Methods II Preview- Abstract Assignment: Part I

This assignment has two parts! Before you do this part, please take the following steps: 

First, read the Methods II Preview Assignment Instructions Spring 2021 x. 

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• This document contains important information about parts I and II for this assignment. 

Here is the Paper to Read and Write About: 

Selfie and Narcissism
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Running head: METHODS II PREVIEW ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS 1

METHODS II PREVIEW ASSIGNMENT 4

Methods II Preview Assignment Instructions

(Worth 40 Points)

Methods II Preview Assignment Instructions

1). Psychological Purpose

The psychological purpose behind the Methods II Preview Assignment is to give you a brief preview to the paper you will write in Methods II next semester. Not only do I want you to see what will go into your eventual Methods II research paper, but I also want to make sure that you can write a clear, succinct paragraph for a research study that covers all of the relevant information needed to convey the important parts of a study in a single paragraph (i.e. an Abstract).

The Abstract is one of the first items readers see. You need to convey a lot of information in this very short paragraph, as the potential reader will decide whether to read your full paper based on the information in the Abstract. There are several elements needed in the Abstract about research studies, including information about: a). the research question(s), b). the participants, c). the experimental methodology, d). the findings, and e). the conclusions / implications. Being able to write a precise yet succinct Abstract takes some effort, so make sure you go through several drafts before settling on your final version. Make sure to include keywords / key phrases as well (keywords are an essential part of articles, as these are the words or phrases that library databases like PsycInfo provide to searchers interested in specific topics. Well, the authors actually recommended these keywords, so if you include them for this short Abstract Assignment).

2). APA Formatting Purpose

This Article Critique assignment should once again assess your ability to follow APA formatting guidelines. Use Chapter 14 in your Smith and Davis textbook for help, and look at the instructions on the next page for guidance with formatting

3). Writing Purpose

I want to make sure you can write clearly and specifically, summarizing what might be a 20 page paper in a single paragraph. This assignment serves that purpose.

Methods II Preview Assignment (Worth 40 Points Total)

You will read a paper written by an actual Research Methods and Design II student from a prior semester. This paper includes two studies the student conducted, with Study One introducing the main variables and Study Two offering an extension with replication of Study One. Your job is to read the whole paper and then complete your assignment.

In Part One, you will answer a bunch of questions about the paper. Please complete part I on canvas! This is set up as a separate assignment on canvas. Don’t forget to submit part I and part II!

In Part Two, write an abstract for the paper!
I suggest you look at the example paper on Canvas to see how this should look!
This should be fairly easy, as you can paraphrase the information from Part One. However, this time you need to write it in one short paragraph (150 to 250 word maximum!). Note: there are two studies, and you have to mention both. Yes, this is tough, but authors often summarize (in the same short abstract) papers that they wrote that may include six or seven different studies! My suggestion is to find the overlap between both studies and discuss both simultaneously. For example, “Both studies looked at X, but study two also examined Y.” That is, your abstract should include the following; 16 points total):

1. Title page (1 point)

2. Include the word “Abstract” at the top of your abstract (2 points)

3. Identify the general problem or research question (the hypotheses) for both studies. (2 points)

4. Note the participants for both studies (2 points)

5. Note the IVs and DVs for the studies (2 points)

6. Note the findings for both studies (2 points)

7. Note the overall conclusions / implications of the two studies (2 points)

8. Please include keywords for the study (at least 5 keywords or phrases – these are not included in the total word count) (2 points)

9.

Correct any errors you find on the references page and include the corrected references at the bottom of your abstract page (see the example paper for how this should look). (2 points)

Writing Quality (7 points)

1. Avoid run-on sentences, sentence fragments, spelling errors, and grammar errors.

2. The writing should be PERFECT here. You will lose a point for each writing error, so proofread, proofread, and proofread some more!

3. Get a group member to review it for you! Review their abstract!

Total points possible: 40 points (Part I = 16 points; Part II = 24 points)

Other Instructions: this is an individual assignment.

SOCIALMEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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Social Medias Effects on Perceived Narcissism and Selfishness

Anonymous Author

Florida International University

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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Abstract

Methods One Students: Typically, authors add their abstract for the paper here on the second

page. As you can see, the abstract for this paper is missing. Your job is to supply that abstract!

