Narcissism: A factor behind the selective sharing of news online

The current study examined the extent to which narcissism influences the social network users’ intention to share positive and negative life events with (close or unknown) online contacts. Using an online survey, small vignettes and a cross-sectional convenience sample of 119 participants, the results showed that narcissism positively predicted sharing intention of positive and negative life events with strangers. However, individuals rating higher in narcissism were less likely to share negative news with family. The research findings suggest that personality traits such as narcissism, the type of contacts online, and the nature of the news may shape what information is shared by online users. The type of news presented may therefore be a function of who is posting the content, their personality, and the kind of social network contacts they have online.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

George J. D. Sweeten

Debora Jeske

Ruoyun Lin

Conference

Publication date: July 2017

Publication date (Print): July 2017

Pages: 1-5

Affiliations

[0001]Northumbria University

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

[0002]University College Cork

Cork, Republic of Ireland

[0003]Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien

Tübingen, Germany

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.74

SO-VID: 8e92f651-f5b1-49be-9438-1eef6e86f9a4

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of the 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017)

Conference acronym: HCI

Conference number: 31

Conference location: Sunderland, UK

Conference date: 3 - 6 July 2017

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: digital make-believe, with delegates considering our expansive

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.74

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

reference

Ahadzadeh ASSharif SPWei KKH Emami 2014 Narcissism, self-esteem, communication apprehension, and need for affiliation: Difference between social networking site users and nonusers Taylor’s Business Review 4 135 146
I AltmanD. Taylor 1973 Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. New York Holt
Ames DRP RoseAnderson CP 2006 The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism Journal of Research in Personality 40 440 450
Bevan JLCummings MBA KubiniecM MogannamM PriceR. Todd 2015 How are important life events disclosed on Facebook? Relationships with likelihood of sharing and privacy Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking 18 8 12
Bevan JLR GomezL. Sparks 2014 Disclosures about important life events on Facebook: relationships with stress and quality of life Computers in Human Behavior 39 246 253
S BuckleyA HammerA HarfE HeppA. Hornung The direct and indirect sharing of good, important news on Facebook Available at http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/880/1027; 2014
Campbell WKFoster JD 2007 The narcissistic self: Background, an extended agency model, and ongoing controversies C. SedikidesS. J. Spencer The Self: Frontiers of Social Psychology New York Psychology Press 115 138
Carpenter CJ 2007 Narcissism on Facebook: Selfpromotional and anti-social behavior Personality and Individual Differences 52 482 486
M ChoiPanek ETY NardisToma CL 2015 When social media isn’t social: Friends’ responsiveness to narcissists on Facebook Personality and Individual Differences 77 209 214
Ellison NBC SteinfieldC. Lampe 2007 The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’use of online social network sites Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 1143 1168
A KrishanD. Atkin 2014 Individual differences in social networking site users: The interplay between antecedents and consequential effect on level of activity Computers in Human Behavior 40 111 118
Marshall TCK LefringhausenN. Ferenczi 2005 The Big Five, self-esteem, and narcissism as predictors of the topics people write about in Facebook status updates Personality and Individual Differences 85 35 40
Marwick AEd. boyd 2011 I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience New Media and Society 13 114 133
McKinney BCL KellyRL Duran 2012 Narcissism or openness?: College students’ use of Facebook and Twitter Communication Research Reports 29 108 118
S. Mehdizadeh 2012 Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 13 357 364
Morf CCF. Rhodewalt 2001 Unraveling the paradoxes of narcissism: a dynamic selfregulatory processing model Psychological Inquiry 12 177 196
Park SWColvin CR 2014 Narcissism and discrepancy between self and friends’ perceptions of personality Journal of Personality 82 278 286
C RossOrr ESM SisicArseneault JMMG SimmeringOrr RR 2009 Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use Computers in Human Behavior 25 578 586
B RozzellPiercy CWCarr CTS KingBL LaneM TornesKB. Wright 2014 Notification pending: online social support from close and nonclose relational ties via Facebook Computers in Human Behavior 38 272 280
L ScissorsM BurkeS. Wengrovitz 2016 What’s in a Like? Attitudes and behaviors around receiving Likes on Facebook Proceedings of CSCW16 27 February 2 March San Francisco, CA, USA
Twenge JMCampbell WK 2003 “Isn’t it fun to get the respect that we’re going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 29 261 272
S VazireNaumann LPRentfrow PJGosling SD 2008 Portrait of a narcissist: Manifestations of narcissism in physical appearance Journal of Research in Personality 42 1439 1447
A VedelThomson DK 2017 The Dark Triad across academic majors Personality and Individual Differences 116 86 91
S WinterG NeubaumSC EimlerV. GordenJ. TheilJ. HerrmannJ. MeinertN.C. Krämer 2014 Another brick in the Facebook wall - How personality traits relate to the content of status updates Computers in Human Behavior 34 194 202

