Study finds too many video meetings making people hate their faces

By Stephen Beech

People suffer from "Zoom fatigue" because they are dissatisfied with their facial appearance, suggests a new study.

The increasing reliance on virtual meetings in the post-pandemic world has led to the identification of a new phenomenon among people fed up with talking to colleagues via a computer screen.

It has "significant" implications for workplace productivity and individual well-being, say scientists.

Now a new American study has found that facial appearance dissatisfaction is a key trigger of virtual meeting fatigue.

Chaeyun Lim and her colleagues investigated impression management features - tools that enable users to adjust their self-video to manage their appearance.

The research team recruited 2,448 US-based workers to participate in a 15-minute survey.

The sample included professional, technical and scientific workers who worked remotely at least sometimes and who participated regularly in virtual meetings for work.

The survey assessed the participants’ negative perceptions of their facial appearance, as well as impression management methods such as the use of "touch-up" to enhance self-video and the use of video filters or avatars.

The results, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that workers who report increased facial appearance dissatisfaction experience more virtual meeting fatigue - which then leads to greater use of impression management features.

Lim, a doctoral student at Michigan State University, said: "Fatigue induced by facial dissatisfaction is associated with users perceiving virtual meetings as less useful, ultimately affecting their intention to adopt virtual platforms in workplace meetings.

"Taken together, the findings advance understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying virtual meeting fatigue and its influence on technology adoption."

She said future studies should recruit participants from various cultural contexts and delve deeper into how current virtual meeting features facilitate workplace communication in ways that support the mental well-being of workers.

Lim added: “Our study highlights that dissatisfaction with facial appearance contributes to Zoom fatigue, leading to reduced adoption of virtual meeting technologies.

"This dissatisfaction also drives the use of impression management features, emphasizing the need to address worker well-being in virtual communication environments.”