Read over the following paper, which is an actual paper turned in by a former student taking

Research Methods and Design II at FIU. This is similar to a paper you will write next semester.

Review the studies in this paper, and spot the hypotheses, independent and dependent variables,

participants, results, and implications, and write it up in one paragraph (no more than 250 words

maximum). Make sure to include keywords as well (keywords are words or short phrases that

researchers use when searching through online databases like PsycInfo – they need to be

descriptive of the paper, so come up with three or four that seem to suit this paper). Good luck!

Keywords: methods, paper, abstract, assignment, preview

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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Social Medias Effects on Perceived Narcissism and Selfishness

The advent of social media has created an explosion of self-expression never before seen

in modern history. Social media allows people to present the best version of themselves to the

eyes of the world via pictures, specifically selfies, videos and live streaming of their everyday

lives, available to anyone with an internet connection and a desire to make themselves known to

the world (Wang et al., 2018). Websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are

immensely popular today for allowing some of their users to create an entirely new identity for

themselves in the hopes that it will attract new followers and give them more publicity within the

social media networks. Although this kind of self-promotion can be rationalized as just trying to

put yourself out there in the world to make new connections and perhaps open doors to new

career opportunities, this kind of behavior can be seen as a narcissistic self-obsession with

oneself by consumers of their content.

Narcissism is defined as a pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of

empathy (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The influence of narcissism on a person’s

selfie taking tendencies has been widely known throughout various research articles. A study

conducted by Sung et al. (2016), points out that a common reason that selfies are posted by

social media users is to seek admiration from their followers by posting likeable pictures that

share their own interests and values in the hopes that their posts are liked and shared by

followers and friends as a form of positive reciprocation of their selfie. The study was conducted

by having 315 participants in Seoul, Korea, complete a 13 item Narcissism Personality Inventory

(NPI 13), and resulted in data that showed that selfie posting frequency was correlated with

attention seeking motivation and narcissism, with participants also stating their intentions to post

more selfies in future posts (Sung et al., 2016). Additional findings indicated that narcissism had

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a heavy influence in the selfie taking motivations of the individuals surveyed in the study and

accurately predicted selfie taking frequency and the purpose of their posts. The researchers

managed to find a link between narcissism and selfie taking by finding that the individuals in the

study used their selfie taking as a method of impression management, which is behavior that is

frequently observed in individuals with high amounts of narcissism (Sung et al., 2016).

Further research corroborates the link between obsessive selfie posters and narcissism. A

study conducted by Halpern et al. (2016), used a two-wave panel study that was completed one

year apart and involved 500 participants in Chile. The participants rated their narcissism using

questionnaires related to their perceived superiority levels and their selfie taking behavior. The

results of the study revealed that not only do narcissists engage in more selfie taking and social

media usage when compared to non-narcissistic participants, but it reported that frequent selfie

takers became more narcissistic over time as their selfie taking behavior continued (Halpern et

al., 2016).

People are known to want to associate themselves with others who share similar values

and exhibit similar behavior. It is no different with people who hold narcissistic traits and it is

evident that this herd like behavior spreads to social media platforms as well. A study conducted

by Jin and Muqaddam (2018), hypothesized that narcissistic viewers of Instagram selfies would

show a more positive attitude towards selfies, would be more likely to take more selfies

themselves in the future, and would be more likely to follow the original poster of the selfie

compared to a non-narcissistic viewer. An experiment was conducted in which participants

would be tested on their own narcissistic tendencies and then answered questions about their

thoughts regarding the original posters perceived narcissism. The study concluded that

narcissistic participants were indeed more likely to post more selfies in the future while

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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exhibiting more positive views of the original selfie poster while also being more likely to follow

the original posters Instagram profile (Jin & Muqaddam, 2016).

