Let's get physical! Instagram engagement and vanity in young people

Dávila J.F.; Casabayó M.; Rayburn S.W. · Media International Australia (2026) · DOI: 10.1177/1329878x261434606

Resumen

The widespread use of Instagram has provided young people with an ideal platform to display vanity to maintain or reconstruct their self-image and be exposed to the display of vanity by friends and influencers. However, Instagram's relationship with young people's vanity has rarely been investigated. This study explores how Instagram use intensity is associated with higher vanity among young people aged 18 to 28 years, including the moderating effects of narcissism and histrionic personality. In total, 310 university students participated in this survey-based research project. Instagram use intensity was associated with increased physical vanity (view and concern), but not with achievement vanity. Higher Instagram involvement was associated with a greater increase in vanity in non-narcissists (vulnerable or grandiose) and non-histrionic young individuals. On the contrary, Instagram's association with vanity was minimal, or even decremental, in young people with high levels of narcissism and histrionic personality. Cultivation theory and social comparison theory provide the framework to interpret these findings. © The Author(s) 2026

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura