Using Facebook is the online equivalent of staring at yourself in the mirror, according to a study。

　　Those who spent more time updating their profile on the social networking site were more likely to be narcissists, said researchers。

　　Facebook provides an ideal setting for narcissists to monitor their appearance and how many ‘friends’ they have, the study said, as it allows them to thrive on ‘shallow’ relationships while avoiding genuine warmth and empathy。

　　They also tend to use the site for promoting themselves to friends or people they would like to meet, the study concluded。

　　Researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh from York University in Canada asked 100 students, 50 male and 50 female, aged between 18 and 25 about their Facebook habits。

　　They all took psychology tests to measure their levels of narcissism, which the study defined as ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance’。

　　Those who scored higher on the narcissism test checked their Facebook pages more often each day than those who did not。

　　There was also a difference between men and women – men generally promoted themselves by written posts on their Facebook page while women tended to carefully select the pictures in their profile。

　　The findings, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour And Social Networking, also suggested that those with low self-esteem also checked their Facebook pages more regularly than normal。

　　This may not be altogether surprising as it is widely thought, however contradictory it may appear, that narcissism is linked to a deep-rooted lack of self-esteem。

　　Miss Mehdizadeh admitted that not everyone would appreciate her findings。

　　She said: ‘I think people get sort of defensive about it – like, “I don’t use my Facebook for that reason” – because it’s a label that you don’t want to be slapped with.’

　　Facebook has more than 500 million users worldwide and is the world’s biggest social networking website, but it has been involved in a number of controversies。

　　最新研究表明，使用Facebook社交网站就如同在镜前自我欣赏。

　　研究人员称，花费较多时间更新社交网站个人资料的人更有可能是自恋狂。

　　研究显示，Facebook允许网友大力发展“浅层”交情，不必付出真情实感，因而成为众多自恋狂关注自身形象和“好友”数量的理想之地。

　　研究结论称，人们还倾向于利用社交网站把自己引荐给朋友或想要结识的人。

　　加拿大约克大学的研究员索拉雅•麦蒂扎德对100名年龄在18至25岁之间的学生使用Facebook的习惯进行了调查，男女人数各半。

　　受访者都参加了衡量自恋程度的心理测试。该研究把自恋定义为“自大、寻求仰慕、并具有强烈自负意识的普遍心理类型。”

　　自恋测试得分较高的人每天查看Facebook个人主页的频率更高。

　　男性与女性之间也有差别：男性常通过在Facebook个人主页上发表新帖来展示自己，而女性倾向于细心挑选个人资料照片。

　　研究结果还表明，自卑者登录Facebook的频率也比其他人要高。该研究结果发表在《网络心理学、行为和社交网络》期刊上。

　　这些发现也许并不会让人吃惊，因为人们普遍认为自恋与根植于内心的自卑有关，尽管这看起来很矛盾。

　　麦蒂扎德小姐承认并非所有人都赞同她的结论。

　　她说：“我想人们对此都有些抵触，因为谁都不想被贴上这样的标签。有人会说，‘我不是因为这个才上Facebook的’。”

　　全球最大的社交网站Facebook在世界各地拥有5亿多用户，但也引发了诸多争议。