Another factor to take into account about narcissistic selfie taking is the role of body

image and the influence it plays regarding the prevalence in selfie posting. Being comfortable in

one’s own skin is a large factor in deciding to post a picture that reveals your body for the world

to see, and a narcissistic trait is to have an unusually high perception of one’s self, even if the

perception is far from reality. Facebook users who claim to have a more positive perception of

their own bodies report a greater incidence of pictures that include a large portion of their bodies

(Pounders et al, 2016). Further research shows that personal satisfaction with body image has a

significant and positive correlation to posting full body pictures online (Fox & Vendemia 2016;

Ridgway & Clayton 2016). A study conducted by Wang et al. (2018) examined the link between

narcissism and positive body image and its influence on body exposure in selfie pictures by

having participants rate their overall satisfaction with their bodies, their attitudes toward taking

selfies, and their selfie posting behavior. The results of the study made evident the correlation

that body satisfaction mediates the relationship between narcissistic traits and selfie taking

behavior. This result also shows that high body satisfaction among narcissistic participants is

prevalent and contributes to a higher ratio of their bodies being shown in selfie taking behaviors

(Wang et al., 2018).

Selfies have been shown to influence an observer’s social judgements about a posters

content (Qiu et al., 2015). A study conducted by Taylor et al. (2017) presented participants with

four fictitious Facebook accounts that varied in valence and selfie presence. The participants

observed the status updates of the profiles and were instructed to rate their level of social

attraction to each profile, the level of perceived narcissism, and the appropriateness of the

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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message with the accompanying selfie picture. Results showed that the majority of participants

rated the status updates that were accompanied by selfies to be more narcissistic than those

without selfies, posts with messages were deemed to be inappropriate when accompanied with

selfies, and were ranked as less socially attractive than those without selfies (Taylor et al., 2017).

This ties in to the notion that not only do frequent posters of selfies on social media networks

tend to exhibit narcissistic traits, but social media users are perceived to be narcissistic by

observers of their content when compared to posts that don’t include selfies.

Study one

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of different styles of picture taking and the

resulting perceptions made by the people who observe them. In general, we predict that

participants will rate a fictional Instagram user (Emma) as more narcissistic if “selfies”

accompany her Instagram account than if “groupies” or “professional” photos accompany her

account. More specifically, we predict that if participants are exposed to selfie photos, then they

will believe that an Instagram user posts to her social media accounts more often and seems more

narcissistic compared to participants exposed to either groupie or professional photos, though

these latter two conditions should not differ from each other in their Instagram user ratings.

Method

Participants

One-hundred and forty-one participants from Florida International University participated

in a study regarding social medias effects on perceived narcissism and selfishness. Of these

participants, 68 were male (48.20%), and 73 being female (51.80%). The age of the sample

ranged from 17 to 70 (M = 26.90, SD = 10.12). This included 19.90% Caucasian (N = 28),

58.20% Hispanic (N = 82), 1.40% Native American (N = 2), 9.90% African American (N = 14),

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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3.50% Asian American (N = 5), and 7.10% who identified as being of a “other” race (N = 10).

There were 64 participants who reported being students at Florida International University

(45.40%), with 77 participants reporting not being students (54.60%).

Materials and Procedure

Materials utilized for the study included three sets of two-page questionnaires and

pencils. The participants of the study were randomly given one of the three questionnaires and

were sked to read and complete them. The questionnaires were split into five parts: Part I- Look

at pictures of the study subject (Emma Wood) and answer questions about the pictures and their

own preferences. Part II- Participants are asked to record their impressions of Emma based on

the pictures they saw. Part III- Participants complete a survey detailing their own personal

characteristics using questions adapted from the Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI). Part

IV- Participants provide their demographic information. Part V- Participants are asked what kind

of picture they believe they observed and record their answers.

The study was split into two phases to differentiate between the introductory phase of the

study and the participatory phase of the study. The introductory phase of the study gave the

researchers an opportunity to explain the study and its objective to prospective participants,

while receiving verbal consent to participate in the second phase of the study. The first phase of

the study involved researchers finding participants by asking strangers whether they would be

willing to take part in a brief study regarding social media profiles and perceived narcissism

based on pictures posted by the social media user. Once informed consent was given by the

participants after being informed of the risks and costs of the procedure, those who agreed to

participate in the study were briefed on the information that was required from them, the

sequence of questions they were to expect in the study and were provided with the materials

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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needed to complete the study. The second phase of the study began by the researchers randomly

handing out one of the three questionnaires to participants and instructing the participants to read

the entirety of the Instagram page and to complete the questionnaire at their own pace.

