Selfie-importance rife as social media spawns era of narcissism

EXCESSIVE use of social media is contributing to a dangerous increase in narcissism, one of the world’s leading experts on the subject has warned.

Dr Christine Merzeder, who has written two books on narcissistic abuse, cautions parents to watch out for children spending hours a day posting images and “selfie” photographs.

Narcissism is characterised by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, grandiose exhibitionism, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of em- pathy towards other people.

“People are being taught through social media to place more importance on themselves than on other people,” she said. “In days gone by, people’s selfworth was more focused on whether they had a better job than their parents or sound values in life.

“Nowadays people post what had for breakfast or they go to some exotic place and spend their whole time adding pictures to Instagram. They feel like a model and it becomes an obsession that defines their place in the world, rather than who they want to be and which values they want to live by.

This can be very destructive in the development of young people.”

Children needed to be encouraged to succeed in exams, have compassion for others and think about living sustainably, rather than “taking pictures of their six-pack or what they’re eating for lunch,” she added. One study of 74 people aged 18 to 34 over a four-month period found that there was an average 25 per cent increase in narcissistic traits connected to increased social media use, which was enough to tip many of the participants into a clinical diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder.

It found that those who primarily used social media for written posts, rather than images and selfies, did not show these harmful effects.

Dr Merzeder said that some political leaders showed “classic clinical signs” of suffering from narcissistic personality disorder, adding: “I’m thinking about those who will say one thing one day and then two days later deny having said it, even though it was on record for the entire world to see.”

She said there was also evidence that more men than women were sufferers and that they tended to end up in leadership roles such as the chief executives of companies.