New research shows that people with many narcissistic traits are more likely to be addicted to their phones.
The addiction, called “nomophobia,” a combination of “no cell phone phobia,” is when people feel like they’ve lost a piece of themselves when they’re without a cell phone.
Researchers from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Romania found that narcissists tend to have an inflated sense of self-interest, which can manifest as a need for admiration and a sense of entitlement. Much of this can be gained through social media interactions, such as ‘likes’ on their posts.
Among 559 post-secondary school and college students between the ages of 18 and 45, those who scored higher on a scale of narcissistic traits were more likely to have significant levels of nomophobia.
New research shows that people with many narcissistic traits are more likely to be addicted to their phones
These individuals also showed greater signs of stress and tended to exhibit stronger signs of social media addiction.
So it appears that nomophobia, narcissism, stress and social media addiction all influence each other, they found.
Specifically, their evidence suggests that social media addiction and nomophobia explain the link between narcissism and stress levels.
The results appeared in The Journal of Psychology.
Narcissistic personality disorder is different from the colloquial term “narcissism.”
People with narcissistic personality disorder may have difficulty forming and maintaining lasting relationships because people may not enjoy their company and may not find relationships satisfying.
Clinical symptoms Examples of narcissism include the expectation of being recognized as superior, preoccupations with power fantasies, an inflated sense of self-interest, an unwillingness to consider the needs and feelings of others, envy of others, and arrogance.
However, this exaggerated sense of self can also be accompanied by a fragile ego:
Narcissists tend to feel easily belittled, become patient when they do not receive special recognition, experience difficulty adapting to stress or change, feel depressed when they are not perfect, and have secret feelings of insecurity or the fear of failure to be exposed.
Researchers recruited their participants – 394 Romanian post-secondary school students and 165 university students – through classroom announcements.
Volunteers were asked to complete an online survey, including assessments measuring narcissism, stress, symptoms of social media addiction and nomophobia.