ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study examined personality expression, impression formation, and the consensus and accuracy of zero-acquaintance personality judgments that were based on people's Instagram accounts. METHOD: Self- and informant reports of the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and narcissism were collected for 102 Instagram users. Screenshots were taken of Instagram users' profiles, including up to the 102 latest available Instagram posts. A number of Instagram cues were objectively retrieved, counted, and rated by independent trained cue coders from the screenshots. 100 unacquainted observers then judged the Big Five traits, self-esteem, and narcissism on the basis of Instagram screenshots only. RESULTS: We identified Instagram account characteristics that were associated with users' personality traits (measured with self-reports, informant reports, and self-informant composites) and observers' zero-acquaintance personality judgments. Personality judgments that were based on Instagram accounts demonstrated consensus and significantly converged with Instagram users' Big Five traits, self-esteem, and narcissism across all three personality criteria. Averaged-observer accuracy correlations for self-informant composite scores ranged from r = .44 (p < .001) for extraversion to r = .25 (p = .013) for conscientiousness. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insight into cue processes of online self-portrayal and impression formation on Instagram and the level of zero-acquaintance accuracy.
Subject(s)
Friends , Judgment , Humans , Social Perception , Personality , Personality DisordersABSTRACT
Grandiose narcissism has been linked to initial popularity but to later unpopularity in peer groups and laboratory contexts. Do these effects on peer relationships also emerge in larger real-life contexts and what are the underlying behavioral processes (i.e., behavioral expressions, interpersonal perceptions)? Using data from the longitudinal CONNECT field study (N = 126), we investigated effects of agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism on emerging popularity in a complete peer network. A cohort of psychology first-year students was assessed with a quasiexperimental, experience-sampling methodology involving online surveys, diaries, and behavioral observations. In contrast to previous laboratory research, narcissism was unrelated to popularity at the level of zero-order correlations. However, results indicated that (a) an agentic behavioral pathway fostered popularity across time, and an antagonistic behavioral pathway drove the long-term decline in popularity, and (b) the two pathways were differentially related to agentic (admiration) and antagonistic (rivalry) aspects of narcissism.
