Narcissism and problematic social media use: A systematic literature review

Introduction: The relationship between narcissism and social media use has been a topic of research since the advent of the first social media
website. While numerous meta-analyses have been conducted to synthesize empirical evidence on the association between narcissism and
typical online behaviors (e.g., uploading photos and usage frequency), evidence on the association between narcissism and Problematic Social
Media Use (PSMU) has not yet been systematized. The current study represents the first systematic review on this topic.

Methods: Electronic literature databases, including the Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and EMBASE, were searched to identify studies
that examined the relationship between narcissism and PSMU. We found 14 empirical studies on narcissism and PSMU. Additionally, seven
studies focused on the association with Problematic Facebook Use (PFU).

Results: Consistent results were reported regarding the positive and significant association between grandiose narcissism and PFU (0.13 < r
< 0.32). The only two studies that included a vulnerable narcissism measure reported a positive and significant correlation with PFU as well.
Studies that did not distinguish between dif- ferent online platforms (i.e., those measuring PSMU) reported less consistent results.

Conclusions: The results generally revealed that narcissism might be involved in PFU, but it might not have consistent effects across social
media platforms. The assessment of problematic social media use without dis- tinguishing different platforms might not individuate
narcissists' preferences and risks. However, our findings need to be interpreted with caution not only due to the relatively small number of
studies on this topic but also because 19 studies out 21 used a cross-sectional design.

1. Introduction

The use of social media has markedly increased over the past few years. The number of users of online social networking
sites (SNSs) worldwide stood at approximately 2.46 billion in 2017, and it is esti- mated that there will be around 3.09
billion social media users around the globe by the end of 2021 (Statista, 2020). In October 2019, Face- book (FB) alone had
2.45 billion monthly active users. Instagram (IG) has recently surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, the vast majority of
whom are using it on a daily basis (Statista, 2020).

Although social media platforms bring many benefits to their users, concerns have been raised about the potential adverse
consequences of frequent social network activity (Müller et al., 2016), especially for mental and social well-being. A
systematic review of 65 studies (Frost & Rickwood, 2017) has found positive associations between intensive FB use and
symptoms of key psychiatric disorders (e.g., anxiety, depressive symptoms, body image dissatisfaction, and disordered
eating). Some researchers (e.g., Kuss, 2017) also argue that the excessive use of social

media might be linked to a behavioural addiction, which in extreme cases may manifest itself in symptoms and
consequences traditionally associated with substance-related addictions (e.g., salience, tolerance, mood regulation,
withdrawal, conflict, relapse). Some other researchers (see, for example, Carbonell & Panova, 2017) argue against
classifying Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) as a psychiatric disorder, as re- peated and persistent use of SNSs might
result from a temporary coping strategy as an expected response to common stressors or losses (see Billieux et al., 2017;
Kardefelt-Winther, 2017). Therefore, the lack of consistency underlying the broader concept of PSMU makes it difficult to
establish a sole definition of this phenomenon (e.g., Caci, Cardaci, Scrima, & Tabacchi, 2017) as well as to use the same
assessment tool for assessing the problematic use of social media (Pontes, Kuss, & Griffiths, 2015). The different approach
and terms that have been used include (a) “Social media addiction,” “Pathological Social media use,” and “Social media
disorder” used when the criteria of addiction (i.e., sal- ience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and
relapse) have been considered; (b) “Problematic Social media Use” or

a shorthand for those scoring higher on inventories of narcissistic per- sonality—can be divided into grandiose narcissists
(GNs) and vulner- able narcissists (VNs). The existence of two forms of narcissism was first conceptualized and examined by
Wink (1991), and a portion of the psychology literature (Hendin & Cheek, 1997) has confirmed the ex- istence of these two
types. Grandiose narcissism (GN) reflects traits related to grandiosity, aggression, and dominance, while vulnerable
narcissism (VN) is largely marked by hypersensitivity to the opinions of others, an intense desire for approval, and
defensiveness (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Despite these differences, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism share some core
traits, such as a sense of entitlement, grandiose fantasies, and the need for admiration (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003; Pincus et
al., 2009).

Special emphasis has been placed on the theoretical speculation that social media are ideal environments for achieving
narcissistic goals. In fact, various attributes of SNSs make them seem an ideal tool for dis- playing grandiosity and receiving
desired attention (Barry & McDougall, 2018). First, SNSs provide greater control over self-pre- sentation, compared to face-
to-face interactions, rendering them a useful venue for the development of strategic interpersonal behaviors, many of which
are used by narcissists to construct and maintain a carefully considered self-image (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). Second,
social media use allows individuals to advertise their successes to a large audience, while also obtaining highly visible
rewards and re- cognition through “likes” and positive comments from other social media users (Andreassen, Pallesen, &
Griffith, 2017). Moreover, given the rise of SNS use on mobile devices, SNSs are accessible at all times and in all places.
This implies that narcissists can both curate, manage, and promote an online “self” throughout the day and obtain frequent
feedback on their efforts. For these reasons, some scholars (e.g., Ksinan & Vazsonyi, 2016) have recently begun to argue
that high levels of narcissism might not only be associated with peculiar online behaviors (i.e., higher frequency of photo
uploading) but also lead to problematic use (e.g., deficient self-regulation) and subsequent negative outcomes. That is,
narcissists might become addicted to the unique communicative environment offered by social media because it is
conducive the ful- filment of their self-enhancement needs. Previous studies examining the association between narcissistic
traits and PSMU have shown opposite findings or, at least, inconsistent results. For example, whereas some studies have
found a clear positive association between grandiose narcissism and PSMU (e.g., Andreassen et al., 2017), other studies
have found relatively weak associations (e.g., Casale & Fioravanti, 2018) and no attempts have been made to systematically
review the available evidence.

