnaire was to explore whether people who express
higher narcissistic traits than others, use Facebook or/and Twitter in a different way
from those who are not expressing high narcissistic traits (or they express them in a
smaller degree).
As a result my questionnaire had two objectives: The first objective was to
measure (through some questions inspired by the NPI-40) whether some of the
participants were expressing high narcissistic traits. The second objective was to
choose these questionnaires (of participants who expressed higher narcissistic traits)
and use their answers as a way to explore whether people with high narcissistic

47
traits use social media in a different way from those who didn’t score high on
narcissistic traits.
In order to succeed my objectives my questionnaire had two parts: the first part
(questions 1-14) was questions which aimed to explore how the respondents use
Facebook and Twitter. The second part (questions 15-19) was questions “inspired”
by the NPI-40 in order to be able to have a measurement of the participant’s degree
of narcissistic traits.
Even though this part of questions (15-19) may seem that forces the participant to
choose one of the two statements which may seem a little absolute, I am clarifying
that this is the design of the NPI-40 in order to extract some insight about the
participant’s degree of narcissism (which was necessary in order to be able to
conduct my research). Moreover even though a participant may not agree with
neither of the questions, I am also clarifying that he/she can choose the one that
seems the least objectionable to him/her.
In this pilot study I included mostly close-ended questions in order to be able to
quantify easily the answers, and also in order to have uniformity in responses. I also
included two open-ended questions in order to get more in-depth responses in
questions that I wanted to.
Moreover I constructed my questions very carefully in terms of the words and the
order I used, in order to avoid unclear and biased questions. Also in order to avoid
double-barrelled questions I avoided the use of the word “end” in the questions. I

48
also tried to keep the questions short and not asking for highly detailed information
in order people to be more willing to participate in my survey.
In the survey for my pilot study, 60 people participated: 35 were women and 25
were men. Participants were college students; 51 were students at Deree College
and 9 were students at the University of Athens.
From the 60 questionnaires that I got I chose as my sample 19; because the aim of
the questionnaire was to explore how people with high narcissistic traits use
Facebook and Twitter. As a result I “kept” as a sample the questionnaires of
participants who had both a Facebook and a Twitter account, and who had also
scored higher in the last five questions of my questionnaire; which indicated
whether the participant has high narcissistic traits. In other words I chose a sample
of participants who expressed high narcissistic traits and they also had a Facebook
and a Twitter account.
People were willing to complete the questionnaire and as they commented
questions were short and clear, as a result it was easy to respond in a few minutes.
The final questionnaire had also a first draft (see appendix 1); which I slightly
changed (in order to form the final questionnaire) by excluding one question after
feedback that I got from my friends who proofread it and as I also agreed that the
particular question confusing or even weird and upsetting for some people (I am
referring to question 15 of the first draft).

49
Results
Question1: Howmany friendsdoyouhave onFacebook?
0
15.78
15.78
26.31
42.1
PERCENTAGE OF FACEBOOK FRIENDS
LESS THAN 50
50-200
201-500
501-1000
MORE THAN 1000
NUMBER OF FACEBOOK
FRIENDS
NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF
FACEBOOK FRIENDS
%
LESS THAN 50 0 0
50-200 3 15,78
201-500 3 15,78
501-1000 5 26,31
MORE THAN 1000 8 42,10
TOTAL 19 100

50
Question2:How many followersdoyouhave onTwitter?
0
5.26
21.05
26.31
47.36
PERCENTAGESOF FOLLOWERS
LESS THAN 50
50-300
301-600
601-1500
MORE THAN 1500
NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF
FOLLOWERS %
LESS THAN 50 0 0
50-300 1 5,26
301-600 4 21,05
601-1500 5 26,31
MORE THAN 1500 9 47,36
TOTAL 19 100

51
Question3:How manypeople doyoufollow onTwitter?
5.26 0
21
42.1
31.57
PERCENTAGESOF PEOPLE THAT
RESPONDENTS ARE FOLLOWING
LESS THAN 50
500-300
301-600
601-1500
MORE THAN 1500
NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT
THE RESPONDENTS ARE
FOLLOWING
NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF
PEOPLE THAT
RESPONDENTS ARE
FOLLOWING %
LESS THAN 50 1 5,26
50-300 0 0
301-600 4 21
601-1500 8 42,10
MORE THAN 1500 6 31,57
TOTAL 19 100

