Attachment, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, interpersonal competence, and problematic social media use: A latent profile analysis

In a cross-sectional study we examined associations between attachment anxiety and avoidance, grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, interpersonal competence, and problematic social media use (PSMU) in order to enhance the understanding of the characteristics that may contribute to PSMU. Participants (N = 555) were recruited from social media and crowdsourcing apps and completed a self-report online questionnaire. Correlations between variables generally supported previous findings, with the exceptions of the negative association between grandiose narcissism and attachment avoidance, and the non-significant association between grandiose narcissism and PSMU. Latent profile analysis (LPA) produced four separate profiles distinguished by levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance characteristic of the secure, avoidant, anxious, and fearful attachment styles. The four profiles were also distinguished by unique combinations of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and interpersonal competence, and suggest differences between the anxious and fearful attachment styles that have been overlooked in previous studies. We validated the LPA results by comparing mean PSMU scores among the four profiles, revealing statistically significant differences between all four profiles. Securely attached participants reported the lowest level of PSMU, with increasing levels of PSMU reported by avoidant, anxious, and fearful participants.