Digitally enhanced selfies may come at a social cost, McGill study finds

A study from McGill University found that users of editing apps may be perceived as more attractive but are also seen as less enjoyable to be with.

The researchers state that the use of disclaimer labels on digitally enhanced portraits could have unintended social consequences for their subjects.

The study was conducted at the Laboratory for Attention and Social Cognition and used beauty filters on a common social media application to gradually edit a total of 300 images of 60 women (from 0 to 100 per cent, 25 per cent at a time).

“Photo editing has impacts outside of just finding somebody attractive. It can actually impact how we view that person on social components,” said co-author and McGill University PhD student Florence Mayrand.

“We use certain features of the app where you can add filters and we use filters that are traditionally associated with like Western beauty standards. So for example, like the thinning of the face, bigger eyes, bigger lips, things like that and added a bit of makeup onto it.”

Researchers randomly labelled half of the images as “edited” and the other half as “unedited,” regardless of their level of editing. A sample of 76 undergraduate students then reviewed the images.

“What our understanding was that the intention of the person or the poster of the images to make the best impression of themselves, but then we actually do not know what that impression is on others. So that’s what we wanted to study,” explained Dr. Jelena Ristic, Mcgill University psychology professor.

“Humans by definition are social and we have evolved through history that is much older than the internet and our social bonds are very critical to our life,” Dr. Ristic added. “It’s very at a core of human beings. So for us, social bonds are essential, a new way to make social bonds is through internet. That is very new it’s only a few decades old. Whereas our brain is wired to make social bonds in person.”

Participants of the study were asked to rate the individual’s attractiveness, but also to imagine the person’s social life and some of their social qualities.

“We found that, as the degree of photo editing increased, the individuals in the photos were perceived to be more attractive and to have a bigger social circle, though this came at the cost of the individuals also being perceived to provide lower friendship quality and to be less enjoyable to be with,” said Sarah McCrackin, a postdoctoral researcher at the laboratory.

“The presence of an ‘edited’ label on the picture did not affect perceived attractiveness ratings, but it did reduce the ratings for friendship quality and interaction enjoyability,” added McCrackin.

Dr. Ristic and Mayrand clarified that their focus is understanding how those who post such images are perceived, despite previous studies on photo editing mainly focusing on the potential impact of altered photos on viewers, such as lower self-esteem or body satisfaction.

Researchers said this highlights how such labels might have unintended social consequences. The findings of the study also provide a scale to the public for an optimal degree to which a photo could be edited before the subject is perceived as less attractive.

Montrealer’s voiced their thoughts on how those who post images are perceived.

“I just think people have expectations like hey this is how I should look like,” said Nicole, a Montrealer on St-Catherine Street. “Kids shouldn’t grow up thinking that.”

“I think things like this defiantly will have an effect going forward,” said a Montreal man who goes by Alex. “[Because] it gives the wrong perception of what beauty is and what it is to look nice or good.”

Mayrand said the overall message would be that users don’t need to utilize these filters at all, though content is produced daily across the world using various forms of filters and A.I generated imagery. Researchers add that it is important to understand how to foster ‘social connections and well-being in the ever-changing digital landscape’

“It is realistically impossible to control for what is being posted online by both like big companies and at the individual level, right? So it’s very unclear where this will lead. It’s important to know these consequences,” Mayrand said.