52
Question4: Howoftendo youupdate yourFacebookstatus?
10.52
36.84
26.31
15.78
10.52
FREQUENCYOF STATUS UPDATES
NEVER
1-6 TIMES A DAY
7-13 TIMES A DAY
MORE THAN 20 TIMES A DAY
I DON'T UPDATE MY STATUS
EVERY DAY
FREQUENCY OF STATUS
UPDATES
NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF THE
FREQUENCY OF
STATUS UPDATES %
NEVER 2 10.52
1-6 TIMES A DAY 7 36,84
7-13 TIMES A DAY 5 26,31
MORE THAN 20 TIMES A
DAY
3 15,78
I DON’TUPDATE MY STATUS
EVERY DAY
2 10,52
TOTAL 19 100

53
Question5:On myFacebookaccount I use…..
IDENTITY ON FACEBOOK
ACCOUNT
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF IDENTITY
ON FACEBOOK ACCOUNT%
MY REAL NAME 10 52,63
A FAKENAME 3 15,78
A NICKNAMEWHICH MY
FRIENDSKNOW
6 31,57
TOTAL 19 100
52.63
15.78
31.57
PERCENTAGESOF IDENTITY ON FACEBOOK
ACCOUNTS
REAL NAME
FAKE NAME
NICKNAME THAT THE FRIENDS
KNOW

54
Question6: Onmy TwitteraccountI use…..
IDENTITY ON TWITTER
ACCOUNT
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF IDENTITY
ON TWITTER ACCOUNT%
MY REAL NAME 2 10,52
A FAKENAME 7 36,84
A NICKNAMEWHICH MY
FRIENDSKNOW
10 52,63
TOTAL 19 100
10.52
36.84
52.63
PERCENTAGESOF IDENTITY ON TWITTER
ACCOUNT
REAL NAME
FAKE NAME
NICKNAME THAT FRIENDS
KNOW

55
Question7:How oftendoyou “tweet”?
0
15.78
26.31
47.36
10.52
FREQUENCYOF "TWEETS"
NEVER
1-6 TIMES A DAY
7-13 TIMES A DAY
MORE THAN 20 TIMES A DAY
I DON'T "TWEET" EVERY DAY
FREQUENCY OF
‘’TWEETS’’
NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF THE
FREQUENCY OF
‘’TWEETS’’ %
NEVER 0 0
1-6 TIMES A DAY 3 15,78
7-13 TIMES A DAY 5 26,31
MORE THAN 20 TIMES A
DAY
9 47,36
I DON’T ‘’TWEET’’EVERY
DAY
2 10,52
TOTAL 19 100

56
Question 8: On average, how much time do you spend on twitter?
TIME SPENT ON TWITTER NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF TIME
SPENT ON TWITTER %
LESS THAN AN HOUR A DAY 2 10,52
1-5 HOURS A DAY 13 68,42
MORE THAN FIVE HOURS A
DAY
4 21.05
TOTAL 19 100
10.52
68.42
21.05
TIME SPENT ON TWITTER
LESS THAN AN HOUR A DAY
1-5 HOURS A DAY
MORE THAN FIVE HOURS A DAY

57
Question 9: How much time do you spend on Facebook?
TIME SPENT ON FACEBOOK NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF TIME
SPENT ON FACEBOOK %
LESS THAN AN HOUR A DAY 1 5,26
1-5 HOURS A DAY 13 68,42
MORE THAN FIVE HOURS A
DAY
5 26,31
TOTAL 19 100
5.26
68.42
26.31
TIME SPENT ON FACEBOOK
LESS THAN AN HOUR A DAY
1-5 HOURS A DAY
MORE THAN FIVE HOURS A DAY

58
Question 10: The main reason that I use Facebook is to keep others up-to-date on
my life.
5.26
26.31
10.52
36.84
21.05
PERCENTAGESOF MAIN REASON I USE
FACEBOOK IS TO KEEP OTHERS UP-TO-DATE
ON MY LIFE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
NEUTRAL
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE
MAIN REASON OF USING
FACEBOOK IS TO KEEP
OTHERS YP-TO-DATE ON MY
LIFE
NUMBER OF
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE OF: THE
MAIN REASON IS TO
KEEP OTHERS UP-TO-
DATE ON MY LIFE %
STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 5,26
DISAGREE 5 26,31
NEUTRAL 2 10,52
AGREE 7 36,84
STRONGLY AGREE 4 21,05
TOTAL 19 100

59
Question 11: (open-ended) What is the first thing that you do when you login to
your Facebook account?
Some examples of participant’s answers are:
 “If I have notifications, I check these and after I check my news feed.”
 “I am not checking something specific. I just scrolling around to see what
new or to chat with some of my friends.”
 “Checking notifications and chat messages. After that take a fast look on
the news feed. “
 “I first check to see if I have any notifications or new messages because
that is how I interact with my Facebook friends. If I don’t have any new
messages or notifications, I scroll down my news feed and “like” selected
things that my friends have posted. I guess I do this because I assume
people post things for me and their other friends to observe and
acknowledge.”

