Taking and Sharing Selfies Can Make You Happier
Taking a smiling selfie can help boost your mood and even combat feelings of loneliness and stress. (Photo: Getty Images)
If you’re looking for a quick pick-me-up, grab your smartphone, flash your pearly whites, and click.
According to new research published in the journal Psychology of Well-Being, investigators found that daily snapshots of certain images have the ability to boost mood and combat feelings of stress and loneliness.
In the small, four-week study that consisted of 41 college students, the participants were randomly assigned to capture one of three images each day: a smiling selfie, a photo of something that made them happy, or a photo of something that would make someone else happy (and sending that image to the person). The volunteers were also asked to assess their mood three times a day using a survey app on their phone.
All three images evoked good feelings among the study subjects. The selfie group became more “confident and comfortable” with their grin; the second group became “more reflective and appreciative;” and the group that took photos for others felt calmer, thanks to the connection with family and friends.
“You see a lot of reports in the media about the negative impacts of technology use, and we look very carefully at these issues here at [the University of California, Irvine],” said senior author Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics, in a press release. “But there have been expanded efforts over the past decade to study what’s become known as ‘positive computing,’ and I think this study shows that sometimes our gadgets can offer benefits to users.”
“We are not entirely surprised by the study because previous studies suggest that manipulating a smiling facial expression has a positive impact on people’s mood,” Yu Chen, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar in UCI’s department of informatics, tells Yahoo Beauty.
Chen further explains that she and her colleagues began this study by “implementing the happiness-boosting exercises leveraging the increasingly popular selfie practices in a positive way and help[ing] people become happier.”
However, she understands there have been negative reports regarding selfies, as well as the images people view on social media. “In the epidemic of ‘beauty sickness,’ where people are overly picky about their own facial and body images, people tend to seek the standard of beauty in social and cultural contexts,” says Chen.
Yet in her research, the volunteers were instructed to take selfies in order to “record their smiles and kept the selfies to themselves,” Chen says. As a result, some of the participants observed pleasant changes in their grins.
“When asked to compare taking smiling selfies for themselves and for the purpose of sharing on social media, participants felt more comfortable and secure taking selfies for themselves,” continues Chen. “They reported not having to worry about how others may look at them or manage their images in the public.”
She points out that a selfie itself is neither positive nor negative — it’s all about how you use it.
“Many negative opinions come from how people evaluate their beauty and images in other people’s eyes and by the cultural standard,” says Chen. “It is essential to look within themselves and accept their own beauty — for example, their smiles.”
Chen adds: “In short, just smile, take a selfie for yourself, and appreciate your smiles in the photo. That is your unique beauty.”
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