Study: People Who Post Lots of Photos on Facebook May Be Neurotic
“Hmm, yes, I do look hot in that photo.” (Thinkstock)
There’s finally an explanation for your weird Aunt Betty’s alarmingly active Facebook account.
Researchers found that neurotic and extroverted people tend to upload a higher volume of photos than the rest of the population. The key difference: While extroverts’ uploading activity usually comes in the form of new cover photos for their profile, neurotics are known to upload more photos per album, according to a report from Live Science.
The study was conducted at England’s University of Wolverhampton and published in the August issue of a journal called Computers in Human Behavior. Researchers surveyed more than 100 people between the ages of 17 and 55 about their personalities. Though the sample group was deliberately diverse, a little over 70 percent of its participants were women. The team then studied how its subjects behaved on Facebook, focusing on their photo uploading activities and online interactions.
It may come as no surprise that the results suggest that extroverts are active photo posters. By definition, they’re more willing to express their feelings, make connections, and share information about themselves. But what about being neurotic encourages a higher volume of photos in a Facebook album?
“Neurotics strongly desire approval,” study author and Ph.D. student Azar Eftekhar told Live Science. “As socially anxious individuals, they see Facebook [as] a safe place for self-expression and to compensate for their offline deficiencies.”
In other words, neurotics aim to be loved and adored and accepted by posting images of themselves that make them look hot or up to date with popular culture.
Additionally, the study found that more conscientious people tend to create more “self-generated” albums — photo collections that are not automatically created by Facebook.
“The point is that such individuals are self-disciplined and goal-orientated, thus they have [a] tendency to document and organize their photos and videos using online visual tools,” Eftekhar told Live Science.
So, there you have it. Now feel free to go neurotically delete all your excessive photos on Facebook.
Follow Alyssa Bereznak on Twitter or email her here.
[Via Daily Dot via Live Science]