60
Question 12: Would you delete a “tweet” if it didn’t gain the attention that you
expected?
DELETING A “TWEET” THAT
DIDN’T GAIN ENOUGH
ATTENTION
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF DELETING A
“TWEET” THAT DIDN’T GAIN
ENOUGHATTENTION %
YES 12 63,1
NO 7 36,8
TOTAL 19 100
63.1
36.8
DELETING A "TWEET" THAT DIDN'T GET
ENOUGH ATTENTION
YES
NO

61
Question 13: (open-ended) If you want to announce something that you consider
important would you prefer to announce it on Facebook, Twitter, or both and why?
Some examples of participant’s answers are:
 “I would announce it on Facebook. This is because the majority of my family
and friends have Facebook accounts and would be able to see it. Also,
though I don’t like to admit it, I believe that I would post something
important on Facebook to get many “likes” and have people compliment me
or show sympathy for me depending on the situation.”
 “Facebook. I have a twitter account but I’ve never used it, I don’t really
understand it.”
 “I would prefer to announce it on facebook because this is the social
platform that I use mostly since all of my friends are there. “

62
Question 14: Have you ever posted something that is not true in order to impress
others?
POST SOMETHING IN ORDER
TO IMPRESS OTHERS
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE POSTING
SOMETHING IN ORDER TO
IMPRESS OTHERS%
YES 6 31,5
NO 13 68.4
TOTAL 19 100
31.5
68.4
POSTING IN ORDER TO IMPRESS OTHERS
YES
NO

63
Question 15: Is it difficult for you to understand other people’s feelings?
ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND
OTHER PEOPLE’S FEELINGS
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS EMPATHY PERCENTAGES %
YES 6 31,57
NO 13 68,42
TOTAL 19 100
31.57
68.42
EMPATHY PERCENTAGE
YES
NO

64
Question 16: A. I enjoy being the center of attention
B. I feel uncomfortable being the center of attention
57.89
42.1
PERCENTAGESOF A AND B ANSWERS
A
B
QUESTION 16 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES OF A,B
ANSWERS%
A 11 57,89
B 8 42,10
TOTAL 19 100

65
Question 17: A. I can easily influence people’s opinions in an online environment.
B. I am not good at influencing people in an online environment.
73.68
26.31
PERCENTAGESOF A AND B ANSWERS
A
B
ANSWERS%
A 14 73,68
B 5 26,31
TOTAL 19 100

66
Question 18: A. People occasionally believe what I tell them.
B. I can make people believe anything that I want them to.
63.15
36.84
PERCENTAGESOF A, B ANSWERS
A
B
ANSWERS%
A 12 63,15
B 7 36,84
TOTAL 19 100

67
Question 19: A. I get upset when I go out in the public and people do not observe how I
Look.
B. I don’t mind when I go out in public and people don’t observe how I
Look.
63.15
36.2
PERCENTAGESOF A, B RESPONSES
A
B
QUESTION 19 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES of A,B
ANSWERS%
A 12 63,15
B 7 36,84
TOTAL 19 100

68
Questionnaire
My name is Katerina Avgeropoulou and this questionnaire constitutes a part of my
communication research project: “Narcissism on Social Media”. The purpose of this
questionnaire is to survey whether there is a relationship among narcissism and
social media; Facebook and Twitter, and also to find out how people use Facebook
and Twitter.
The answers of this questionnaire will be used for academic purposes and the
completion of the questionnaire is anonymous and confidential.
Please answer each question by putting an (x) in the suitable box or by putting into
the box the appropriate letter (A or B) of the statement that you mostly agree with.
Thank you in advance for your participation
1. How many friends do you have on Facebook?
Less than 50 
50 – 200 
201 – 500 
501 – 1000 
More than 1000 
I don’t have a Facebook account 

69
2. How many followers do you have on Twitter?
Less than 50 
50 – 300 
301 – 600 
601 – 1500 
More than 1500 
I don’t have a Twitter account 
3. How many people do you follow on Twitter?
Less than 50 
50 – 300 
301 – 600 
601 – 1500 
More than 1500 
4. How often do you update your Facebook Status?
Never 
1 – 6 times a day 
14 -20 times a day 
More than 20 times a day 
I don’t update my status every day 

