How do social media photos affect our self-esteem? What role can hashtags play in our satisfaction with our own appearance? Psychology teacher Jessica Alleva shares the results of a recent study.
Instagram is full of images of “idealized” female beauty. In modern Western culture, only thin and fit young women usually fit into its framework. Psychology teacher Jessica Alleva has been researching people’s attitudes towards their appearance for many years. She reminds: viewing such images on social networks makes women feel dissatisfied with the way they look.
Recently, however, a new trend has been gaining momentum on Instagram: women are increasingly posting their unedited photos without makeup. Noticing this trend, researchers from Australia’s Flinders University asked themselves: what if, by seeing others in a more realistic light, women get rid of their dissatisfaction with themselves?
Those who viewed unedited photos without makeup were less picky about their own appearance
To find out, the researchers randomly assigned 204 Australian women to three groups.
- Participants in the first group viewed edited images of slim women with make-up.
- Participants in the second group viewed images of the same slender women, but this time the characters were without makeup and the photos were not retouched.
- Participants from the third group viewed the same Instagram images as the members of the second group, but with hashtags indicating that the models were without makeup and the photos were not retouched: #nomakeup, #noediting, #makeupfreeselfie.
Before and after viewing the images, all participants filled out questionnaires, answering questions from the researchers. This made it possible to measure their level of satisfaction with their appearance.
Jessica Alleva writes that the participants in the second group – those who viewed the unedited photos without makeup – were less picky about their own appearance compared to the first and third groups.
And what about hashtags?
So, studies have shown that photos of slender women with makeup provoke users of social networks to be highly critical of their own appearance. But viewing unedited images without makeup can prevent these negative consequences – at least in terms of how women feel about their face.
Why it happens? Why do we feel miserable about our own appearance when we see images of “idealized” beauty? The main reason is obviously that we are comparing ourselves to the people in these images. Additional data from an Australian experiment showed that women who viewed unedited realistic images without makeup were less likely to compare themselves to the women in the photographs.
It seems paradoxical that the benefits of viewing unedited images without makeup disappear when you add hashtags to them. The researchers speculated that the hashtags themselves might grab viewers’ attention and provoke comparisons to the women in the photo. And the scientists’ data is indeed supported by the higher level of comparison in appearance among women who viewed images with added hashtags.
It is important to surround yourself with images of people of different shapes, and not just those that reflect the ideals accepted in society.
It is important to mention that the participants of the project were shown images of people of different ages and ethnicity with bodies of different shapes and sizes. Gathering data on the impact of viewing these images has shown that they generally help people feel better about their bodies.
Thus, says Jessica Alleva, we can tentatively conclude that unretouched images of fit women without makeup may be more helpful to our perception of their appearance than edited images of the same women with makeup.
It is important to surround yourself with realistic images of people of various shapes, and not just those that reflect the ideals accepted in society. Beauty is a much broader and even more creative concept than the standard set of fashionable bows. And in order to appreciate your own uniqueness, it is important to see how wonderful other people can be.
About the author: Jessica Alleva is a psychology professor and specialist in the field of how people relate to their appearance.