Emily Chan
Taking selfies has often been viewed as an expression of narcissism and vanity, but research has shown those are not the reasons behind why people like to capture these types of photos.
According to a study from 2023, first-person and third-person images serve different purposes for the individuals snapping the pictures.
Researchers from Ohio State University found that people who like to take selfies, or self-portrait photographs, do so to capture the deeper meaning of the event. Third-person photos, like selfies, are more effective at conveying the deeper meaning.
When first-person photography is used, the scene is portrayed through one’s own eyes. It is used when people want to document a physical experience.
“While there is sometimes derision about photo-taking practices in popular culture, personal photos have the potential to help people reconnect to their past experiences and build their self-narratives,” said Zachary Niese, the lead author of the study, formerly of Ohio State University, who is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
For the study, the researchers conducted six experiments involving 2,113 participants. In one of the experiments, the participants were asked to read a scenario, such as a day at the beach with a close friend, in which they might want to take a photo.
They were then instructed to rate the importance of the experience and the significance of the event’s meaning.
The results illustrated that the higher the rating of the event’s meaning, the more likely they were to snap a photo with themselves in it.
In another experiment, the participants looked at photos they posted to their Instagram accounts. They rated how they felt about the photos on a scale of one (not at all positive) to five (extremely positive).
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