70
5. On my Facebook account I use:
My real name  A fake name  A nickname which my friends know 
6. On my Twitter account I use:
7. How often do you “tweet”?
Never 
I don’t “tweet” every day 
8. On average, how much time do you spend on Twitter:
Less than 1 hour a day 
1 - 5 hours a day 
More than 5 hours a day 

71
9. On average, how much time do you spend on Facebook:
10. The main reason that I use Facebook is to keep others up-to-date on my life.
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5
11. What is the first thing that you do when you login to you Facebook account and
why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
12. Would you delete a “tweet” if it didn’t gain the attention that you expected?
NoYes

72
13. If you want to announce something that you consider important would you
prefer to announce it on Facebook, Twitter or both and why?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
14. Have you ever posted on Facebook something that is not true in order to impress
others?
15. Is it difficult for you to understand other people’s feelings?
(From the following statements even if you don’t identify with either
statement, select the one which is least objectionable or you mostly
agree with.)
16. A. I enjoy being the center of attention.
B. I feel uncomfortable being the center of attention.
NoYes
NoYes

73
17. A. I can easily influence people’s opinions in an online community.
B. I am not good at influencing people’s opinions in an online community.
18. A. People occasionally believe what I tell them.
19. A. I get upset when I go out in the public and people do not observe how I
look.
look.
20. Please indicate your gender ________
21. Please indicate your age ____

74
Conclusion/ Discussion of the results
Conducting my own pilot study and research, was a valuable experience that
helped me learn many things about social media and narcissism and how they
interact with each other. The results of my pilot study helped me understand that it
is possible for people who express high narcissistic traits to have more than 1000
friends on Facebook and also that they use their real names on their Facebook
profiles. On the other hand, people with high narcissistic traits who completed my
questionnaires tend to use nicknames or fake names on their Twitter accounts.
Moreover, another result from my questionnaire was that people who expressed
high narcissistic traits said that they would delete a “tweet” which didn’t gained the
attention that they expected, but on the other hand they said that they wouldn’t
post something on Facebook just to impress others. These two contradictory
answers may indicate that some of my questions; which were “inspired” by NPI-14
made people who expressed higher narcissistic traits to feel upset, thus they
responded with mixed messages.
To conclude, I learned many things about narcissism and social media through my
research and I also observed through my questionnaires that people with high
narcissistic traits have many (more than 1000) friends on Facebook and (more than
1500 followers) on Twitter (in comparison with those who express lower narcissistic
traits). Moreover I observed that those with high narcissistic traits prefer using their
real names on Facebook and fake ones on Twitter. On the other hand in this pilot

75
study I had a small sample of participants and as a result further research is
necessary in order to extract general assumptions about narcissismon social media.

76
References
Ackerman, R.A. et al., (2011, ). What Does the Narcissistic Personality Inventory
Really Measure?. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from
http://www.sakkyndig.com/psykologi/artvit/ackerman2013.pdf.
Bachrach, Y. et al.,(2012, ). Microsoft Research. Personality and Patterns of
Facebook Usage. Retrieved from
http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/163535/FacebookPersonality_michal_29_04_1
2.pdf.
Buffardi, L.E., & Campbell, W.K. (2008). Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin. Narcissism and Social Networking Web Sites. Retrieved, from
http://psp.sagepub.com.
Carpenter, C.J. (2011). Narcissismon Facebook: Self-promotional and anti-social
behavior. Science Direct, , 482–486. Retrieved , from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911005332.
Chamorro -Premuzic, T. (2014, March 13). Theguardian.Sharing the (self) love: the
rise of the selfie and digital narcissism. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from
http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-
blog/2014/mar/13/selfie-social-media-love-digital-narcassism.

77
Cross, M., (2011). Bloggerati, Twitterati How Blogs and Twitter Are Transforming
Popular Culture. California: Praeger. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2OTYyNl9fQ
U41?sid=e6129b6b-7c92-432e-b424-
c6367326e126@sessionmgr4005&vid=2&format=EB&rid=1.
Davenport, S.W. et al., (2014). Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring the role of
narcissismin the motives and usage of different social media platforms. Computers
in Human Behavior, , 212–220. Retrieved , from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=203c22fe-de7f-4ce4-b370-
430e22025322%40sessionmgr4001&vid=0&hid=4107&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb
2tpZSx1cmwsaXAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=psyh&AN=2014-08410-025.
Firestone, L. (2012, December 15). The Huffington Post. Is Social Media to Blame
for the Rise in Narcissism?. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-firestone/facebook-
narcissism_b_1905073.html.
Graham, M. (2010). Facebook and Philosophy What’s on your mind?. Chicago:
Carus Publishing Company. Retrieved from
http://libgen.org/book/index.php?md5=762E952638D7889A142E6B8F46EDCB7C.

