Female grandiose narcissists are willing to post sexualized selfies to garner attention, regardless of self-esteem

Many of the sexualized images found on social network sites are selfies posted by the women themselves. To understand the factors associated with these self-presentations, the current study studied attention seeking as a mediating factor in the relation between grandiose narcissistic tendency and willingness to post sexualized selfies, with self-esteem as a moderating factor, within the framework of the Uses and Gratifications theory. An online survey was conducted with a sample of 193 self-identified female, undergraduate students (95% between 17 and 25 years of age) who are active on at least one photo-based social networking site platform. Controlling for willingness to post non-sexualized selfies, grandiose narcissistic tendency was positively associated with the willingness to post sexual selfies, by increasing adoption of an attention seeking motive. Self-esteem did not moderate the indirect effect, suggesting that sexualized selfies may function as a deliberate means of gaining visibility rather than a compensatory strategy for low self-esteem. Potential implications regarding the selfie-posting behaviors of those with grandiose narcissistic tendencies are discussed.