'Check Your Selfie Before You Wreck Your Selfie': Personality Ratings of Instagram Users as a Function of Self-Image Posts
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2019
Department
Psychology
Abstract
This study considered the relation between self-image posts (i.e., selfies, posies) on Instagram and the personality and self-perception attributions made by unfamiliar perceivers based on those posts. Phase 1 involved 30 undergraduates who completed self-report inventories and whose Instagram posts were coded and then screenshot for the second phase. Phase 2 included 119 undergraduates from a different university. Phase 2 participants (perceivers) rated Phase 1 participants (targets) on 13 attributes (e.g., self-absorption, low self-esteem, extraversion, successfulness) based on these screenshots. Targets who posted more selfies were rated more negatively (e.g., more lonely, less successful). Although self-image posts on social media may not be clearly indicative of personality/self-perception, they may be cues for how the depicted person is perceived by others.
Publication Title
Journal of Research in Personality
Volume
82
Recommended Citation
Barry, C. T.,
McDougall, K. H.,
Anderson, A. C.,
Perkins, M. D.,
Lee-Rowland, L. M.,
Bender, I.,
Charles, N. E.
(2019). 'Check Your Selfie Before You Wreck Your Selfie': Personality Ratings of Instagram Users as a Function of Self-Image Posts. Journal of Research in Personality, 82.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/16532