Selfies may make you look slimmer than other types of photos

By Pol Allingham via SWNS

Selfies make you look slimmer than other camera angles, according to a new study.

Participants who had symptoms of disordered eating tended to believe women were “significantly slimmer” in their selfies, more so than the rest of the cohort.

Researchers at University of York and York St John University also discovered people see women as equally as attractive regardless of how they take photos of their bodies.

However, people who were potentially vulnerable to eating disorders did feel that women were more attractive in their selfies, where they thought they appeared slimmer.

As a result, the research team said those women are more likely to be harmed by looking at selfies versus other photos.

Co-author Dr Ruth Knight,of York St John University, said: “Many of us see selfies every day as we browse the growing number of social media platforms.

“We know that filters can change the way that bodies appear.

“This research suggests that the angle from which the photo is taken can change our judgments about body size, so that when consuming images on the internet, even simple unfiltered selfies, what we see is not necessarily an accurate representation of real life.”

For the study, published in the journal PLOS One, 10 women took pictures of their bodies, not including their faces, while dressed in gym gear.

They took the pictures from standard straight-on self-timer perspective, a selfie at arm’s length, one using a selfie stick, and one from their chin as if they were looking down at their bodies.

Female participants were asked to score how they felt about the photos of the volunteers.

They also completed a questionnaire testing their thoughts and behaviours around food.

Dr Knight added: "The findings highlight potential links between using social media and body satisfaction."

However, the study was limited by the small number of participants and the fact photo angles were not precisely matched from person to person.

Future research may look at how different angles influence judgements on different body size.