Selfies are popping up everywhere throughout the world of social media, and these days even some of the world’s most popular celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon. While some people love them, others hate them, although they are still as popular as ever. Are selfies just a consequence of the fact that everyone has access to a camera or are they more than that? What exactly do selfies say about the people in front of the camera?
A new study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that how you take a selfie could give insight into your personality — or at least clue you into how others might perceive you.
“Little is known about how selfies reflect their owners’ personality traits and how people judge others’ personality from selfies,” wrote study authors in their abstract. But for their research, which was conducted at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, they aimed to take a closer look at the psychological implications. In doing so, they surveyed 123 popular selfie-takers from the website Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging platform — first by having study participants take a personality test, and then by having a separate group of 107 students assess them.
A person’s selfie corresponded well with their own self-evaluation of their personality, the researchers found. However, the students who guessed personality traits based on the selfies weren’t always as accurate. They were only spot-on when it came to guessing openness and extraversion.
The researchers based the study off 13 different selfie aspects: whether the person had a duckface, pressed lips together, looked straight at the camera, exhibited emotional positivity, held the camera high or to the side, showed their full face or body, showed the background location (either public or private), and whether the photo was photoshopped. Believe me, it’ll definitely reveal some things about your inner-self. Check it out below, and see what your go-to poses have to say.
1. If You Make A Duckface…
You score pretty highly on the emotional instability scale and are also possibly neurotic.
2. If You Hide The Location of Your Selfie…
You score highly when it comes to conscientiousness and you are also pretty concerned with privacy.
3. If You Hold the Camera Low…
You also score highly on agreeableness, and are therefore probably awesome to be around.
4. If You Smile or Laugh…
You’re most likely very open to new experiences… and, you know, love to laugh.
5. If You Look Directly Into The Camera…
You’re totes friendly — and super confident.
6. If You Look Like You’re Having Fun…
…you probably are! But also, you too score pretty highly on the agreeableness scale. Which is awesome!
Now go on and break out your selfie stick. You’ve got some low-positioned photos to take while staring directly into the camera and laughing your face off.
So while others might not always accurately guess your personality traits from your selfies, maybe it’s better to note that the angle, lighting, background, and facial expression of your selfie may reveal more about your personality than you think.
