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With how technology is used today, a mobile phone is essentially a reflection of someone's life and personality, so being uncomfortable with detachment from it is understandable. However, the discomfort may be of a different level for narcissists.

In a recent study, researchers examined the relationship between narcissism, stress, social media addiction and nomophobia - the fear of being detached from someone's phone. The participants, aged between 18 and 45, went through tests that measured narcissism, stress, social media addiction and nomophobia.

The results showed that participants with pronounced narcissistic traits had more symptoms of social media addiction and higher indices of nomophobia. Additionally, participants with increased social media addiction and nomophobia reported having higher stress levels.

Narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability

Narcissistic grandiosity is a term that refers to the exaggerated sense of self-importance and superiority, and this personality persists over time. Grandiosity in narcissistic personality is often tied to the constant need for praise and admiration, which aligns with the findings that correlate with problematic social media usage.

On the other hand, narcissistic vulnerability is a term that refers to a narcissist's underlying fragility, hypersensitivity to criticism and fear of inadequacy despite their brave image. Although the study focused more on the grandiose behavior of narcissists, past studies have indicated that vulnerable narcissists with the fear of missing out, or FOMO, can still get addicted to the use of social media and, of course, their phones.

Another study showed that two factors affecting a vulnerable narcissist's use of social media are oversensitivity and egocentrism. However, oversensitivity is more significantly associated with their behavior online and in person, as compared to egocentricity.