虛榮一代

英專家：臉書一代自我迷戀

2011/7/31

英國專家警告，臉書創造出虛榮一代，他們自我迷戀，而且像小孩一樣渴望不斷得到他人回應。

英國牛津大學教授格林菲爾德（Baroness Greenfield）認為，臉書（Facebook）及推特（Twitter）創造出虛榮一代。這一代自我迷戀、注意力短暫，而且像小孩一樣，渴望生活中大小事都不斷得到他人的回應。

由於沉迷社交網站，讓使用者出現「認同危機」，和蹣跚學步的幼兒一樣想得到大人關注，就像是在說：「媽媽，看我，我做了這個。」

藥理學教授格林菲爾德認為，在網絡世界中逐漸擴增的「友誼」，就像是一個大型的網絡遊戲，而這種遊戲已有效的改變了人的大腦思維模式。

這個許多人參與的大型遊戲，造成使用者的注意力降低、渴望即時的滿足感、口語表達能力變差，因為他們只需要用眼睛來溝通。

全世界有超過7億5000萬人使用臉書，分享照片及影片，並定期更新動態消息及想法。

此外，還有數百萬加入推特微博的網民，會在網站上發表有關自己的短文、照片等訊息。

格林菲爾德教授表示：某些臉書用戶覺得，自己需要成為他人每天關注及仰慕的「小名人」。

這些人以臉書為出發點來做事情，因為他們只能仰賴「認識他們的人」，來為自己下定義。

格林菲爾德說，這彷彿是居住在虛擬的世界，在這個世界裏，重要的是別人對你的看法，或是（他們是否）能點擊你。

（英國廣播公司）

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A new study of Canadian university students suggests Facebook is a magnet for narcissists and people with low self-esteem.


Participants who were deemed narcissistic, and others shown to have low self-esteem, spent more time on the massively popular social-networking website, the York University research found.


Researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh also found that these people use Facebook as a means of self-promotion.


Mehdizadeh admits the sample group of just 100 participants from such a specific demographic doesn't necessarily reflect everybody who uses Facebook.


But she expects the findings to prompt the site's users, who number roughly 16 million in Canada, to take a closer look at themselves — and their Facebook "friends."


"I think people get sort of defensive about it, like: 'I don't use my Facebook for that reason' — because it's a label that you don't want to be slapped with," she said Tuesday in an interview.


"I don't know if self-fulfilling prophecy is the word, but it's sort of like you've been believing it at the back of your head . . . and it's like, 'I knew they were a narcissist.' "


The surveys studied the online habits and personalities of 50 female and 50 male Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 25.


Participants, all York students, took psychological tests that measured their sense of self-esteem and assessed their levels of narcissism. Sections of their Facebook pages were also examined.


The study defined narcissism as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance.


Self-esteem was identified as a person's overall self-evaluation or their worth.


Students who scored lower on the self-esteem scale, as well as those rated higher on the narcissism test, were correlated with a greater number of Facebook checks per day and more time spent on it.


The surveys were conducted two years ago. The findings, published last month in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, also suggest differences between the men and women who use Facebook.


The women surveyed were more likely to self-promote through a carefully selected main photo that might offer a flashy, doctored or revealing image of their physical appearance.


Male participants promoted themselves more though written postings describing themselves in the "About Me" or "Notes" sections.


"It's really interesting to look at the differences between the online self and the off-line self and to sort of bridge the gap between the two," Mehdizadeh said of the research, part of her undergraduate thesis.


She painted Facebook as an ideal setting for narcissists who can monitor how many "friends" they have.

It can also serve as a "social lubricant" for those with low self-esteem, since it's so easy for them to connect with so many people.

For example, Facebook friends can boost the confidence of someone who doesn't feel good about their physical appearance by posting flattering comments on photos, she added.

"That's obviously something that might help someone deal with their low self-esteem," said Mehdizadeh, who is now preparing for medical school.

"If (Facebook) would improve their self-esteem, what great benefits that would have to the health and well-being of people who use the site."

Facebook said in July that it had 500 million users worldwide, up from the 250 million users it had the year before.

Canada eclipsed the 16-million users mark in May, according to research firm Inside Network.

Does this mean that everyone who spends more than three hours a day on Facebook is narcissitic or has low self-esteem?

"Maybe not," Mehdizadeh says.

"But what this study does meaningfully achieve, in my opinion, is a contribution to the already existing literature."

Still, questions remain in a relatively new area of psychology, she added.

"Is it that narcissists are more likely to use Facebook, or people who use Facebook are more likely to become narcissists?"

By Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press