A cutting edge study just announced tells us that men who regularly post photos of themselves online scored higher on a measure for narcissism and psychopathy. The study, conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University who apparently had nothing better to do with their time, has found that men who took “Selfies” were more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits when compared to a non-Selfie obsessed control group.
What would we do without the halls of academia to let us know things like this? Men who regularly post photos of themselves are self obsessed and narcissistic. Who knew?
I only hope this was not a taxpayer funded study.
The study surveyed 800 men, all between the ages of 18 and 40. The online survey asked questions about their photo posting behavior on social media. Researchers also found “that men who edited their pictures before posting also scored higher on the scales of narcissism and self-objectification.”
The bigger surprise for me was the finding that these men also exhibit psychopathic traits. This could be significant in the workplace and helpful for employers in identifying potential trouble. Today's self absorbed and barely clothed Selfie aficionado may be tomorrow's chronic mental disorder with a potential for abnormal or violent social behavior. They should keep that in mind when they are fake friending their employees to spy on them on Facebook.
Personally, I'm not so sure about this. I take and post Selfies all the time, and there is nothing wrong with me. Me. Me, me, me. Why, I just posted this one to Facebook this morning:
And I didn't spend anytime editing it (truly), so I can be assured, as I write about myself, that I am not narcissistic at all. I'm not. Really, I am not.
In all seriousness, I have actually only taken two Selfies in my entire life, and until today only one of them has been posted online.
This one I posted to Twitter after flying to California while sitting next to a major celebrity, one of the guys from the old Fat Albert cartoons in the 1970's.
The other one, never published before (at least I do not recall publishing), was with Mark Walls, where we were photo bombed by a young woman stalker who simply won't leave us alone.
As a side note, researching this article was quite disturbing. Try searching Google images for “Muscle men Selfies” and you will see what I mean. Much of what you will find there is just wrong on so many levels. Plus I have to figure out how to clear my browser cache, as what is in there now is how ugly rumors get started. But I digress…..
So, clearly, with only two actual Selfies in my portfolio, my co-workers are safe. You however, should identify any Selfie absorbed prima donnas that may occupy your workplace and keep them under close surveillance. The life you save may be your own. They will probably be easy to find. Just try that disturbing Google search and they will practically introduce themselves to you.
Don't take my word for it. Academia has confirmed it.