New Study: Narcissists Are Prone to Cell Phone Addiction and Stress

People who have high levels of narcissism are more likely to be addicted to cellphones (photo: doc. pexels)

JAKARTA - A new study conducted by researchers at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Romania found that people who have high levels of narcissism are more likely to be addicted to their cell phones. This addiction is known as 'nomophobia', which is an abbreviation of 'no mobile phone phobia', which is when someone feels like they lose a part of themselves when without their cell phone.

Researchers have found that narcissists tend to have an inflated sense of importance, which can emerge as a need for aggrandizement and a sense of entitlement – much of this can be gained through social media interactions, such as 'likes' on their posts.

In the study, 559 college and female students aged 18 to 45 were tested, and those who scored high on the narcissism scale were more likely to experience significant levels of nomophobia. These individuals also show greater signs of stress and are more likely to show signs of social media addiction.

Thus, it seems that nomophobia, narcissism, stress, and social media addiction mutually influence each other, according to the results of this study.

Narcissistic personality disorder is different from the informational term 'narcissism'. People with narcissistic personality disorder may have difficulty forming and maintaining lasting relationships, because people may not enjoy their presence and they may not find the relationship satisfying.

The results of this study, which appeared in The Journal of Psychology, suggest that social media addiction and nomophobia explain the relationship between narcissism and stress levels. This research provides further understanding of the complex relationship between cell phone addiction behavior, narcissism, and stress levels.