Guys, you might think you're showing the internet how awesome your hair looks today (#longhairddontcare) or how casually amazing your abs look, but a new study says what you are really telling the world is, "I'm a psycho... with flowing locks and incredible abs."
OK, maybe that was a little harsh, but a recent study conducted by The Ohio State University asserts that men who post more "selfies" tend to score higher on tests of narcissism and psychopathy, according to PsyPost. Those who edited their photos before posting (step away from the Instagram filters!) marked even higher in narcissism and self-objectification.
"It's not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study," said lead study author and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State Jesse Fox, according to PsyPost. "The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification."
The study, conducted by Fox and a graduate student, Margaret Rooney, was published online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
If you're starting to wonder if your boyfriend is going to go all "Dexter" on you, relax - just because selfie-loving men have higher than average levels of anti-social behavior does not mean they are true narcissists or psychopaths, Fox told PsyPost.
Narcissists believe they are smarter, better and more attractive than others, but there is often a hidden insecurity. Psychopaths lack empathy and gravitate toward impulsive behavior.
The results of the study, that involved 800 men between the ages of 18 and 40, showed that high photo posting activity relates to narcissism and psychopathy, but psychopathy is not related to editing photos, according to PsyPost.
"That makes sense because psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity," Fox told PsyPost. "They are going to snap the photos and put them online right away. They want to see themselves. They don't want to spend time editing."
Fox also noted that self-objectification has not been vastly studied in heterosexual men.
"We know that self-objectification leads to a lot of terrible things, like depression and eating disorders in women," Fox told PsyPost. "With the growing use of social networks, everyone is more concerned with their appearance. That means self-objectification may become a bigger problem for men, as well as for women."
Women were not included in the study, but Fox's current work does indicate the same relationship between selfies and narcissism and psychopathy also apply to females (although self-objectification is already a known issue for women).
