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Narcissism and Social Networking Behavior: A Meta‐Analysis
Author(s) -
Gnambs Timo,
Appel Markus
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12305
Subject(s) - narcissism , psychology , moderation , popularity , respondent , social psychology , trait , meta analysis , big five personality traits , personality , computer science , political science , law , programming language , medicine
Objective The increasing popularity of social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter has given rise to speculations that the intensity of using these platforms is associated with narcissistic tendencies. However, recent research on this issue has been all but conclusive. Method We present a three‐level, random effects meta‐analysis including 289 effect sizes from 57 studies (total N = 25,631) on the association between trait narcissism and social networking behavior. Results The meta‐analysis identified a small to moderate effect of ρ = .17 (τ = .11), 95% CI [.13, .21], for grandiose narcissism that replicated across different social networking platforms, respondent characteristics, and time. Moderator analyses revealed pronounced cultural differences, with stronger associations in power‐distant cultures. Moreover, social networking behaviors geared toward self‐presentation and the number of SNS friends exhibited stronger effects than usage durations. Conclusions Overall, the study not only supported but also refined the notion of a relationship between engaging in social networking sites and narcissistic personality traits.