​Selfies And Personality: A Study Claims That Selfies Say What You Are Like

This is not the first time we have talked about selfies on our portal, since this phenomenon is very fashionable. The technological changes of recent decades, the culture of image and spectacle in which we live immersed and the emergence of networks such as Facebook or Instagram have allowed us to take selfies at any time and publish them on digital media as soon as possible.

Constant news about selfies appears on television, in newspapers or on the radio, and Several questions and answers have arisen about the obsessive behavior of some people, often without foundation. And although this information is often not true, it is not surprising that there is an interest from psychology in knowing more about this type of behavior.

In fact, A recent study affirms that selfies say a lot about our personality

Is there a relationship between taking selfies and having a mental disorder?

First of all, It is necessary to clarify that the habit of taking selfies is not a mental disorder, therefore there is no scientific evidence to affirm it. Now, there are certain emotional problems or psychological disorders that can be associated with the excessive use of selfies. For example, low self-esteem, body dysmorphic disorder, narcissism or perfectionistic personality.

A narcissistic person may take a lot of selfies and post them on social media in search of constant approval. We all know a friend who likes to constantly look in the mirror, and selfies are a quick way to gain approval on social media and constantly expose their image. A narcissist can take selfie behavior to the extreme, to pathological limits.

It could also happen that a perfectionist or person with body dysmorphic disorder takes many selfies and repeats them constantly because they do not look good in any of them. Perfectionists have an obsession with achieving perfection in everything they do, and people with body dysmorphic disorder are never happy with their physical appearance. This It can cause them to spend hours taking photos until they achieve that excellent and impeccable image of themselves even if it is unreal.

What is the reason for the selfie trend?

But like I said, taking selfies doesn’t have to be a serious problem, since it is nothing more than another phenomenon associated with new information technologies and image culture. Here the advance of new technologies comes together, for example the possibility of having a camera on your smartphone, the emergence of social networks and the possibility of being connected all day long and aware of the lives of others. The values ​​of this society also play an important role, which rewards elements such as aesthetics or spectacle.

These changes produced in recent decades have changed the way we relate, because by adding these factors we find ourselves faced with a phenomenon that leads us to the need to relate and project a good image of ourselves throught social media. That is why it is important that we know how to use this technology responsibly; since if we don’t do it we could be on the verge of having problems of obsession or communication with other people: true communication is in the street, in looking into the eyes of the interlocutor.

That said, we cannot deny that when someone has a deeper problem, for example a body image disorder, excessive use of selfies and social media can indicate that something is wrong with that person.

“Selfitis” does not exist: a lie that went viral

Selfitis, that is, the pathological obsession with taking selfies, which some media outlets claimed was recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA), does not really exist: it is an invented disorder, with no scientific basis. It was a lie that went viral on the internet, and Taking selfies may mean absolutely nothing from a clinical point of view

What happens is that selfies are posted on social networks, and the latter are important in the formation of the identity of young people. So we must be careful how these behaviors affect adolescents, because this is a critical period of their development. Not taking this into account can have negative effects on your future psychological well-being. In extreme cases, selfies can be an indicator of emotional problems or body image disorders, for example, if people are constantly uploading images of themselves to Facebook or if they spend all day taking selfies non-stop.

Parents and schools should be aware of the importance of educating their children in the correct use of social networks.

So it is important that parents (and also schools) worry about educating their children to use new technologies correctly, because otherwise Western culture can cause emotional or self-esteem problems.

But let’s not dramatize either: That someone occasionally takes a selfie is not a bad thing, it is simply another phenomenon which comes from the immersion that we have all made in new technologies.

The best prevention is education

To prevent future emotional problems in young people and to develop a resistant personality that allows them to be empowered in life and value themselves as they are without the need to constantly show a digital image that can be harmful to them, the key is education.

We have already spoken about the disorders associated with new technologies on other occasions since Psychology and Mind, for example, in our articles on FOMO Syndrome or Nomophobia. And we have already warned of the importance of re-educating the youngest in a society that turns us into objects and that can lead us to serious self-esteem problems if we do not connect with ourselves again. That is, if we do not return to being conscious and emotionally intelligent people.

It is necessary to correctly educate in the use of new technologies, because they are an important part of the lives of the youngest Through social networks, children and adolescents relate, compare and form their identity.

World 2.0 transmits values

World 2.0 may be a fictitious but very attractive world, and social networks are attractive because the youngest people become protagonists.

Thanks to selfies they can be a kind of “star” in their little world of entertainment. Therefore, We must know that, as socializing agents that they are, social networks also transmit values It is necessary for parents and teachers to make the youngest understand the positive and negative consequences of its use.

The contribution of psychology to the use of social networks

For cases in which a person compulsively takes selfies and there really is an underlying disorder, From psychology we propose certain treatments that can help the person identify the problem and be able to solve it

These cases are usually characterized by poor self-esteem, a deficit in social skills and a constant need for approval from others. Luckily, psychologists can treat these cases and solve them.

Personality and selfies: narcissistic and antisocial people make greater use of self-photos

Recent research have focused on finding a relationship between personality and self-photos and it seems that certain personality types are more likely to take selfies, at least that is what a study carried out by Ohio State University (United States) states, which concludes that individuals who publish more selfies on their social networks They have narcissistic and antisocial traits.

On the other hand, according to research by the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and published in Computers in Human Behavior, The way you take a selfie can express a person’s personality traits For example, if she is more or less outgoing, responsible or kind. This study concludes that:

To know if they are true and to be more sure of the results of this research, scientists will have to carry out other studies to confirm these conclusions. What is clear is that science is beginning to pay attention to this phenomenon.