A study finds that some selfies help capture the meaning of an event

The researchers found that first-person photos—capturing the scene as seen with their own eyes—better represent people’s physical experience of an event.

But third-person photos, like selfies (documenting a moment with themselves in it), better represent the deeper meaning of the event in their lives.

“We found that people have a natural intuition about which perspective to take to capture what they want out of the photo,” said lead author Zachary Niese, an Ohio State University doctoral graduate, now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tübingen in Germany. .

The results also counter the view that people post selfies to sites like Instagram just to promote themselves, said study co-author Lisa Libby, a professor of psychology at Ohio State.

“These photos with you can document the greatest meaning of a moment,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be vanity.”

The study was published today (April 27, 2023) in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Sciences.

Previous research has suggested that capturing the physical experience of an event or its broader meaning may be two important motivations for taking personal photos.

For example, someone at the beach with a friend might take a photo of the ocean to capture the physical experience of a beautiful, relaxing day. Or they could take a photo of themselves to capture the larger meaning of spending time with a friend.

In a series of six studies involving 2,113 participants, researchers explored the impact of perspective on personal photography.

In an online study, participants read a scenario in which they might want to take a photo, such as spending the day at the beach with a close friend. They were asked to rate how important the experience itself would be to them and how important the broader meaning would be. The results showed that the more participants valued the meaning of the event to them, the more likely they were to say they would take a photo with themselves at it.

Another study demonstrated the truth of people’s intuitions about whether each perspective better captures the experience or meaning of events. This study asked people to examine the photos they posted on their Instagram accounts.

Participants opened their most recent post with their own photo and were asked, “What does this photo make you think of the most?” the response options being “The physical experience of the moment” or “The broader meaning of the moment”.

The results showed that if the photo showed the participant in the shot, they were more likely to say that the photo made them think about the larger meaning of the moment, while photos that showed what the scene looked like from their own visual perspective. They made me think about the physical. experience.

But sometimes people may not take the photo that captures their subject, and the result is that they don’t like the photo as much.

In another experiment, the researchers again asked participants to open their most recent Instagram post with one of their photos. They were asked if they were trying to capture the larger meaning or physical experience of the moment.

Participants then rated how they felt about the photo on a scale of 1 (not at all positive) to 5 (extremely positive).

“We found that people didn’t like their photo as much if there was a mismatch between the perspective of the photo and their objective when taking the photo,” Libby said.

For example, if they said their goal was to capture the meaning of the moment, they liked the photo better if it was taken in the third person, with themselves in the image.

Overall, the results suggest that people have an intuition about which perspective to use in photos to accomplish what they want the photo to do, Niese said.

“I hope this study increases people’s understanding of how perspective in photography affects how they react to photos,” he said. “That way, they can make sure they’re consciously choosing the perspective that will meet their goal.”

The results also suggest that people may be posting photos on Instagram and elsewhere for more than just their audience, Niese said.

“This work suggests that people also have very personal reasons for taking pictures. Even on social media, it seems that people select images for themselves, to look back and capture the experience or meaning of the event,” he said.