When checking out someone's photos on social media, what are the factors that determine how you perceive that person? One major factor, according to new research, is who's holding the camera.
In a new study published in the Journal of Research in Personality, psychologists found that people who post selfies are far more likely to be perceived negatively than people who post "posies" – photos of the poster taken by another person.
The researchers asked 30 undergraduates to fill out a personality questionnaire and for permission to use 30 of their Instagram photos for an experiment. These 30 Instagram posts were coded based on theme – such as physical appearance, affiliation with others, and accomplishment – and stripped of captions and other text.
Then, the researchers asked a second group of undergraduates to rate the Instagram profiles for 13 attributes, such as self-absorption, self-esteem, loneliness, and successfulness. The results showed that Instagram users who posted more posies than selfies were rated "higher in self-esteem, more adventurous, less lonely, more outgoing, more dependable, relatively fond of trying new things, more successful, more likeable, and as potentially being a good friend," the researchers wrote.
In contrast, users who posted relatively more selfies were rated as "having lower self-esteem, disliking adventure, more lonely, less outgoing, disliking trying new things, less successful, and less likeable."
"Even when two feeds had similar content, such as depictions of achievement or travel, feelings about the person who posted selfies were negative and feelings about the person who posted posies were positive, It shows there are certain visual cues, independent of context, that elicit either a positive or negative response on social media." Chris Barry, Washington State University professor of psychology and lead author of the study, says.
Interestingly, the results showed that posting selfies wasn't associated with self-reported narcissism, but posting posies was. Also, having many followers and following many people was associated with narcissism. But in general, the Instagram users' self-reported personality traits didn't match up strongly with how others judged them.
It remains unclear exactly why people react negatively to selfies and positively to posies. The researchers suggested it might be because posies look more natural, similar to how you'd view someone in person.
While the findings of this study are just a small piece of the puzzle, they may be important to keep in mind before you make that next post.
From Big Think (edited)