Part I of the study involved the participants viewing a fictional Instagram page of a

woman named Emma Wood. The questionnaires each had three different sets of pictures for the

participants to base their answers from. Each of the three questionnaires given to the participants

were randomly selected with one of the following conditions: Selfie Condition- Three self-taken

pictures of Emma taken by herself with differing facial expressions. Groupie Condition- Three

pictures of Emma with at least one other person included in the picture. Professional Condition-

Three pictures of Emma taken in a staged setting by a professional photographer.

Part I also contained three questions for the participants to answer. Participants were asked

to look at three pictures of Emma’s fictional Instagram profile (the subject of the study) and rate

which picture the participant preferred, when they think Emma last updated her Instagram

profile, and how often they thought Emma posts more thoughts or pictures in Instagram.

Question one was answered in an A, B, or C format, question two and three was answered on an

interval scale, ranging from 0 (rarely) to 5 (constantly).

Part II of the questionnaire involved the participant rating their own impressions of

Emma Wood and are given 10 questions to be completed on an interval scale of 0 (Strongly

disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The questions asked if the participant thinks Emma seemed

smart, happy, generous, self-absorbed, helpful, shy, selfish, down-to-earth, narcissistic, and

egotistical. In part III, participants were asked to rate themselves on an interval scale from 0

(Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) based on 10 questions that were sourced from the NPI.

Part IV tasked participants with completing demographic information that included their race,

SOCIAL MEDIA AND NARCISSISM

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gender, age, first language and whether they were a student at Florida International University.

Lastly, part V asked participants which terms best describes Emma’s photos based on three given

categories (selfie, groupie, professional).

At the end of the study, the researchers thanked the participants for their contributions to

the study and debriefed them about the details and the expectations of the study regarding the

link between narcissism and selfie. The researchers closed the session by debriefing the

participants a narrative detailing the research question, their method and the hypothesis

formulated by the researchers.

After the completion of the study, researchers input the data into SPSS – Data Analysis

Software system where photo condition (selfie vs. groupie vs. professional) was the independent

variable, and the frequency of Emma posts her social media and Emma’s narcissism were the

two main dependent variables analyzed. Photo condition manipulation was checked as well.

Results

A Chi-square test was used to check for proper recall of the provided pictures (selfie,

groupie, professional) and whether participants were able to correctly categorize the photos with

the proper picture type. The chi square was significant, 2 (4) = 159.27 p < .001. Most “Selfie”

participants recalled seeing selfies (84.40%). Most “Groupie” participants recalled seeing

groupies (83.00%). Finally, most “Professional” participants recalled seeing professional photos

(81.60%). Cramer’s V, which was approximate for this test, was very strong (.75). This indicates

that most participants had very strong recall of the pictures and correctly categorized them with

the proper provided labels in the questionnaire.

We ran a One-Way ANOVA with photo condition as our independent variable (Selfie v

Groupie v Professional) and ratings of Emma’s narcissism as our dependent variable, F(2,138) =

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13.40, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test showed that participants thought Emma was significantly

more narcissistic in the selfie condition (M = 3.02, SD = 1.16) than in both the groupie condition

(M = 2.13, SD = .82) and the professional condition (M = 2.20, SD = .74). Participants in the

groupie and professional conditions, however, did not differ from one another. These results

show Emma’s selfie condition is much more likely to receive a judgement of her being more

narcissistic when compared to either the groupie or professional photo types.

We ran a One-Way ANOVA with photo condition as our independent variable (Selfie v

Groupie v Professional) and ratings of how frequently Emma posts to social media as our

dependent variable, F(2,138) = 11.98, p < .001. A Tukey post hoc test showed that participants

thought Emma was significantly more likely to post in the selfie condition (M = 3.18, SD = 1.07)

than in the groupie condition (M = 2.47, SD = .75) and the professional condition (M = 2.29, SD

= .94). Participants in the groupie and professional conditions did not differ from one another.

Discussion

It was predicted that participants would rate a fictional Instagram user as more

narcissistic and more frequently posts on social media if “selfies” accompany her account. The

results supported the hypothesis as participants did perceive Emma as more narcissistic and

thought Emma posts on her social media more frequently when exposed to her selfie pictures

compared to those who exposed to her groupie and professional pictures. Further research is

needed to determine if certain individual variables brought in by the participants themselves

influenced their rationale as to why they believed Emma to be narcissistic when observing her

selfie photos compared to her groupie and professional photos.

