You are going to eat with your partner at a restaurant and you post it on Instagram. You go out with your friends at a party and post it on Instagram. You go on a trip to the most exotic country in the world and you post it on Instagram. You adopt an adorable pet, and of course, you post a picture of it on Instagram. Every day, every minute and every second of your life is posted on Instagram. Instagram has dominated our universe to such an extent that a single review of this social network is capable of revealing aspects of your personality and your state of mind that you yourself would not have imagined. Have you never thought that the filters you use in the photos you upload to Instagram are capable of revealing if you have low self-esteem?? Well, although it may seem like a lie to you, a recent scientific study carried out by the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and the University of Vermont proves it. Continue reading!
Instagram filters are capable of detecting low self-esteem
That’s right, the filters you use in the snapshots you upload every day to your Instagram account can reveal whether you’re happy or not. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from a recent scientific study carried out by the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and the University of Vermont. In this investigation, the publications of 166 people were analyzed, who were divided into two different groups: on the one hand, all those who suffered from depression were placed, and, on the other hand, the rest of the group.
The first conclusion that the researchers could reach was that depressed users generally do not use filters in the images they post and, if they do, they always choose black and white photographs, that is, those that are applies the Inkwell filter to them. Another type of filters that denote a negative emotional state are Willow and Cream.
On the contrary, those users who are joyful and happy with their lives, that is, they are not going through emotionally difficult moments, mostly choose the Valencia filter which has the effect of lightening the tint of the photo. Although this is not the only one, happy people also love to apply X-Pro II, Hefe, Amaro and Rise filters.
For her part, Rosana Pereira, a member of the Official College of Psychologists of Madrid, explained the reasons that lead to the choice of one or the other filter depending on whether the user’s self-esteem is low or high. “It is the consequence of evolutionary learning,” she declares. As she explains, it is due to the association we make of certain colors with good and bad times. “That’s why bright colors are associated with life.” In conclusion, we are highly conditioned by what surrounds us when deciding in what way or manner we want to show ourselves to others.
How are the photos published by a person with low self-esteem?
- Andrew Reece, one of the authors of the research, corroborates the words of Rosana Pereira, stating that the photos published by someone who is depressed tend to be, for the most part, more bluish, darker or grayer.
- These conclusions were not the only ones reached by the study. Through this investigation, it was also determined that the posts of a sad, depressed person with low self-esteem tend to have more comments than those of a happy and happy person. However, those in this last group are the ones that receive the greatest number of likes from users.
- However, to all these conclusions we must also add a very important detail to take into account: aesthetics. The appearance that we want to give to our social networks is very important. Influencers, for example, tend to follow a previously defined and very similar aesthetic line in all their posts to give their Instagram profile a consistent, coherent and visually appealing look.
