Beauty filtered selfies are more damaging than filtered photos of others

'Beautifying' filters, which smooth the skin, add make-up, heighten cheekbones, or slim the face, are more ubiquitous than ever. Recent work by Rosalind Gill of City University London, for example, found that 90% of young women report using filters to edit their photos before posting them online. And while the jury is out on whether taking selfies boosts self-esteem, this kind of editing can do just the opposite.

Makenzie Schroeder and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz explore one reason beauty filters are so damaging in their latest paper, published in Computers in Human Behaviour. According to their investigation, users consistently comparing themselves with a filtered, idealised versions of themselves seemingly has a stronger negative impact on body image than comparing themselves unfavourably to filtered images of others. Not only does this seemingly affect our evaluations of our own attractiveness, but it can lead to harsher evaluations of others, too.

This study's 187 online participants were adults aged between 19 and 66 — mostly cisgender women, though some were cisgender men, trans women, and trans men. After answering questions about how they used social media and their perceived body size, participants were asked to download an app which provides a range of beautifying filters. They were then divided into three groups, which either applied a face-slimming filter to their face, watched a video demo of someone else using it, or used a neutral, colour-changing filter.

After this, they then reported what impact (if any) the filters had on their perceived their body size, as well as indicating how much they agreed with statements related to body dysmorphia such as "If I could look just the way I wish, I would be much happier," and whether or not they currently wanted to lose weight.

The team also looked at how participants thought about their own appearance and that of others, reporting how important physical attributes like weight and sex appeal were to their own self-concept, as well as answering questions on how they feel about fat people.

Through their analyses, the team found that using a face-slimming beauty filter on your own image can lead to more negative effects on body image than watching someone else use the filter or using a neutral, colour-changing one. People who used the slimming filter compared their real appearance to their filtered image more often preferred the filtered version, and felt significantly worse about themselves as a result.

This group were also more negative about other people's weight, expressed a greater desire to lose weight, and also focused more on how their appearance defined their self-worth. Watching someone else use the slimming filter did have some of these effects — though they simply weren't as strong as when using it directly.

Beauty filters, therefore, may encourage us to compare our real selves to an unobtainable, artificial self, leaving us dissatisfied about how we actually look. This recently introduced touchpoint for bodily comparisons, the authors share, could have a significant impact on mental health, leading to increased body dysmorphia and associated anxiety and depression.

The data also suggested that participants who used beauty filters developed 11% stronger anti-fat attitudes. Filtering our own photos, it seems, doesn't just make us think poorly of ourselves, but of others too.

This is an unfortunate double-edged sword. We may feel pressured to use beautifying filters in order to meet beauty standards and feel better about the way we look; yet, in applying them, perpetuate those standards both for ourselves and others, increasing the sense that they're necessary.

There are other elements that the study didn't focus on which are also worth a closer look. For example, participants were overwhelmingly White, and with many filters slimming noses or widening eyes, some activists have argued they may perpetuate a stereotypically Western and White version of beauty. How non-White users experience these filters should be explored further.

Similarly, many of those who participated did not necessarily grow up using face-altering photo filters. Further research could look more closely at the differences between generational experiences with this kind of tech, and explore whether those who have always had the option of editing their photos and have a different relationship with images of themselves.

Read the paper in full:
Schroeder, M., & Behm-Morawitz, E. (2024). Digitally curated beauty: The impact of slimming beauty filters on body image, weight loss desire, self-objectification, and anti-fat attitudes. Computers in Human Behavior, 108519–108519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108519

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