Study Two

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A valuable variable that can hold a significant influence in whether a social media post is

deemed to be narcissistic or not is the gender of the observer of the picture. It is expected that

men and women will react differently in the same situation, but just how different men and

women will react to seeing the same picture has yet to be thoroughly researched. The aim of this

second study is to examine the differences between male and female users of social networking

sites and other forms of media, and the relationship between gender and their judgement towards

someone with a narcissistic personality. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center that

tracked social media usage by the American public showed that 69% of Americans were

members of at least one social networking site (Perrin, 2017). This serves to prove that the

prevalence of social media can be used as a tool to discover patterns of personal judgement and

perception through a digital medium.

A study conducted by Bacev-Giles and Haji (2017), focused on analyzing how first

impressions were assessed based on reviewing personal descriptions of a fictitious person’s

social media profile. The social media profiles included short quotes that hinted at the users

personality and brief descriptions of hobbies they engaged in. The profile pictures of these fake

profiles were substituted for avatars to avoid influencing decision making in the form of altered

or improved personal photos. The information shown was designed to be neutral in meaning, but

with a positive message to remain similar to social media profiles of actual people, who tend to

showcase their positive traits and refrain from sharing negative characteristics to appear more

attractive to viewers (Qiu et al., 2012). Subjects reported back with positive responses on their

initial impressions of the social media profiles. Participants had a tendency to exaggerate the

persons positive traits while underestimating their negative attributes (Bacev-Giles & Haji,

2017). The results also found that the positive descriptions were intertwined with gender

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stereotypic descriptions of the profiles. Men were commonly described as “athletic” or “active”,

while women were characterized as “warm” or “creative” (Bacev-Giles & Haji, 2017). These

results can serve as a steppingstone for exploring deeper into the decision-making processes of

social media users. The study managed to highlight the influence of personal descriptions of

social media users on an observers initial impression of them without their opinion being

affected by what could be seen as a narcissistic or self-promoting selfie type picture as the focal

point of their visual perception of the user.

In reference to an article discussed in study one, a study conducted by (Sung et al., 2016),

discovered that selfies are taken frequently by social media users to gain acceptance from

likeminded peers and reaffirm their sense of self by achieving the admiration of others. This

frequent selfie taking behavior correlated with increased narcissism and attention seeking

behavior based on the results of a 13 item NPI (Sung et al., 2016). In correlation with the

aforementioned study, Buss and Chiodo (1991) identified that women are highly concerned

about physical appearance in relation to acts centered around improving their perceived

attractiveness. Women were found to be more likely to show off their figure, ask others about her

appearance, and comment on how much weight they had lost (Buss & Chiodo, 1991). It could be

argued that had this study been replicated in modern day society, frequent selfie taking behavior

and aesthetic improvements to selfies in the form of filters, airbrushes, or other cosmetic

enhancements would be used by women to enhance their beauty for others to gaze upon.

There is a clear disparity on gender norms and expectations that is propagated culturally

through various forms of media, such as television, radio, and more recently through the internet.

Although different cultures have established unique standards as to what defines femininity and

masculinity, contemporary American society has long established unofficial guidelines regarding

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what constitutes proper behavior for each gender. A study conducted by Zemach and Cohen

(1986), revealed generous differences in television reality and social reality. A sample of 1202

subjects, 61% women and 39% men were handed a questionnaire that asked questions related to

certain occupations and chores. The participants were then asked to answer which gender they

expected to be involved in the situation and which gender actively participated in said chore

within their family network. The results of the questionnaire showed great discrepancies

regarding perceived gender roles and was heavily influenced by the amount of fictional

television viewed by the respondents. Among males who described themselves as heavy viewers

of fictional programs, 63% ranked sensitivity as a feminine trait, while 47% of light male

viewers reported the same findings (Zemach & Cohen, 1986). Further evidence of television

influence was found in the perceived roles based off of t.v. viewing versus the roles their families

occupied in the household. Where 68% of men reported that child rearing was a woman’s job,

only 41% reported it to be the case in their home (Zemach & Cohen, 1986). It is debatable

whether pre-conceived notions of gender in the home and in the work place would have an effect

on whether a person judges a social media profile to be narcissistic, but it could be presumed that

if these beliefs are held by the viewer, it would lead to a harsher judgement by the viewer when

observing the profile. The thought that a woman with strong notions of how a woman should

behave in society, a submissive, friendly, soft spoke person, would be critical of a picture of

another woman who exhibits a strong, confident demeanor doesn’t seem to far-fetched and

would likely label the individual in the picture as narcissistic if given the opportunity.

