In the master's thesis, we address and explore the correlation between the use of social media
and the emergence of narcissism in children. Social networks represent a significant part of our
everyday lives. If you're not on social media, you practically don't exist. We used to laugh at
this notion, as social networks were primarily intended for exchanging information and
communication, but today it has become our "new reality." Social networks have a huge number
of users, among whom are increasingly more young people who can quickly fall into their traps.
One of the significantly prevalent negative effects in this area is the rise of narcissistic
characteristics among children. The task is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on
theoretical foundations, where key concepts are presented through analysis and synthesis.
Social media is introduced at the beginning, followed by a closer look at the currently most
popular online platform among young people, TikTok. We then proceed with the presentation
of narcissism, where narcissistic characteristics are defined. In the empirical part, special
attention is given to answering the question of how social media, specifically TikTok, affects
the emergence of narcissism in children, who are the most vulnerable group on these platforms.
Based on previous research, I formulated the following research questions: do children with
narcissistic characteristics use TikTok more frequently; do children with narcissistic
characteristics post on TikTok more frequently; do children with narcissistic characteristics
follow others' posts on TikTok more frequently; is there a statistically significant difference in
the level of narcissistic characteristics among children who spend more than two hours online
daily compared to those who spend less than an hour online daily; is there a statistically
significant difference in the level of narcissistic characteristics among children who post on
TikTok multiple times a day compared to those who post on TikTok once a month; is there a
statistically significant difference in the level of narcissistic characteristics based on gender and
age? Using a causal non-experimental method, I conducted an empirical quantitative study. I
found that there are no statistically significant differences. The reason for this may also lie in
the small sample size of young people who participated in the research. I expect that the research
will be helpful to both future colleagues and to already employed teachers who may also
dedicate more attention to this topic in the future
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