W. Keith Campbell, PhD University of Georgia, US
Keynote Lecture: Moving Self-enhancement Online: Narcissism and the Great Fantasy Migration Friday, April 6th | 11:00-12:00 | Wóycickiego Campus
One of the largest cultural changes happening in the world is the migration of individual's lives into virtual and fantasy worlds (i.e., Great Fantasy Migration). This is commonly seen in social media (e.g., Facebook), but also in fantasy realms like gaming, science fiction and other "geek" activities. In this talk, I propose that the drive for self-enhancement - both to actively promote the self but also to avoid negative feelings about the self - is an important driver of this migration. To this end, I present data from two meta-analyses and several studies that examine both social media and geek culture. The discussion will center on: (a) the strategic use of virtual and fantasy realms for self-enhancement, (b) the unfortunate downside risks to the self from these practices, and (c) the creation of new micro-cultures that interact with national cultures.