The second study in the present research analyzes how gender influences whether a person

is deemed to have narcissistic tendencies. The new independent variable added to study two is

Instagram user’s gender (female vs. male), and the original independent variable, photo

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condition, remains, but with two conditions left: selfie vs. professional. The hypotheses in the

study two examines the influences of Instagram user’s gender and interaction effect of photo

type and gender on how people feel about the user. When it comes to the frequency the user

posts on social media, people will think more frequently when the user is a female, compared to

a male user. In addition, people will think a user will post most frequently when the user is a

female and she posts selfie pictures, compared to a male use who posts professional

pictures. When it comes to how narcissistic people think about the user, similar findings will

emerge.

Method
Participants

Seven-hundred and fifty-one participants, 39.90 % (N = 299) college students from

Florida International University (FIU) and 60.10 % (N = 450) not students at FIU, were recruited

from among family members and friends of the experimenters to participate in study two. Of

these 751 participants, 33.70 % (N = 253) were male and 65.5 % (N = 492) were female, with

0.50 % (N=4) of participants stating “other” as their gender and 0.25 % (N=2) answers missing

from the results. Ages ranged from a minimum of 14 years to a maximum of 76 years, with an

average (mean) age of M = 26.35 years (SD = 9.74). Our sample population consisted of

63.20 % native English speakers (N= 475), 29.80 % native Spanish speakers (N = 140), and

5.90 % native speakers of other languages (N = 28).

Materials and Procedure

Materials utilized for study two consisted of 2 different, randomly generated Qulatrics

questionnaires that participants accessed online via an electronic device with internet

connectivity (e.g., tablet, smart phone, computer). The study was split into two phases similar to

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study one, the introductory phase and the participatory phase. The introductory phase involved

researchers finding willing participants to engage in a study examining social media profiles and

perceived narcissism based on styles of pictures posted by the user, and how the gender of the

poster and photo priming would affect the results of the study. The participatory phase involved

the willing participants going online and completing a questionnaire that collected their answers.

The questionnaire contained the purpose of the study, the procedures participants were to engage

in, demographic questions, manipulation check, and a debriefing section informing the

participants of the hypothesis of the researchers and contact information for future reference. The

procedure of the experiment was conducted as follows:

The instruction contained the objective of the study, procedures, risks and benefits, and

concluded with asking for consent to participate in the study. Next participants viewed fictitious

female and male profiles with gender neutral names (Avery Wood) and were asked to rate their

favorite picture from a 3-picture array of selfie pictures or a 3-picture array of professional

pictures. The participants were asked about their thoughts of how often they thought the profile

owners updated their profile picture and how often they thought they posted pictures on their

profiles on an interval scale, ranging from 0 (rarely) to 5 (constantly). The individual surveys

taken by the participants were randomly generated by the Qualtrics survey generator and resulted

in participants either seeing the male Avery with selfie pictures, male Avery with professional

pictures, female Avery with selfie pictures, or female Avery with professional pictures.

Next, participants answered 10 questions on an interval scale of 1 (Strongly disagree) to 6

(Strongly Agree). The questions asked if the participant thinks Avery seemed smart, happy,

generous, self-absorbed, helpful, shy, selfish, down-to-earth, narcissistic, and egotistical.

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Then participants complete a self-assessment in which participants were asked to rate

themselves on an interval scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 6 (Strongly Agree) based on 10

questions that were sourced from NPI, demographic information that included their gender, race,

age, first language learned, and whether they were a student at Florida International University,

and answered how often they posted their thoughts and pictures to their social media profiles.

Next, a manipulation check was provided, asking participants to rate their favorite picture

of Avery, whether it was the selfie, professional photo, or if it was unknown which the favorite

was. It also asked what gender they believed Avery to be, whether male, female, or unknown.

A debriefing at the end of survey was explained to participants the significance of their

questionnaire and how the results will be measured as part of a larger study to better understand

how certain personality traits, such as selfishness, self-absorption, and narcissism are judged

when faced viewing social media pictures that focus on the gender of the person in the picture,

and the nature of the photo priming present.

Results

A chi-square test was used to check user gender as reported by the participants as the

independent variable and whether participants recalled Avery’s gender as male or female as the

dependent variable. There was a significant main effect, 2(2) = 682.60, p = .003. Most

participants correctly recalled Avery’s gender as female (95%) when viewing the female profile

of Avery, while most participants also correctly noted Avery as male (93.8%) when viewing the

male profile of Avery (Table 1). The results show that the majority of participants were able to

correctly identify Avery’s gender when viewing the male and female social media profiles.

Table 1

Manipulation check on Avery’s Gender

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Levels of Variable Percentage

Male

Female

Unknown

93.8

95.0

4.4

2(2) = 682.60, p =.003

An additional chi-square test was used to check photo priming manipulation as the

independent variable, and how participants viewed Avery’s pictures (selfies vs. professional vs.

unknown) as the dependent variable. There was a significant main effect, 2(2) = 478.40, p

= .025. Most participants correctly reported Avery’s pictures as selfies (90.4%) as well as

correctly designated most of the professional photos as well (79.2%), but to a lesser degree than

the selfie pictures (Table 2).

Table 2

Manipulation Check on Selfie, Professional, or Unknown Options

Levels of Variable Percentage

Selfie

Other (Professional)

Unknown

90.4

79.2

6.8

2(2) = 478.40, p = .025

The first 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA was analyzed, with photo condition (selfie vs.

professional) and user gender (male vs. female) as independent variables and how often

participants thought Avery posted thoughts or pictures on their social media profiles (Instagram)

as the dependent variable. Photo condition showed a significant main effect on how often

participants thought Avery posted thoughts or pictures on social media, F (1, 747) = 4.86, p

= .028. Participants who viewed the selfie picture (M = 4.22, SD = 1.42) rated Avery as posting

more often than those who viewed professional picture (M = 3.79, SD = 1.25). The main effect of

user gender was significant, F (1,747) = 8.74, p = .003. Participants who viewed female Avery

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account (M = 3.86, SD = 1.12) rated Avery posting more often than those who viewed male

Avery account (M = 3.72, SD = 1.46). There was no interaction effect between photo condition

and user gender, F (1,747) = 2.27, p = .132 (see Table 3).

Table 3

2 x 2 ANOVA on Avery’s Posting Frequency on Social Media

Source Sum of

Square

df Mean

Square

F p

Corrected model

Intercept

IV User gender

IV Photo condition

User gender*Photo Condition

Error

Total

28.0

23

11410.527

15.274

8.495

3.972

1305.487

12757

.000

3
1
1
1
1

747

751

9.341

11410.527
15.274
8.495
3.972

1.748

5.345

6529.106

8.740

4.861

2.273

.001

.000

.003

.028

.132

The second 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA was analyzed, with photo condition (selfie vs.

professional) and user gender (male vs. female) as independent variables and how narcissistic

participants viewed Avery as the dependent variable. Photo condition showed a significant main

effect, F (1, 747) = 12.05, p = .001. Participants who viewed the selfie picture (M = 3.61, SD =

1.54) rated Avery as more narcissistic than those who viewed professional picture (M = 3.21, SD

= 1.23). The main effect of user gender was significant, F (1,747) = 5.12, p = .024. Participants

who viewed female Avery account (M = 3.32, SD = 1.24) rated Avery more narcissistic than

those who viewed male Avery account (M = 3.05, SD = 1.27). There was no interaction effect

between photo condition and user gender, F (1,747) = .45, p = .504 (see Table 3).

Table 4

2 x 2 ANOVA Avery Seems Narcissistic

Source Sum of
Square
df Mean
Square
F p

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19

Corrected model
Intercept
IV User gender
IV Photo condition
User gender*Photo Condition
Error
Total

31.1

25

8168.112

8.961

21.113

0.781

1308.465

9516.000

3
1
1
1
1
747
751

10.375

8168.112
8.961

21.113.

