Your Boyfriend Posts Lots Of Selfies? He Could Be A Psychopath, Study Finds

Your snap-happy boyfriend could be a psychopath.

Okay, he’s probably not a psychopath or anything approximating an actual bonafide psychopath, but this recent study has shown some interesting links between selfie-taking, selfie-editing and the likelihood of having psychopathic tendencies.

Forget The Headline, What Does The Study Actually Say

The study, which took into account 800 men between the ages or 18 and 40-years-old, found that men who took lots of photos of themselves and posted them to online networks like Facebook and Instagram, registered higher on the narcissism and psychopathy scale.

According to Jesse Fox, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University, “It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study.”

However, “The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification,” she continued.

But What Does This Mean?

Well narcissim, as defined by Ohio State University, means that a person thinks they are cleverer, more attractive and generally better than others.

While psychopathy, more worryingly, means that a person is unable to empathise with other people, which comes out as disregard for other people’s feelings and emotions and it also means they are more prone to impulsive behaviour.

To be clear, all of the men in the study did sit in the “normal people” range, but they displayed higher indicators on the scale that measures narcissism and psychopathy – meaning they lean further towards displaying these tendencies.

In terms of your relationship, though he might not be a bonafide psychopath, it might indicate that he will be prone to putting himself, his needs and his appearance first above yours, or that he might not always be willing or able to see your point of view in an argument.

And Photo Editing?

The study also found that men who edit their photos, such as cropping and putting a filter on it, before posting, display even higher signs of narcissism and self-objectification (where they value self-image over anything else) than the others who do not edit their photos first.

As it stands, this study demonstrated these links among men, but those that conducted the study have suggested that they are also looking into similar links among women too.

So watch this space…