Narcissism As A Predictor Of Selfie Posting Behavior And Loneliness Among University Students: Moderating Role Of Perceived Social Support

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the moderating role of perceived social support in association with narcissism, selfie-posting behaviour, and loneliness among a convenient sample of 300 university students. The sample was further divided into two groups, male (n = 193) and female (n = 107) participants with the age range of 18 to 35 years old. Narcissistic personality inventory (Ames et al., 2006), Multidimensional perceived social support (Zimet et al., 1988), Selfitis Scale (Amjad, 2017), and UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1980) were used to analyze the constructs of this study. The current study's findings show a significant relationship between variables such as narcissism was positively correlated with loneliness and selfie posting behaviour, whereas it was negatively correlated with social support. Regression analysis revealed narcissism significantly predicted selfie-posting behaviour. Moderation analysis showed a significant moderation of social support between narcissism and selfie-posting behaviour. Prediction and moderation analysis showed non-significant findings with loneliness. Further limitations, suggestions and implications of the study were discussed.