Narcissism is driven by insecurity, not an inflated sense of self, finds a new study by a team of psychology researchers. Its research, which offers a more detailed understanding of this long-examined phenomenon, may also explain what motivates the self-focused nature of social media activity. “For a long time, it was unclear why narcissists engage in unpleasant behaviors, such as self-congratulation, as it actually makes others think less of them,” explains Pascal Wallisch, a clinical associate professor in New York University’s psychology department and the senior author of the paper in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. “This has become quite prevalent in the age of social media—a behavior that’s been coined ‘flexing,’” Wallisch said. “Our work reveals that these narcissists are not grandiose, but rather insecure, and this is how they seem to cope with their insecurities.” “More specifically, the results suggest that narcissism is better understood as a compensatory adaptation to overcome …