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Ahadzadeh ASSharif SPWei KKH Emami 2014 Narcissism, self-esteem, communication apprehension, and need for affiliation: Difference between social networking site users and nonusers Taylor’s Business Review 4 135 146

[2] I AltmanD. Taylor 1973 Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. New York Holt

[3] Ames DRP RoseAnderson CP 2006 The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism Journal of Research in Personality 40 440 450

[4] Bevan JLCummings MBA KubiniecM MogannamM PriceR. Todd 2015 How are important life events disclosed on Facebook? Relationships with likelihood of sharing and privacy Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking 18 8 12

[5] Bevan JLR GomezL. Sparks 2014 Disclosures about important life events on Facebook: relationships with stress and quality of life Computers in Human Behavior 39 246 253

[6] S BuckleyA HammerA HarfE HeppA. Hornung The direct and indirect sharing of good, important news on Facebook Available at http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/880/1027; 2014

[7] Campbell WKFoster JD 2007 The narcissistic self: Background, an extended agency model, and ongoing controversies C. SedikidesS. J. Spencer The Self: Frontiers of Social Psychology New York Psychology Press 115 138

[8] Carpenter CJ 2007 Narcissism on Facebook: Selfpromotional and anti-social behavior Personality and Individual Differences 52 482 486

[9] M ChoiPanek ETY NardisToma CL 2015 When social media isn’t social: Friends’ responsiveness to narcissists on Facebook Personality and Individual Differences 77 209 214

[10] Ellison NBC SteinfieldC. Lampe 2007 The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’use of online social network sites Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 1143 1168

[11] A KrishanD. Atkin 2014 Individual differences in social networking site users: The interplay between antecedents and consequential effect on level of activity Computers in Human Behavior 40 111 118

[12] Marshall TCK LefringhausenN. Ferenczi 2005 The Big Five, self-esteem, and narcissism as predictors of the topics people write about in Facebook status updates Personality and Individual Differences 85 35 40

[13] Marwick AEd. boyd 2011 I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience New Media and Society 13 114 133

[14] McKinney BCL KellyRL Duran 2012 Narcissism or openness?: College students’ use of Facebook and Twitter Communication Research Reports 29 108 118

[15] S. Mehdizadeh 2012 Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 13 357 364

[16] Morf CCF. Rhodewalt 2001 Unraveling the paradoxes of narcissism: a dynamic selfregulatory processing model Psychological Inquiry 12 177 196

[17] Park SWColvin CR 2014 Narcissism and discrepancy between self and friends’ perceptions of personality Journal of Personality 82 278 286

[18] C RossOrr ESM SisicArseneault JMMG SimmeringOrr RR 2009 Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use Computers in Human Behavior 25 578 586

[19] B RozzellPiercy CWCarr CTS KingBL LaneM TornesKB. Wright 2014 Notification pending: online social support from close and nonclose relational ties via Facebook Computers in Human Behavior 38 272 280

[20] L ScissorsM BurkeS. Wengrovitz 2016 What’s in a Like? Attitudes and behaviors around receiving Likes on Facebook Proceedings of CSCW16 27 February 2 March San Francisco, CA, USA

[21] Twenge JMCampbell WK 2003 “Isn’t it fun to get the respect that we’re going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 29 261 272

[22] S VazireNaumann LPRentfrow PJGosling SD 2008 Portrait of a narcissist: Manifestations of narcissism in physical appearance Journal of Research in Personality 42 1439 1447

[23] A VedelThomson DK 2017 The Dark Triad across academic majors Personality and Individual Differences 116 86 91

[24] S WinterG NeubaumSC EimlerV. GordenJ. TheilJ. HerrmannJ. MeinertN.C. Krämer 2014 Another brick in the Facebook wall - How personality traits relate to the content of status updates Computers in Human Behavior 34 194 202

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