Narcissists Have More Facebook Friends

If you update your Facebook status hourly and have thousands of friends, beware—this could peg you as a narcissist.
Reported by Corie Russell
Illustration by John Cuneo

Western Illinois University conducted a study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, which shows a link between a person’s number of Facebook friends and his activity level on the site, and the likelihood he is a “socially disruptive narcissist.”

Individuals who have more Facebook friends, tag themselves in photos and update their status often were more likely to be narcissistic.

The study was conducted among 300 participants, who answered a Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire.

According to the study’s author, people who self-promote on Facebook show signs of two narcissistic behaviors: grandiose exhibition—i.e., a love of being the center of attention—and entitlement/exploitativeness—a going beyond ordinary lengths to get the respect and attention he thinks he deserves.