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According to a new study by Dr. Soraya Mehdizadeh of York University in Toronto, greater online activity on Facebook is correlated with low self-esteem and narcissism.
Hundred Facebook users’ profiles were analyzed against their real-world personalities. After having 50 male and 50 female student participants answer questions about their demographics, Facebook activity, self-esteem and narcissism, Mehdizadeh rated each student’s page for self-promotional content, assessing the “About Me” section, their profile photo, the first 20 pictures in the “View Photos of Me” section, the notes, and the status updates of each student, rating each page based on extent it self-promotes the user.
The results showed that students with comparatively lower self-esteem scores and higher narcissism scores not only spent spent more time on Facebook, but also tended to “self-promote” more than the students with higher self-esteem scores and lower narcissism scores. Facebook “self promotion” is described by ShockMD.com as “any descriptive or visual information that appeared to attempt to persuade others about one’s own positive qualities. For instance posting ‘My Celebrity Look-alikes’. Use of picture enhancement etc.”
The study concludes, a person’s Facebook profile does not necessarily provide an accurate representation of the person creating the page. A user who constantly updates his or her status, obsessively uploads new photos and excessively posts or comments on others’ walls, for instance, may be exhibiting narcissistic tendencies and battling issues of low self-esteem–or as All Facebook puts it, “those “cool” Facebook friends you have who keep spamming your news feed with constant information about themselves and how awesome they are may not be too awesome after all.” Source
I had always suspected that but never had any proof. I have a Facebook account which I hardly use, I have a LinkedIn account which I also hardly use. I don’t have have a Twitter account because I just think it is idiotic however my blog does have a Twitter account, which is really an automated feed to generate traffic but all it has got the blog is endless spam. Does that mean I have a high self-esteem?
Channels: Facebook, low-self esteem, narcissism
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Although intriguing, this study is in error by using only 100 participants. This is clearly insufficient data. Statistical significance 'normally' requires 1000 samples (normal distribution).
Comment by Mike T. — August 30, 2010 @ 1:03 PM
Aren't "low self-esteem and narcissism" contradictory? Otherwise I agree with Daya Baran.
Comment by Frank — August 30, 2010 @ 2:10 PM
Well the converse may or may not be true.
Comment by FusionX — August 30, 2010 @ 2:14 PM
not so fast. this research article is based on "self-esteem and narcissistic personality self-reports …collected from 100 Facebook users at York University." really? 100 people, all at the same school? that's pretty lousy sampling from a site with millions upon millions of users around the globe.
you conclude that "i had always suspected that but never had any proof." um. you still don't have any "proof". but in saying "I have a Facebook account which I hardly use, I have a LinkedIn account which I also hardly use. I don’t have have a Twitter account…" it sounds like there may be a correlation between smugness and low facebook activity. a research question for another day?
Comment by @EvidenceSoup — August 30, 2010 @ 6:43 PM
Not so fast. This research article is based on "self-esteem and narcissistic personality self-reports …collected from 100 Facebook users at York University." Really? 100 people, self-reporting, and all from the same school? That's pretty lousy sampling from a site with millions upon millions of users around the globe.
To conclude "I had always suspected that but never had any proof" is premature. There still isn't "proof". (But the statement "I have a Facebook account which I hardly use, I have a LinkedIn account which I also hardly use. I don’t have have a Twitter account…" makes me wonder if there's a correlation between smugness and low FaceBook activity.)
Comment by @EvidenceSoup — August 30, 2010 @ 7:22 PM
"I had always suspected that but never had any proof. I have a Facebook account which I hardly use, I have a LinkedIn account which I also hardly use. I don’t have have a Twitter account because I just think it is idiotic however my blog does have a Twitter account, which is really an automated feed to generate traffic but all it has got the blog is endless spam. Does that mean I have a high self-esteem?"
… Close, but no cigar. Presumably the author's need to establish that they don't fit into this category (the grammatical mistakes in the breathlessly rushed, largely defensive final sentence certainly suggest a wee note of desperation) do kind of suggest otherwise. Never mind.
Comment by dakiniyearofthetiger — August 31, 2010 @ 6:00 AM
From the actual paper:
<Quote>
The rater of the participants’ Facebook page was the author
of this study, a 22-year-old female undergraduate student at
York University.
</Quote>
<Quote>
The central concern with this study was the subjectivity in
Facebook page coding. This potential bias could have been
avoided by having several raters who were different in age,
gender, and race.
</Quote>
In summary, 42% of all statistics are made up on the spot…
Comment by Siva — August 31, 2010 @ 2:50 PM
100 , really?
Central Limit Theorem states that the sampling distribution curve (for sample sizes of 30 and over) will have all the properties of a normal distribution
Comment by guest — August 31, 2010 @ 4:09 PM
Hahahaha! EvidenceSoup and dakiniyearofthetiger: Spot on, folks! I'm in total agreement with you on that one! a) lousy sampling (100… *cough* as in 1-0-0 users set against 500 million? Lousy job!) And b) Apparently someone is upping their self-esteem by meaning to come across as being smarter than the rest of FB? And backing it up with sloppy work and hiding behind her wannabe academic activities? What Daya? You have an sociophobic issue? Agoraphobic? I could always check with your shrink, you know?
Entertaining read though. Thanks for sharing LOL.
Comment by renovatio06 — September 1, 2010 @ 10:33 AM
Soraya Mehdizadeth's research might have made more of an impression if she had omitted the repeated use of "like" and "sort of" and "sort of like…." from her observations. Is this woman really considering medical school?
Comment by Emma Mae — September 9, 2010 @ 6:52 PM
This hits the mark, most people on fb are all about beefing themselves up to look like they amount to squat. Then once they are found out they all get defensive, just like people making there argument here they really are pretty pathetic when they know they have been found out. Most people dont realize that they arent going to amount to jack squat and will most likely end up living in a van down by the river. As for the rest of you go back to watching Jersey Shore and trying to impress people with stories that are mostly fictional.
Comment by guest — December 3, 2010 @ 6:48 AM