How HEXACO personality traits predict different selfie-posting behaviors among adolescents and young adults

Selfies are usually defined as self-portrait photos shared on social networks. Recent studies investigated how personality traits, and specifically narcissism, can be associated to different kinds of selfies. The HEXACO model, a new theory on personality structure, investigates personality on six dimensions, among which there is the Honesty/Humility trait, found strongly and negatively associated to narcissism. Thus, this study aims to investigate how different kinds of selfies could be predicted by HEXACO personality traits, controlling for age, gender and sexual orientation. Participants were 750 adolescents and young adults (59.1% girls, N = 443) from 13 to 30 years (Mage = 20.96; SDage = 4.23) who completed an online survey composed by the Kinsey scale, three questions about the frequency of different kinds of selfies (i.e. own selfies, group selfies and selfies with partner) and 60-item Hexaco Personality Inventory-Revised. Results showed that females, adolescents and not- exclusively heterosexuals posted more own selfies, and that adolescents posted also more group selfies and selfies with partner. Moreover lower Honesty/Humility, lower Conscientiousness, higher Emotionality and higher Extraversion significantly predict both own selfies and group selfies. Finally, only lower Honesty/Humility and higher Emotionality predict selfies with partner. Results suggested a common pattern of personality traits that can explain selfies behaviors according to literature on HEXACO model. Specifically, these findings enlightened that Honesty/Humility and Emotionality traits seem to be relevant in understanding selfies. People who post more selfies are lower in Honesty/Humility, showing a strong sense of self-importance and feeling superior. Moreover, they show higher Emotionality that is related to looking for social reinforcement on social networks. Only for own and group selfies, people high in Extraversion probably feel self-confident in groups, also in the online dimension, and low extraverted people probably posted less frequently because they feel uncomfortable being at the center of attention. Finally, people with high Conscientiousness spend less time online because they consider social networks as a distraction from their tasks. Thus, HEXACO model allows to better understand which personality traits can predict different kinds of selfies. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.