Table of Contents
Do photos actually show what you look like?
Because of the proximity of your face to the camera, the lens can distort certain features, making them look larger than they are in real life. Pictures also only provide a 2-D version of ourselves. For example, just changing the focal length of a camera can even change the width of your head.
Do I look like mirror me or picture me?
The image you see in the mirror is a mirror image (horizontally flipped) – the image you see in a photo of yourself is not so it looks different to you. But it is what other people are used to seeing when they look at you.
Does your reflection look like you?
A mirror does not show what you look like in real life. When you look at the mirror, you do not see the person that other people see. This is because your reflection in the mirror is reversed by your brain. The image that we are looking at in the mirror is not the face that we show to the world.
Do you feel good when you look at your photo?
Maybe you felt really good when the picture was being taken, but when you look at the photo you don’t see that. Instead your eye goes straight to the bits you don’t like – your double chin, that extra roll around your middle, the size of your arm or whatever body bits you don’t like!
Do others see you the way you look in the mirror?
And the way others see you is often not what you see when you look in the mirror. When you look in the mirror, you see a put-on version of yourself. You probably have an expression and a stance you use just for the mirror. Do you smile or raise your eyebrows a tad? Do you suck in your tummy and turn to the side a bit to see if it’s flat?
Why do I not like seeing photographs of myself?
Confirmation bias and the peculiarities of the mere exposure effect come together to make you not like seeing photographs of yourself. But – and this is a BIG, MASSIVE, HUGE but – you have to realise that you are the only person in the world that thinks this!
Do you prefer the mirror or the true image of yourself?
They found that people always preferred the mirror image of themselves. But the study also found that friends and family of the person always preferred the true image of a person. The clever people who develop all our modern technology – such as smartphones – have also taken notice of this research.