Usage of professional photos for self-presentation in social media as an indicator of personal perfectionism

Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of personal characteristics of people who use professional photos for self-presentation in social media. Particular attention is paid to the study of the respondent’s inclination to perfectionism as a personal characteristic. Perfectionism is considered in the study as a trait that has destructive and adaptive forms, expressed in high personal standards, experiencing the disparity between the real and the ideal “I”, a high level of organization. The study involved 100 respondents, aged 22 to 39 years, using professional photographs for self-presentation in social media. The respondents were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of people who use exclusively professional photos for self-presentation in social media. The second group included people, in whose personal profiles professional images make up no more than 15% of the total. To study the personal characteristics of the respondents the perfectionist self-presentation scale (A. Zolotareva adaptation), the narcissistic personality traits questionnaire (O. Shamshikova, N. Klepikova adaptation), the interpersonal personality diagnosis test by T. Leary, the Big Five personality questionnaire by R. McCrae, P. Costa (A. Khromov adaptation), the Dark Triad short questionnaire were used (M. Egorova, M. Sitnikova, O. Parshikova adaptation). The study showed that people using professional photos for self-presentation in social media are characterized by an increased level of perfectionist self-presentation, authoritarianism, aggression, suspicion, subordination, extraversion, control, narcissism, machiavellianism, psychopathy. As a result of factor analysis, six personal factors of perfectionism were identified, which were named: “Lies for Admiration”, “Polarity in Interpersonal Interaction”, “Rigid Demonstration of Superiority”, “Need for Attention”, “Narcissism”, “Submission for Acceptance”. It is shown that the perfectionism of the respondents is associated only with those narcissistic characteristics that describe the inability to objectively perceive themselves and build constructive relationships with other people.