Does taking “selfies” mean you’re narcissistic?
Selfies. Selfies, everywhere. If you have a cell with a built-in camera, you’ve probably indulged in the art of selfie-taking at least once, maybe twice…ok, maybe you’ve taken a couple thousand selfies.
Because we live in what I’d like to call the “Age of the Selfie”, it comes as no surprise that people have begun questioning the appeal of such a prevalent social phenomenon. Is it a question of vanity? Are we becoming narcissistic?
If the media does something well, it’s applying psychological terms incorrectly and haphazardly. In fact, the media often trivializes the severity of very real disorders. According to the DSM-5, having a narcissistic personality means that you possess pathological personality traits.
Here are some of the symptoms:
- Reacts to criticism with anger, shame or humiliation
- Takes advantage of others to reach his or her own goals
- Exaggerates own importance
- Exaggerates achievements and talents
- Entertains unrealistic fantasies about success, power, beauty, intelligence or romance
- Has unreasonable expectation of favorable treatment
- Requires constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
- Is easily jealous
- Disregards the feelings of others, lacks empathy
- Has obsessive self-interest
- Pursues mainly selfish goals
Before we start throwing the word “narcissist” around, we must fully assess the context. If we were to look at the act of seflie-ing alone, it would surely not provide us with sufficient evidence that a person is behaving in a harmful manner, allowing for a diagnosis of a personality disorder. Let’s keep in mind that the symptoms specific to a disorder and the distress that comes along with them, must persist across situations.
For Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) as well as for other personality disorders, diagnosis is made during adulthood, when it is expected that a person’s traits have, for the most part, stabilized.
And so, when focusing in on the “Age of the Selfie”, it’s essential to note the age range of individuals engaging in this self-involved process. Selfies are especially popular among tweens and teens, which to psychologists, is not the least bit surprising. This is the period of development when humans are naturally inclined to be self-involved, as they discover their place in society and establish their personal identities.
Thus, before attributing a label to a whole generation of people based on a single isolated behaviour, it’s important to acknowledge that the diagnostic process is not so informal. In addition to meeting with a mental health professional, self-report questionnaires can be administered to confirm the reliability of the diagnosis.
The most widely used scale for narcissism is the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). This forty-item questionnaire is based on DSM criteria for NPD.
What is absolutely vital to understand, is that attaining a high score on the NPI does not necessarily mean that the person in question meets criteria for NPD.
We live in a society that longs for answers and truths. We often like to be told who we are. We take unofficial personality tests on various websites, and we often enjoy the sense of belonging that comes with being classified into a particular category. However, we fall into the trap of misusing psychiatric nosology and incorrectly attributing these terms to our daily quirks and behaviours (in this case, selfie-taking).
Let’s just keep in mind that even certified psychologists have trouble diagnosing personality disorders,despite their expertise, and thus, it is definitely NOT our place to make dangerous inferences regarding our own personalities, as well as those of others.
In conclusion, the moral of the story is to not make assumptions based on what can be seen as trivial, isolated behaviour like selfie-taking. Furthermore, assuming that a high score on a psychological test merits a diagnosis is FALSE. Selfie-taking can, in fact, become maladaptive, but that applies to any behaviour we engage in in EXCESS.
And so, carry on taking your selfies. Keep in mind that the first selfie you take in a series of 20 is often the best one. Make sure that the angle of the camera isn’t too low (you don’t want to look like you have 3 chins, do you?). And lastly, if you really want to take your selfie game to the next level, consider purchasing a “selfie-stick” (although I’m not promising that I won’t judge you for it).
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