Why do we HATE our own pictures? - The scientific explanation
Channel: Brains Applied
Date: 2020-02-24

Hi there,

Today I'm explaining why we dislike our own face when we see it in pictures. I do this by using two different psychological phenomena.

The self-enhancement bias tells us that we have a mental image in our heads in which we are prettier than we are in reality. Of course, not everyone tends to do this. People with more self-esteem tend to see themselves as prettier than they really are, while people with less confidence do the opposite.

Next is the mere-exposure effect which states that we prefer things, faces, etc. that we are more familiar with. It seems quite logical that you would be very familiar with your own face and yet, we should remember that we always see a mirrored image of ourselves when we make a selfie or when we stand in the bathroom. When someone takes a picture of us, we see a flipped version of ourselves. Since  almost no-one has a perfectly symmetrical face, this makes us dislike ourselves.

If you want to feel better about your own pictures, you can post selfies on social media. Remember, however, that other people are used to your face as they see it. So posting mirrored pictures is probably not the best idea ever. But you can train yourself to get used to your own face by exposing yourself to your own pictures more often. For example, by putting a regular picture of yourself on the background of your phone. Good luck.

Check out the short video, I hope you like it and of course:
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References:
Epley, N., & Whitchurch, E. (2008). Mirror, mirror on the wall: Enhancement in self-recognition. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(9), 1159-1170.
Fugère, M. A. (2007). Why Seeing Photos Of Ourselves Disappoints Us. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dating-and-mating/201710/why-seeing-photos-ourselves-disappoints-us
"Implicit Self-Esteem". (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved on 22-02-2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_self-esteem
Mita, T. H., Dermer, M., & Knight, J. (1977). Reversed facial images and the mere-exposure hypothesis. Journal of personality and social psychology, 35(8), 597.
Re, D. E., Wang, S. A., He, J. C., & Rule, N. O. (2016). Selfie indulgence: Self-favoring biases in perceptions of selfies. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(6), 588-596.