It Turns Out That People Who Post Workout Pictures Actually Are Proven Narcissists

I never post workout pictures to Facebook. “But you don’t even work out, Lucky Jo, you lazy fuck.” True. No need to be a dick about it. But if I did work out, I definitely wouldn’t post updates of my progress online. And that’s not because my face turns bright red and I sweat more than an obese 45-year-old man vacationing in the Sahara. It’s because I have principals. So get off my case already.

Brunel University London conducted a study that linked people who post status updates about workouts with one specific personality trait: narcissism. The study followed 555 Facebook users and aimed to measure personality traits including extroversion, agreeableness, and self-esteem. It basically pinpointed a very strong correlation between people who are obsessed with themselves, and people who post workout videos/selfies/pictures/rants about PROTEINNNNN!

Narcissists also wrote more status updates about their diet and exercise routine, suggesting that they use Facebook to broadcast the effort they put into their physical appearance.

Narcissists more frequently updated about their achievements, which was motivated by their need for attention and validation from the Facebook community.

The results not only showed that people who post workout pics really, really like themselves, but that these posts tend to be more popular than other posts. Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, because I pretty much immediately unfollow people who are flexing in more than 75% of their pictures. Tara Marshal, a PhD lecturer at Brunel, explained this phenomenon in response to the study:

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 Facebook friends politely offer support while secretly disliking such egotistical displays. Greater awareness of how one’s status updates might be perceived by friends could help people to avoid topics that annoy more than they entertain.

I guess I can relate to the “secretly disliking such egotistical displays,” but I definitely cannot resonate with the “offering support” part. Whatever the case, people really need to stop seeking affirmation on Facebook. I’m looking at you, Facebook friend and real life barely-acquaintance who recently got into CrossFit and won’t stop posting motivational memes about gains. This vicious cycle of validation needs to end. You already have washboard abs. Do you really need to be the focal point of my timeline, too?.

[via Elite Daily]

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