Researchers: Regular Facebook Users Lonely, Narcissistic
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Regular Facebook users have higher levels of family loneliness and tend to be narcissistic, extroverted exhibitionists, while non-users are generally shy and conscientious, the Herald Sun reported Friday, citing Australian researchers.
Facebook "gratifies the narcissistic individual's need to engage in self-promoting and superficial behavior," according to the researchers from Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
Researchers Tracii Ryan and Dr. Sophia Xenos found a correlation between personality types and Facebook use, and between personality and the amount of time users spent on the site.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryan said it did not mean that all Facebook users were self-centered extroverts, but that they were more likely to have those personality traits.
"Extroverts crave instant gratification, and Facebook gives them this very quickly. Narcissists are looking for self-promotion -- they want to talk about themselves and are very self-focused, which suits the Facebook format," she said.
Ryan and Xenos also found a correlation between time spent on Facebook and those who were neurotic, generally lonely and conscientious -- but not those who were shy or romantically lonely.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The study, published in the latest "Computers in Human Behavior" journal, involved 1,158 Australian Facebook users and 166 non-users aged 18 to 44.