Sometimes Selfies Create Negative Self Image

By Corinne Lewis

Stonehill College News Blog Journalist

EASTON – Devin Hagerty created her first Instagram account when she was 12 and has been checking it regularly since, measuring herself on social media with every selfie she posts.

“I can remember when I first made my account, I didn’t feel the effect Instagram had on me. I now notice the impact of constant connection with the media even more from the transition to middle school, high school, and in college,” said Hagerty, a Stonehill College freshman and psychology major.

“If people aren’t satisfied with their own life, they create the life that they would want through Instagram to convince themselves,” said Hagerty.

Selfie-taking has become increasingly popular with the rise of social media platforms such as Instagram, opening up a new world of social comparison that can have a negative twist on body image.

A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that young women especially struggle with negative body image when they compare themselves to selfies posted on social media.  

In “The Selfie Paradox: Nobody Seems to Like Them Yet Everyone Has Reasons to Take Them. An Exploration of Psychological Functions of Selfies in Self-Presentation,” researchers Sarah Diefenbach and Lara Christoforakos studied Instagram as a media effect: whether intended or not there is a change in cognitive perceptions and how one thinks in result of what one sees in the media. 

Diefenbach found that some people view selfies as a way to be creative and express their emotions but an excessive amount of posting selfies can cause lower self-esteem and decrease one’s peace in mind, according to the study.

The study found that the prevalence and exposure to selfies when on Instagram reveals there is pressure to post a selfie in order to feel confident when in reality, it does the opposite and leads to further self-comparison.

“From an analytical view, self-presentation may be one of the most prominent psychological reasons for taking selfies,” said Diefenbach.

She said that there are several negative consequences to selfie-taking such as creating fake, unnatural pictures that threaten one’s satisfaction with themselves.

The findings of this research indicate that the use of selfie-taking in the media has a negative effect on the psychology of women.

There is a “systematic discrepancy in the perceptions between our own versus others’ selfies, i.e., a selfie bias,” said Diefenbach.

Rebecca Ortiz is an expert in entertainment media effects, health communications, and social marketing. She said more research is needed on the topic, but that selfie-taking and their presentations can create problems.

“There’s this disconnect between reality and what is being posted,” said Ortiz.

She said research has not yet caught up with the selfie trend, the rise of Instagram and influencers. But earlier research from the 2000s found that glamorous photos such as in magazine advertisements set up unrealistic comparisons for young women.

Ortiz said people generally understood that magazine glamour shots were of models, not ordinary people. With social media such as Instagram, the comparisons hit closer to home as selfies are of your friends, the person down the street, a classmate or workmate.

Still, the photos are not realistic images as they have been photoshopped and curated, Ortiz said. So, people are comparing themselves to unattainable images and this negatively influences the way they seem themselves.

“Women are targeted with beauty messages until the day we die,” said Ortiz.

She said at the age of ten is when girls start to “hate themselves” because it is when children develop and recognize that their peers are growing at different rates. Media messages begin to target children at this age and media advertisement focuses on the youth all the way until the ages 24 to 25 and often times beyond.

Ortiz said that social comparison in the media is a serious problem where research points towards the issue being the constant connection to devices.

Consumers want authenticity and there has been a push against brands and organizations in how they present their products in the beauty area. CVS has stopped photoshopping images they post in beauty sections because images have an impact on beauty perceptions and self-worth.

The evolution of Instagram makes it difficult to keep transparent because the owners are looking to make money as well.

Ortiz said that she is 37 years old and still finds herself affected by social media and pulled into the false reality. She said it is easy to tell yourself that it is fake and will all be fine. But everyone has weaknesses. Women want this ideal to be real so they combat this need by convincing themselves that if they work hard enough, they will look like an Instagram model.

Director of Stonehill Counseling Services, Maria Kavanaugh said it is an extremely common reason for students to come into their office with concerns of body image, anxiety, depression, and self-dissatisfaction. She recognizes that this is a time where people are exploring identity.

Kavanaugh said the media affects men and women across the board depending on how each individual student uses social media in their lives.

Warning signs that someone may need help include spending increased time analyzing their body, not sleeping, have trouble focusing, and issues with eating, said Kavanaugh.

“If we have students who are struggling with body image and find themselves particularly susceptible to mass media, we tell them to get in the driver’s seat of content,” said Kavanaugh.

She said students can follow body positive pages on Instagram that are inclusive and mindful such as: a_body_well_fed, bodyimagewithbri, and missameliahart.

Hagerty, who said she averages more than 9 hours a week on social media apps, said it is difficult to stay away and she feels the pressure to post and compete with other women’s pages.

“People act like they love to keep up with their Instagram page because they feel they would be judged if they did not represent themselves as being cool,” said Hagerty.

When she feels the media getting to be too much though, she turns off her phone and surrounds herself with real people who she has strong connections with.