Social media doesn’t necessarily reflect who you are, but it may intensify particular personality traits and confirm or even persuade you that your worst behaviour is justified.

We are addressing that imbalance, with our framework, the Algorithmic Trait Amplification, or ATA, with particular regard to narcissism.

Narcissism runs on a spectrum. At the far end is narcissistic personality disorder, a clinical diagnosis. But many people have milder narcissistic traits – a strong need for admiration, a habit of overrating their own importance, struggling to take criticism, little empathy. That said, some traits such as healthy ambition and assertiveness are beneficial.

People who have these traits, which are common, are especially drawn to social media and platforms built around status and approval from others.

For years we have been studying online behaviour and the affect of social media upon relationships; including how psychopathy shows up in romantic relationships and how TikTok shapes young women’s attraction to dangerous partners. That work, combined with what psychology already knows on how narcissistic people operate online, how algorithms chase engagement, and what personality change requires led us to a realisation. The algorithmic loop process may slowly strengthen an inflated, entitled self-image.

These are the five steps over which ATA predicts that social media will heighten........

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