According to a new study, people who repeatedly post gym selfies on social media and update their statuses to showcase their recent workouts have psychological issues. It sounds a little far fetched, but bear with us here. The study, conducted by the UK’s Brunel University, delved into people’s apparent motivations for posting gym updates to their social media.
And according to the research, people who post frequently about their workouts display a clear primary motivation – to boast about their looks, or at least about the amount of time invested in physical appearance.
And this preoccupation with looks and attractiveness is a narcissistic trait.
The study explains: “Narcissists more frequently updated about their achievements, which was motivated by their need for attention and validation from the Facebook community.”
On the one hand, to the lay observer, this does sound plausible, but we would like to just posit (without any scientific background, naturally) that a woman’s self-esteem receives a battering on an almost daily basis, thanks to advertising and some arms of the media, so maybe she’s within her right to need a confidence booster from her friends.
#JustSaying.
Regarding how other people view these frequent gym updates, Dr Tara Marshal muses: “although our results suggest that narcissists bragging pays off because they receive more likes and comments to their status updates, it could be that their friends politely offer support while secretly disliking such egotistical displays.”
From: ELLE UK
