Selfie Behaviors and Personality Traits: More than Meets the Eye

Selfies are a rising phenomenon associated with the widespread use of smartphones and social media. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between different personality traits and selfie behaviors.

Undergraduate psychology students were asked to complete a questionnaire about their frequency of selfie taking, selfie posting to social media, and selfie sharing through private messaging. They were also asked to complete the Rosenberg 10-item self-esteem scale and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP)-50 item scale to evaluate the Big Five personality traits.

A total of 96 participants were included in this study (mean age ± standard deviation of 26.4 ± 9.0 years, 81.3% women). On univariate analysis there was a significant negative correlation between the frequency of selfie taking (Spearman r = -0.228, p = 0.025) or posting (Spearman r = -0.238, p = 0.025) and emotional stability. However, on multivariate linear regression analysis adjusting for age among other factors, only self-esteem was independently and negatively correlated with the frequency of selfie taking (beta = -0.206, p = 0.020) or posting (beta = -0.233, p = 0.020), with the effect most notable in young (<25 years) individuals for selfie taking. Extraversion was independently and positively correlated with the frequency of selfie sharing (beta = 0.264, p = 0.005), with the effect most notable in young (<25 years) women.

Findings from this study further expand our knowledge of the relationship between different personality traits and rising digital media phenomena.