0.781

1.752

5.923

4663.158

5.116

12.054

0.446

.001
.000

.0

24

.001

.504

Discussion

In study two, it was predicted that participants would rate Avery as more narcissistic

when shown selfie style pictures as opposed to professional style photos. The results of the study

found that participants rated the female version of the social media profile more likely to update

their profile more often with their thoughts and pictures compared to male owned profiles. These

results coincide with the findings discovered in study one, in which the fictitious social media

profile of Emma, was rated as more narcissistic because of her perceived tendency to post selfies

of herself often on her social media profile.

For the second dependent variable, it was hypothesized that participants would rate

Avery more narcissistic if they saw the female social media profile as opposed to the male

version. The results state that the female version of Avery was rated as more narcissistic in both

the selfie and professional categories than in the male version. This further supports the proposed

hypothesis that was surmised at the beginning of study one and the updated hypothesis for the

second study.

General Discussion

Throughout both studies, research revealed the extent to which gender and picture type

influenced the opinions of participants when viewing fictitious profiles of male and female

subjects. Participants in the first study were more likely to rate a given social media profiles user

as more narcissistic if exposed to profiles with a higher amount of selfie pictures as opposed to

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20

pictures taken in a professional or group setting. The second study focused on the relationship

between gender differences and its influence on the perceived narcissism ratings of the subjects.

Our results support the hypothesis that female subjects would be perceived as more narcissistic

than male counterparts when viewed through the selfie and professional conditions. Study two’s

results also found that the female counterparts were rated as more likely to update their posts

more often by adding pictures more frequently than males. The results of these studies support

the findings of a prior study conducted by Halpern et al. (2016), that correlate frequent selfie

taking and social media activity with higher levels of reported narcissism.

A previous study conducted by Taylor et al. (2017) further cements the prevalence of

selfie type photos and social media users with narcissistic personality traits. The study

corroborates the results of the performed studies by reporting that the majority of participants

found status updates that were accompanied by selfie type pictures to be more narcissistic than

those without such pictures. Posts that included selfies were also deemed to be inappropriate and

less socially attractive to viewers when compared to posts without selfies (Taylor et al., 2017).

These findings could serve well as a source of insight for future studies regarding social media

interactions and examining what kinds of physical behaviors cause people in society to associate

them with a certain trait, whether it be narcissistic, selfish, shy, etc.

The results of the present studies could very well have been jeopardized by multiple

factors and limitations that went unnoticed. Future studies should strive to collect a larger

participant base with a more diverse age group. The population sample of the study consisted of

around half being college age students who also happened to be attending the same university at

the time of the study. This could present some sort of institutional bias into the findings from

having such a large presence of likeminded individuals attending the same institution. The

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generational representation in the study can also lead to questionable validity of the study’s

results, as the mean ages of the participants of the study are 26.9 years of age for study one, and

26.4 for study two. This overrepresentation of younger participants can overshadow the results of

the older participants answers collected from the study. Even though our studies provided strong

main effects between the independent and dependent variables, a more diverse population

sample could have altered the results through more widespread age and cultural standing. Study

ones demographic information revealed that 58% of participants were from Latin American

backgrounds. This overrepresentation of Latin American responses poses an internal validity

threat to the study as the results are too heavily influenced by one population group to be

applicable in other studies because of the underrepresentation of other ethnic groups. Although

this percentage could be reasonably expected in the community in which the study was

conducted (Miami), subsequent studies should strive to find a more balanced population sample

so as to prevent any one ethnicity from skewing the results. Different ethnic backgrounds can

affect a person’s belief in what makes a person seem narcissistic, selfish, etc., and these cultural

differences could have been better represented with a more evenly distributed cultural

background sample. Due to the large presence of college age students, more effort could be

focused into expanding the participant population to better represent an average response if

future researchers decide to test for any differences between students and Americans who have

already finished college or are in the workforce.

Analyzing the influence of selfies and its influence on personal assumptions of other

people can have a profound impact on how people market themselves to others in today’s digital

age. These findings show that people will make split second judgements off of something as

trivial as a fun selfie picture taken at the beach and lead to false assumptions about another

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person before they even meet them. Modern facets of online communication, such as dating

websites and personal job seeking sites such as LinkedIn can be affected by our critical

tendencies and affect decision making that impacts our daily lives. This study exposes humans as

judgmental creatures and creates a new dilemma for us to navigate in a society where people are

often times treated by how they are perceived rather than taking the time to know who they

really are.

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