The Relationship between Narcissism and Problematic Social Networking Sites (SNS) Use: Mediating Role of Attachment Instability

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are used by more and more people and have many positive aspects of human life, but they are also causing addiction enough to interfere with everyday life. Especially in Korea, more and more children and adolescents are indulged in SNS, and adults also have many side effects of SNS such as neglect of work, relationship problems, and attention seeking behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between implicit narcissism and social networking services addiction, mediated by attachment instability. The study comprised 185 cyber university students (69 males and 116 females) and the mean age was 40.13 ± 10.66 years. The instruments of collecting data are comprised of Covert Narcissism Scale, Experience of Close Relationship, and Social Networking Service Addiction Tendency. Simple correlation showed that implicit narcissism and attachment instability were highly correlated with SNS addiction. Also, the regression analysis showed that attachment anxiety mediated between implicit narcissism and SNS addiction. The implications and limitations of this study were discussed.