Journal of Scientific Papers

ECONOMICS & SOCIOLOGY


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ISSN 2071-789X

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Narcissistic prosociality in social media campaigns: Findings from a survey quasi- experiment

Vol. 17, No 4, 2024

Rebecca Cassells

 

Australian Treasury,

Canberra, Australia

E-mail: rebecca.cassells@treasury.gov.au

ORCID 0000-0001-7657-9272 

 

Narcissistic prosociality in social media campaigns: Findings from a survey quasi- experiment

 

Benoit Pierre Freyens

 

University of Canberra,

Canberra, Australia

E-mail: ben.freyens@canberra.edu.au

ORCID 0000-0002-5280-1382


Paul Jenkins

 

University of Canberra,

Canberra, Australia

E-mail: paul.jenkins2@canberra.edu.au

ORCID 0000-0001-7315-3620


 

Abstract. We investigate whether conspicuous participation in online social media campaigns is associated with narcissism and whether this association results in apathy, and free riding. We address these questions in the context of the Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC) campaign by examining the relationship between degree of participation (exposure), personality traits (Big Five and grandiose narcissism), and measures of apathy (unaware of the social cause) and free riding (letting others donate).  In a two-stage survey quasi-experiment that decouples personality tests from behavioural questions we find significant associations between conspicuous behaviour (direct-exposure) and grandiose narcissism, particularly amongst female respondents. However, we find no significant association between this relationship and apathy for the campaign’s social cause, nor did we find conclusive evidence of free riding. These results suggests that narcissistic prosociality (the combination of personal gratification and social concern) was a significant motivation for participating in this social media campaign.

 

Received: April, 2024

1st Revision: November, 2024

Accepted: December, 2024

 

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2024/17-4/9

JEL ClassificationC23, D64, D91

Keywords: narcissism, prosociality, apathy, free riding, social media campaigns, Australia