24 Jan The Connection Between Social Media and Narcissism in Today’s Youth
On May 23, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning about social media’s impact on young people’s mental health. “Teens who use social media for more than three hours a day face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms, which is particularly concerning given that the average amount of time that kids use social media is 3 1/2 hours a day,” the Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy- told media outlets.
However, there may be a darker side to the influence that social media can present a risk to youth mental health as their brains are affected by the amount of time they spend using it. The consequence includes increased levels of narcissism in our young people. A study published in the Journal of Personality analyzed data from 85 samples of American college students and confirmed that narcissistic traits in youth are increasing. Additional research in 2008 in the Journal of Personality found further increases in narcissism in young adults and proposed two reasons for this increase. The first influence on the increased rates of narcissistic traits is the effect on youth’s self-concept resulting from the increased focus on building self-esteem, or the “participation trophy” generation. The second is the influence of the internet and social media, which encourage young people to focus almost obsessively on themselves and their public image.