How Can Self Love Lead to Spying on Ex-Partners on Facebook? -The Effects of Ego Factors on Facebook Surveillance-

Abstract

This study attempted to identify the personality traits that influence one’s likelihood to stalk an ex-partner on Facebook. Specifically, it focused on self-concept-related traits, given that the motivations for using social network sites (SNS) are highly associated with the concept of self. These include self-esteem, narcissism, and self-efficacy. To assess these factors, this study controlled for extraneous variables while assessing the predictive power of personality traits, such as Facebook usage, length of the relationship, and time since the break-up. The results of a self-administered, web-based survey (N=207) showed that self-esteem, narcissism, and self-efficacy are all traits that can predict the stalking of an ex-partner on Facebook. More specifically, the analysis showed a negative association between self-esteem and one’s likelihood to stalk an ex-partner on Facebook, while it showed positive relationships between Facebook stalking and both narcissism and self-efficacy.