Vulnerable and grandiose narcissism differentially predict phubbing via social anxiety and problematic social media use

‘Phubbing’ refers to the phenomenon where people ignore social partners in a face-to-face situation by focusing on their phones. Narcissism, a personality trait characterised by entitled self-importance, has strong influences on interpersonal relationships. As the mechanism through which narcissism may affect the development of phubbing is unclear and most relevant studies have been conducted in Western countries, we proposed and empirically tested a theoretical model that links narcissism to phubbing in China. Chinese participants (N = 322; 181 women and 141 men) completed a survey in the Chinese language. Path analyses largely confirmed the proposed hypothetical model. The main findings showed that vulnerable narcissism directly predicted more phubbing behaviour and also indirectly via increased social anxiety, preference for online social interaction (POSI), social media use (SMU) for mood regulation, and compulsive SMU. Also, grandiose narcissism indirectly predicted less phubbing behaviour via reduced social anxiety, POSI, SMU for mood regulation, and compulsive SMU. The findings, therefore, elucidate the mechanisms by which the two subtypes of narcissism differentially predispose people to phubbing in China, with vulnerable narcissism predisposing people to more phubbing and grandiose narcissism to less phubbing. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.