The Role of Psychological Needs and Dark Triad Traits of Personality in Selfie-taking Behavior

Abstract

The spread of the selfie phenomenon and sending it to virtual social networks can be due to various causes and contexts, including psychological and personality factors. There is limited and conflicting research evidence in this area that requires further research. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of psychological needs and dark triad traits of personality in selfie-taking behavior. The present study is a causal-comparative study. A total of 300 students (in the age range of 18 to 30 years) are selected by cluster sampling from the faculties of Guilan University. They responded to a researcher-made selfie checklist, the General Health Questionnaire, the Maslow's Needs Questionnaire, and the dark triad traits Scale. Finally, data from 202 participants (103 female students) are analyzed. The multivariate analysis of variance reveals that the two groups of selfie-taker and non-selfie-taker are significantly different in psychological needs, including safety, belonging, and esteem and personality traits, including narcissism and Machiavellianism. It seems that the needs of unsatisfied safety, belonging, and esteem and the traits of narcissism and Machiavellianism can justify the phenomenon of taking selfies and sending them on virtual social networks

Keywords

• personality traits
• psychological needs
• selfie-taking