Campus News

Facebook narcissism

The Toronto-based Globe and Mail quoted Laura Buffardi, UGA doctoral student and researcher, in an article about her work with Keith Campbell, associate professor of psychology. Their study focused on narcissists who use Facebook, the social-networking Web site.

“Generally speaking, they are relatively unconcerned with warm, lasting, intimate relationships. They are more concerned with seeming cool, popular and dominant,” said Buffardi. “Facebook allows for the maintenance of shallow relationships more than other forms of communication because it’s quite simple to keep a lot of friends in your network.”

Talking about what identifies a narcissist, she said, “When we looked at the quotes, they were generally found to be less clever, less entertaining for narcissists in comparison to non-narcissists. This was surprising because in general, at least on initial meeting, narcissists tend to be perceived as charming, entertaining, likable individuals, kind of the life of the party.”