International Education Studies; Vol. 15, No. 1; 2022 ISSN 1913-9020 E-ISSN 1913-9039 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 200 Development of a Scale of Narcissism in Social Media and Investigation of Its Psychometric Characteristics Seher Akdeniz 1 , Hatice Budak 2 & Zeynep G. Ahçı 1 1 Psychology Department, Social and Humanity Science Faculty, KTO Karatay University, Turkey 2 Sociology Department, Social and Humanity Science Faculty, KTO Karatay University, Turkey Correspondence: Seher Akdeniz, Psychology Department, KTO Karatay University, Alaaddin Kap street, Akabe, No:130, Karatay, Turkey. Received: August 18, 2021 Accepted: October 18, 2021 Online Published: January 26, 2022 doi:10.5539/ies.v15n1p200 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v15n1p200 Abstract Narcissism in social media reveals itself differently than in daily social interactions. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a Scale of Narcissism in Social Media through the lens of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Model and to investigate its psychometric characteristics. The total sample of the study consisted of 740 participants between 18 and 65 years of age for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 16 item and two-factor structure. The structure of the scale was in accordance with the theoretical framework and therefore factors are named Narcissistic Admiration and Narcissistic Rivalry. The results of the confirmative analysis showed that the fit indices were acceptable. Correlations of the scale with other narcissism scales demonstrated concurrent validity and reliability analysis showed acceptable internal consistency. The results of the study show that the Scale of Narcissism in Social Media is a valid and reliable tool for measurement and data collection. Keywords: scale of narcissism in social media, narcissistic admiration, narcissistic rivalry, validity, reliability, university students, young adults 1. Introduction Nowadays 3.81 billion people actively use social media, a figure accounting for 49% of the world population. Compared with last year’s statistics for the same period, the number of social media users has increased by 304 million (We Are Social & Hootsuite, 2020). Easily accessible social media platforms have changed the communication styles of individuals, enterprises, and even communities. Meanwhile, motives that urge people to create content in social media have become important research subjects. It is suggested that content creation in social media platforms meet various psychosocial needs such as showing affection, displaying negative emotions, gaining recognition, entertainment, and cognitive needs (Leung, 2013). Research also reveals that user-generated content in social media satisfy various needs such as social interaction, inquiry for information, fill in time, relaxation, hearing from others, documentation, productivity, and reward expectations (Whiting & Williams, 2013; Sheldon & Bryant, 2016; Ko, Cho, & Roberts, 2005). It is also suggested that social media provides a good platform both for self-presentation and social interaction realized through shared content (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). This fact has inspired researchers to investigate the correlations among social media addiction, motives to create content in social media platforms, personality and personality disorders (Ryan & Xenos, 2011; Ooi et al., 2020). Narcissism is an important personality trait with an idealized self-image at the core. Narcissist individuals generally believe that they are unique, special, and better than other people; they overpraise themselves (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the pathological form of narcissism, is described in the DSM-V as a disorder characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance, fantasies of unlimited success, belief in being special and unique, lack of empathy, feelings of envy, and arrogance (APA, 2013). However, in the non-clinical population, narcissism has been mainly investigated as a trait. Campbell and Foster (2007) suggest that narcissism is a quality of self that has significant implications for thinking, feeling, and behaving. Narcissism exists in a continuum presenting no clear line between narcissistic and non-narcissistic people. For this reason, narcissism can be positively associated with leadership and