A study out of Brunel University took a look at the tendencies of people who post frequent status updates about their meal plans and nutrition, their workouts, and gym selfies. The study found that there are numerous personality disorders associated with such behaviors, including both narcissistic and low self esteem.
via instagram
The study suggests that people will experience social inclusion from the likes and comments they receive on their status updates, and this validation encourages them to continue with similar status updates in order to keep feeling that quick, yet short lived, burst of dopamine. This creates a circular pattern. Feel insecure, post gym selfie, get likes, feel secure, feeling wares off, feel insecure, post new gym selfie, get likes… etc.
Obviously, not everybody who is proud of their hard work is also guilty of narcissism or other psychological issues that were brought up with this study, it’s mostly referring to people whose entire social presence exists to show off, brag about their workouts, and to get those sweet, sweet likes. Just because somebody posts a gym selfie, doesn’t mean they’re going to Patrick Bateman you.
The study revealed some other interesting stats, too…
Some other interesting observations from this study include:
- People who post about intellectual topics are perceived as being more “open”.
- People who frequently post about how their amazing relationships are most likely to be insecure in their relationships, and using social media to put up a facade and to compensate or even to convince themselves that things are better than they are.
- Extroverts are more likely to make status updates about social activities, such as heading to the gym with their bros.
- Narcissists are most likely to post about their own personal achievements, diet, exercise, gainz. You can read the entire study here.
Essentially, gym selfies are a way to get social validation and to show off your achievements, but doing it all the time can show that you’re actually not super confident, but insecure instead. Posting about intellectual topics like politics can make you seem more open, except to the people who disagree with you. They’ll think your a moron, but at least they’ll be ‘mirin your gains.
What’s next?
Obviously, the next move is to go and tag whichever friends of yours post the most gym selfies. Don’t worry about embarrassing them, they’ll enjoy the attention!