78
Horton, R. (2014). An experimental investigation of the influence of agentic
andcommunal Facebook use on grandiose narcissism. Computers in Human
Behavior,. Retrieved, from
Jose, M., (2012). Facebook Democracy : The Architecture of Disclosure and the
Threat to Public Life. Farnham : Ashgate Publishing. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzQ2NjAzNF9fQ
U41?sid=e6129b6b-7c92-432e-b424-
Marcus, B. et al, (2006). Personality in Cyberspace: Personal Web Sites as Media
for Personality Expressions and Impressions.Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 90(6),10141031. Retrieved, from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=1370f1c97eaf4d8aac7b
5eb7005af07f%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4107&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSx1
cmwsaXAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl.
Mehdizadeh, S. (2010). Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissismand Self-esteem on
Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 13(4).
Owen, T. (2013, February 28). Business Insider. What Your Selfie Says About
You. Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-
means-when-we-take-selfie-photos-2013-2?op=1.

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Panek, E.T. et al., (2013). Mirror or Megaphone?: How relationships between
narcissismand social networking site use differ on Facebook and
Twitter. Computers in Human Behavior, , 2004–2012. Retrieved , from
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (n.d.). Statistics Solutions: Dissertation and Research
Specialists. Narcissistic Personality Inventory-40 (NPI-40) | Statistics
Solutions. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from
http://www.statisticssolutions.com/narcissistic-personality-inventory-40-npi-40/
Ronningstam, E. (2005). Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic
Personality (1 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzEzODE1N19fQ
U41?sid=e6129b6b-7c92-432e-b424-
Sherry, K. (n.d.). About education. The Big Five Personality Dimensions 5 Major
Factors of Personality. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/bigfive.htm.
Silverstein, M.L. (2006). Disorders of the Self: a personality-guided approach.
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(2014). The Haffington Post. Facebook And Twitter Are Magnets For
Narcissists. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/12/facebook-twitter-narcissism-
study_n_3424252.html.

82
Appendix 1
Questionnaire First Draft
Questionnaire
My name is Katerina Avgeropoulou and this questionnaire constitutes a part of my
communication research project. The answers of this questionnaire will be used for
academic purposes and the completion of the questionnaire is anonymous and
confidential.
Please answer each question by putting an (x) in the suitable box or by putting into
the box the appropriate letter (A or B) of the statement that you mostly agree with.
Thank you in advance for your participation
1. How many friends do you have on Facebook?
Less than 50 
50 – 200 
201 – 500 
501 – 1000 
More than 1000 
I don’t have a Facebook account 

83
2. How many followers do you have on Twitter?
Less than 50 
50 – 300 
301 – 600 
601 – 1500 
More than 1500 
I don’t have a Twitter account 
3. How many people do you follow on Twitter?
Less than 50 
50 – 300 
301 – 600 
601 – 1500 
More than 1500 
4. How often do you update your Facebook Status?
Never 

84
5. On my Facebook account I use:
6. On my Twitter account I use:
7. How often do you “tweet”?
Never 

85
8. On average, how much time do you spend on Twitter:
9. On average, how much time do you spend on Facebook:
10. The main reason that I use Facebook is to keep others up-to-date on my life.
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5
11. What is the first thing that you do when you login to you Facebook account and
why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

86
12. Would you delete a “tweet” if it didn’t gain the attention that you expected?
13. If you wantto announce somethingthatyouconsiderimportantwouldyoupreferto
announce iton Facebook,Twitterorbothand why?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
14. Have you ever posted on Facebook something that is not true in order to impress
others?
(From the following statements even if you don’t identify with either
statement,selectthe one whichisleastobjectionable or youmostlyagree with.)
15. A. I enjoy being the center of attention.
B. I feel uncomfortable being the center of attention.
16. A. I can easily influence people’s opinions
B. I am not good at influencing people’s opinions.
NoYes
NoYes

87
17. A. I like looking myself in the mirror.
B. I am not interested on looking myself in the mirror.
18. A. People occasionally believe what I tell them.
22. A. I get upset when I go out in the public and people do not observe how I
look.
look.
23. Please indicate your gender ________
24. Please indicate your age ____

88
Appendix 2
Completed questionnaire

Katerina Avgeropoulou Research Methods Project FALL SEMESTER 2014

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