Perceptions of Agentic and Communal Narcissism on Facebook.

Studies on narcissism in social media have been numerous. Manifestations of narcissistic behaviors are typically viewed negatively by others online. However, previous study is limited by only examining agentic narcissism. This study investigated perceptions of both agentic and communal narcissism in the context of Facebook. Two hundred and sixty undergraduate students viewed fictitious Facebook profiles with narcissistic or neutral status updates and rated the target on likeability, successfulness, and whether they would want to be friends with the target. Narcissistic statuses were viewed more negatively than neutral statuses across domains. Agentic narcissistic statuses were viewed most harshly. Some gender differences emerged. Female participants rated agentic narcissistic statements from female targets and communal narcissistic statements from male targets more negatively than did male participants. Participants' self-reported communal narcissism was related to their ratings of others, whereas self-reported agentic narcissism was not. Implications of these findings are discussed.