Effects of self-photographs on viewer’s mood, self-esteem and motivation

The present study examined how viewing certain self-photographs posted by individuals on social media sites affects self-esteem, mood, and motivation of persons who view these photos. There were 119 participants (aged 20-75), who were either subjected to self-photographs of attractive individuals, self-photographs of individuals engaging in pro-social behaviour, or no photographs (control group). Participants subsequently completed measures of mood, selfesteem, personality, motivation and narcissism. Individuals who were exposed to attractive selfphotographs were hypothesized to have the lowest scores on measures of self-esteem, motivation, and mood, while individuals who were exposed to pro-social behaviour selfphotographs were hypothesized to have the highest scores on measures of self-esteem, motivation and mood. While no overall main effects were found, pro-social photos were more predictive of increased motivational drive among those higher in extraversion and more predictive increased positive mood among those who higher in conscientiousness. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. EFFECTS ON MOOD, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOTIVATION 3 Effects of self-photographs on viewer’s mood, self-esteem and motivation In today’s society and world of social media, individuals are constantly posting photographs of themselves, also known as “selfies”. A “selfie” is defined as a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically captured with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media (Oiu, Lu, Yang, Ou & Zhu, 2015). The word selfie has just recently come to light over the past decade, and was even named word of the year in 2013 by the Oxford English Dictionary (Qiu et al., 2015). The selfie is a phenomenon that has skyrocketed within the past couple years and has become a regular occurrence for multiple people throughout the world. Research shows that from 2004 to 2012 alone, the amount of selfies taken and posted to social media sites had increased by 17,000% (Barry et al., 2015). This dramatic increase is enough to make social psychologists question what exactly the implications are of this new found era of taking selfphotographs and posting them online to social medias such as Instagram and Facebook for the world to view and have access to. The majority of the world has access to the Internet, which means virtually everyone and anyone has the ability to view selfies of other people at any point in time. Millions of individuals have Facebook and Instagram accounts, and as a result of that, are exposed to selfies essentially every time they log into their accounts. The potential for negative effects on an individual’s emotional well-being, including mood, self-esteem, and motivation may exist, and in a society where we place emphasis on doing our best to take care of ourselves, it is important to figure out what these effects may entail. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of viewing different types of selfie photos on individual’s self-esteem, mood and motivation and how this might be moderated by individual difference factors. EFFECTS ON MOOD, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOTIVATION 4 Psychology of Selfies Unfortunately, very little research has been done in the area of self-photographs, considering it is a fairly new phenomenon that has only recently come to researcher’s attention within the past decade. Barry and colleagues conducted one reliable and relatively recent study in 2015, which looked at the effects that posting self-photographs had on the individual who was posting them to their social media accounts. The researchers involved in this study followed and examined participants’ Instagram accounts, recording which percentage of their photos posted consisted of self-photographs (Barry et al., 2015). Participants completed the Rosenberg SelfEsteem scale and the Narcissism Measurement scale. Results showed that the individuals who posted more self-photographs compared to any other type of photograph on their Instagram accounts tended to have the lowest levels of self-esteem (Barry et al., 2015). These individuals also tended to score higher on the Hiding the Self-level of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (Barry et al., 2015). This study indicated that individuals who post more self-photographs on social media are more likely to have a lower level of self-esteem in comparison with those who do not post self-photographs frequently, however, direction of causation is unclear. The individuals who are posting more self-photographs may have a lower self-esteem already, and as a result post more self-photographs. On the other hand, it may be the frequent posting of selfphotographs that leads to a lower self-esteem. Further research to determine causation is needed in the area of posting self-photographs. Previous research also indicates that there are personality and gender factors to consider when analyzing the effects of self-photographs. Sorokowski and colleagues recently conducted a study that looked at the associations between narcissism, gender and self-photographs (Sorokowski et al., 2015). The research found a strong association between narcissistic EFFECTS ON MOOD, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOTIVATION 5 personality types and the likelihood to post more selfies and this finding was significantly prevalent regarding male participants (Sorokowski et al., 2015). Narcissistic females compared with non-narcissistic females nearly had no difference in regards to the amount of selfphotographs that were taken and posted to social media sites (Sorokowski et al., 2015). Also, it was found that participants who ranked high on a narcissistic personality scale were less likely to engage in social media networking to view other profiles, and more-so to just post about their own personal lives (Sorokowski et al., 2015). These gender differences are important to recognize and be aware of when continuing research into the selfie affect phenomenon. The above results indicate that the posting side of the “selfie spectrum” can have a potential negative affect on an individual’s overall well-being, so it is important to now also look at the viewer’s side of the spectrum, as the present study aimed to do. It is also important to see how different types of selfies affect behaviour, in particular those involving pro-social behaviour. Pro-Social Behaviour and Motivation Research on engaging in and observing pro-social behaviour has also been shown to affect behaviour and well-being. Weinstein and Ryan (2010) did not look into the implications of self-photographs, but rather looked at the affects that pro-social behaviour has on the person committing the pro-social act, the person receiving the pro-social act, and any possible witnesses to the pro-social act (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010). This study included a dictator game in which participants were given “money” with the potential option of being able to donate it. Participants were divided into four groups: One group was the “no choice” group that didn’t view an act of pro-social behaviour, one was a “no choice” group that did view an act of pro-social behaviour, one was a choice group given a free will option to donate some of their money, and one group EFFECTS ON MOOD, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOTIVATION 6 was a choice group with a confederate who would “choose” to donate a large sum of money that everyone else in the group would be witness to (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010). Results showed that participants in the group without the confederate donated significantly less than the participants in the group with the confederate who chose to donate the majority of the money given (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010). Moreover, when participants filled out self-esteem measures, wellbeing measures, and basic psychological need measures, participants who donated more in the confederate group tended to rank much higher on the scales than those who donated less, and those who did not have a choice to donate money but watched the other groups donate money had higher rankings than the no-choice group that didn’t witness any pro-social acts (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010). These results support the notion that not only does pro-social behaviour make the person engaging in it feel better, as well motivate others to contribute to the pro-social behaviour, but this action also increases the well-being of any individual exposed to the prosocial behaviour. If individuals are exposed to self-photographs of people helping other people, it could possibly increase self-esteem levels and evoke feelings of inspiration and motivation. Ideally, individuals are likely to keep their social networking profiles associated with other people that they know on at least some type of personal level. Barry & Wentzel conducted a pro-social behaviour study in 2006 that examined the relationship between friendships and prosocial behaviour motivation through social learning theory. The study emphasized how individuals learn how to behave through social learning – in other words, observing and imitating our peers, family and other various role models (Barry & Wentzel, 2006). Specifically, this study examined how within close friendships, if one friend continuously engages in prosocial behaviour, eventually that behaviour motivates the observing friend to behave in a similar manner (Barry & Wentzel, 2006). They found significant results, and nearly every time a friend EFFECTS ON MOOD, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOTIVATION 7 engaged in a pro-social behaviour, the second friend almost always followed suit by engaging in a pro-social behaviour of their own (Barry & Wentzel, 2006). This supports the idea that individuals who are exposed to pro-social behaviour photographs will be more motivated to engage in pro-social behaviour themselves, and as a result will have a higher mood and selfesteem. However, comparing themselves to others can also motivate people. Social Comparison and Motivation A 2015 journal article by Suler examined how many people fe