Presenting an ideal self: a study of narcissism impact on uses & gratifications of microblog in Mainland China

Abstract

As a variation of instant messenger, microblog (also known as Weibo in Chinese) is gaining popularity in recent years. Despite the rich literature discussing its commercial and social impact, little is known about self-presentation emerging from this cyber social tool.

This study examines how narcissism, an off-line personality trait, affects online activities in microblog by adopting Uses and Gratifications Theory. A model was proposed to clarify the relationship between main variables; a self-administered questionnaire was constructed and then distributed among Sina Weibo users. Data were collected by Sojump.com.

Analysis of the data from Sina Weibo users (N= 306) reveals that narcissism is positively correlated with the motive of impression management and positive self-presentation. However, there is no significant relationship between narcissism and negative self-presentation. Also, it is confirmed that narcissism positively affects the Gratifications Obtained from microblog use. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the effect of Gratification Sought on Gratification Obtained could be completely mediated by Perceived self-image construction and social interaction, which is in corresponding with the implications of U&G Theory.

As the study implies, microblog service facilities the self-presentation and social interac-tion of microblog users. Narcissists are self-absorbed and expecting more social interac-tion, so they are in high motives and report more related activities. The confirmed com-plete mediation mechanism in this study reveals that, by seeking for gratifications of achieving these goals, narcissists get access to this platform. When self-presentation and social interaction activities are perceived and accomplished, they obtain gratifications.

Also, as the result shows that there is no association between narcissism and negative self-presentation, it is proposed that the recent appreciation of non-traditional beauty might influence users in high narcissism scale, so that they could stand out by presenting unusual parts of themselves including negative contents like unsatisfactory photos.