Instagram : an accurate means of personality judgments

Abstract

The study is the first to examine personality expression and zero-acquaintance personality judgments on Instagram – a social media platform which has been growing exponentially in popularity. Photographs shared by 37 participants on Instagram over a two-month period were collected and participants completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI) which assesses their level of extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness. Three independent observers were tasked to browse through each participant’s Instagram photographs before rating them using the same BFI. Results of the study demonstrated a high level of observers’ consensus for most of the big five traits. A comparison between self-rated and observer-rated personality revealed that zero-acquaintance observers were able to judge extraversion and openness accurately. The study also identified the types of Instagram photographs which are valid to one’s personality, as well as the specific photograph cues utilised by observers in their personality judgments. Lastly, post-hoc analysis showed that extraversion and conscientiousness are associated with certain Instagram-related behaviours.