Study: Men who take selfies may be psychopaths

Daniel Wroclawski | Reviewed.com

Well, I always knew my selfie habit on Snapchat was a bit outside the norm, but if a new study is to be believed, I must be a bit of a psychopath.

According to a new study led by Ohio State University Professor Jesse Fox, men who post a lot of selfies to the web tend to exhibit higher levels of narcissism and psychopathy.

So to all the gym rats posting mirror selfies and the guys behind the wheel in shades giving a "what up" look, you may have a problem.

And it gets worse if men edit their own selfies. The study found that men who edited their photos have higher levels of narcissism and self-objectification. The only good thing is that these men are not necessarily psychopaths, as Fox explains that psychopathy is related to impulsivity. Impulsive people, it's suggested, wouldn't bother waiting to edit their photos.

My only question now is, do Instagram filters count as editing? Because I'm obsessed with X-Pro II.

The study compiled data on 800 male participants between the ages of 18 and 40, all of whom completed an online survey about their selfie-taking habits. They also filled out questionnaires on anti-social behavior and self-objectification.

To be fair, the University explains that while all subjects exhibited higher levels of these traits, they were still all within the range of normal. If you would like to read the study yourself, you can find it in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

While the study is over, Fox isn't done yet. She is looking into whether our online friends encourage us to post more selfies. I just hope at some point she looks into those ridiculous new selfie sticks.