1.2. Aims of the review

To our knowledge, there is no systematic review on the association between the two forms of narcissism and PSMU.
Existing reviews in- clude: (a) a meta-analysis of studies (Liu & Baumeister, 2016) on the association between the grandiose
form and SNS activities (i.e., status updates, posting photographs, interacting with others, commenting on others’ posts, and
total friends); (b) a meta-analysis (Gnambs & Appel, 2018) on the links between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and
social networking behaviours (e.g., uploading photos and usage fre- quency); (c) a systematic review (Moor & Anderson,
2019) on how the dark triad/tetrad relate to antisocial online behaviors (e.g., trolling behaviors); (d) a meta-analytic review
(McCain & Campbell, 2018) of studies on both forms of narcissism and social media use (e.g., time spent on social media
and number of selfies uploaded); and (e) a meta- analytic review focused on FB use (Carvalho & Pianowski, 2017), which
found a moderate effect size using number of FB friends and narcissism measures.

Especially the meta-analyses by Gnambs and Appel (2018) and McCain and Campbell (2018) are pertinent to the current
study because both assessed time spent on social media. Both meta-analyses found

1.1. Narcissism and PSMU

PSMU can be shaped by many factors. Personality is arguably a key individual difference variable that has been shown to
play an important role in the initiation, development, and maintenance of addictive be- haviors (see Andreassen et al.,
2013; Grant, Potenza, Weinstein, & Gorelick, 2010). Since the various definitions of PSMU, albeit different, agree on
including addictive-like symptoms, various studies (e.g., Wang, Ho, Chan, & Tse, 2015) have examined the role of
personality traits—generally categorized according to the Five-Factor Model. A recent meta-analysis focused on PFU
(Marino et al., 2018) that included 56 independent samples with a total of 27.867 participants (59.22% females) found a
low positive correlation [r = 0.22; 95% CI [0.19, 0.26], k = 0.16, Z = 10.96, p < .001] with neuroticism and an even
lower negative correlation [r = 0.16; 95% CI [-0.21, 0.09], k = . 15, Z = 4.82, p < .001] with conscientiousness. Also, the
above-men- tioned meta-analysis has shown that needs motivating Facebook use had the strongest association with PFU. On
the one hand, this result suggests that the Big Five conceptualization of personality might not be helpful in understanding
this specific type of problematic behaviour. On the other hand, this result suggests that the tendency to satisfy needs
through the use of social media needs to be taken into account, in keeping with various relevant theoretical perspectives
(e.g., the Uses and Gratification Theory by Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974; the dual factor-model of Facebook use by
Nadkarni & Hofmann, 2012).

In light of both theories and empirical evidence, research on nar- cissism and social media use has been especially popular
in recent years (see, for example, Bergman, Fearrington, Davenport, & Bergman, 2011), since it seems that the social media
context offers an ideal communicative environment to satisfy narcissistic needs. Below we describe the definition of
narcissism used in the present manuscript as well the theoretical reasons for why narcissism has been receiving growing
scholarly attention in the social media literature in the last ten years.

Trait narcissism is considered a dimensional personality trait that consists of a grandiose self-concept as well as behaviors
intended to maintain this self-concept in the face of reality (e.g., Emmons, 1984; Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). Distinct from
Narcissistic Personality Dis- order (NPD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), trait narcissism exists in the
nonpathological population. Narcissists—a term we use as

grandiose narcissism to have a significant—albeit small—effect on so- cial media usage intensity. Conversely, non-
significant results were reported regarding the association with vulnerable narcissism. These two meta-analyses offer initial
insights into how narcissistic traits might account not only for variations in the frequency of “normal” online behaviors
(e.g., posting selfies) but also for excessive social media use. However, scholars in the field agree that time spent on social
media is not necessarily indicative of problematic use for a number of reasons (see Caplan, 2010; Griffiths, 2010). First,
social media use is wide- spread especially among young adults, who tend to report intensive use of social media without
experiencing any negative outcomes. According to Caplan (2003), problematic use has more to do with the negative
outcomes and with the deficient impulse control than with the

excessive use. Second, whereas it is very likely that social media users who exhibit problematic use of these platforms tend
to excessively use the Internet, the intense or prolonged use per se does not imply ad- dictive symptoms (Griffiths, 2010) or
problematic behaviour. Finally, people who intensively use social media may not present all the be- havioural addiction
criteria that need to be simultaneously fulfilled in order to classify a behaviour as problematic (Griffiths, 2009).

This consensus has led scholars in the field to not adopt time spent online as an indicator of problematic behaviour and to
rely on broader and more exhaustive conceptualizations of the phenomenon (see Caplan, 2010). Despite the different
approaches and terminology, there is consensus about the fact that a tendency to use social media to reg- ulate negative
emotions, an obsessive thinking pattern, deficient self-