Selfies Are Good For You Say Scientists

[transhuman]

Computer scientists at the University of California, Irvine have shown that taking selfies can make you happy!

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Over the course of 4 weeks, a study involving 41 participants investigated the effects of college students taking selfies. They conducted the tests under 3 different conditions. In the first condition, students took selfies when they were smiling. In the second, they took a photo of something that made them happy. The 3rd condition was to take and send a photo of something that would make someone else happy.

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After scrutinizing their results scientists found that under all 3 conditions students became more positive after performing their assigned task over 3 weeks.

The authors of the study felt that these results are important information for college students because they are under the pressures of experiencing a new environment, financial difficulties, loneliness etc. Their smartphones can provide them much needed relief from the stress and strain of college life.

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All 28 female and 13 male participants in the study did a preliminary interview. After filling out a questionaire and signing a consent form, they were provided with apps installed on their cell phones. They were instructed to go on with their daily life as usual.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

After nearly 2,900 measurements, the researchers found increased positive moods in all 3 groups. The students in the selfie group reported feeling more confident and comfortable over time. The group photographing objects that made them happy became more reflective and appreciative while those taking photos to make others happy reported being calmer and that their connection to friends and family was a source of stress relief.

The results of the study out of UCI's Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences were published recently in the Psychology of Well-Being. The work was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

Comments

[krnel]

Study Links Selfies To Narcissism And Psychopathy

This academic study of people who post selfies confirms everything you suspect

[transhuman]

Is it possible smart phones are creating a world of happy relaxed narcissists? ;))

[djm34]

lol

[djm34]

Actually the studies shows that it is just a big fail...
As there is no difference between the 3 groups which all feel happier and no test sample (so you can't conclude that selfies makes people feel happier, since you have nothing to compare to, since the group which doesn't takes selfie are also "happier"...)

So this studies is completely inconclusive (and a fail), The swiss will be happy to know what happened to their money

[transhuman]

If you read the results report, you will see there was a control experiment.

The results can be read here: https://psywb.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13612-016-0044-4

Here is the conclusion from the actual report:

Conclusions
We aimed to leverage the prevalence of smartphone photography along with theories of positive psychology to help college students become happier and reduce stress. To this end, we conducted a 4-week study with 41 participants to investigate the effects of taking daily photos using their smartphones in three conditions: the Selfie condition in which participants took a smiling selfie, the Personal condition in which participants took a photo of something that made themselves happy and the Other condition in which participants took and sent a photo of something to make another person happy. Quantitative and qualitative results show that participants in all three conditions became more positive after taking their assigned type of photo daily for 3 weeks. Some participants in the Selfie condition observed a more natural smile over time; participants in the Personal condition became more reflective and some participants reported that the photos led them to be more appreciative of the little things in their lives that made them happy. Participants in the Other condition became much less aroused (i.e., calmer) with photo-taking and some reported the increased intimacy and connection with strong ties as an important factor that can reduce anxiety, serve to pacify themselves and lead them to become more positive. Compared to photos posted on social media, participants felt more comfortable, conscious, and reflective when taking the photos. They also suggested future technology that could help them take and review photos of happy moments using mood-tracking sensors.

This paper provides empirical support on the feasibility of increasing users’ happiness by applying positive psychology to smartphone photography. It also contributes to the emerging field of positive computing by presenting reasons for how conducting exercises to promote happiness using mobile technology could help people enhance their mood. The findings can offer insights for designers to create systems that enhance emotional well-being.

[littenti]

Do selfie's make you happy? Or do happy people take selfies?

I doubt that the selfie was the cause of their increase in happiness. There are so many more factors that this experiement seems to ignore.

(New relationships, finding out what they want to do with their life, achieving success in academics or athletics. All of these are things that are more important to a college student than taking a selfie, and therefore direct a greater change in mood)

I wonder when the study started and ended. Time-of-year means many things. Also, time of day.

Too many variables left unaccounted for. (At least from what I can tell from reading this article.)