When Loving Yourself Becomes an Addiction: A Study About the Relationship Between Adolescent Narcissism and Social Media Addiction

Abstract

Social media is very popular among adolescents. Yet, the use of social media has a downside. Some adolescents find themselves addicted to social media. To reduce the risk of social media addiction, it is important to know which groups are at most risk. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between adolescent narcissism and social media addiction. Furthermore, this study tested whether attention-seeking explains the relationship between adolescent narcissism and social media addiction. Lastly, it tested if self-esteem impacts the relationship between adolescent narcissism and social media addiction. Data from the Digital Youth Project was used to perform a hierarchical regression analysis on a sample of 2443 adolescents. Results showed a significant relationship between adolescent narcissism and social media addiction, this relationship is partially explained by attention-seeking. Self-esteem was not found to have an impact on the relationship between adolescent narcissism and social media addiction. An important limitation to consider is that this study is cross-sectional. In order to make statements about the directions of the effects, a longitudinal study needs to be conducted. Despite this limitation, the findings highlight the importance of targeting narcissistic adolescents to potentially reduce social media addiction.