Selfies been labelled narcissistic and have been found to have a negative impact on young women and their body image. However, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered their positive benefits.
Researchers recorded the moods of 41 college students over the space of a month to promote the positive affect of turning the camera on yourself and found that smiling in your selfies can actually help to improve your emotional wellbeing.
Participants were divided into three groups with the first asked to take a smiling selfie, the second to take a photo of something that makes them happy and the third to take a photo of something that would make another person happy and to send it to them.
All three groups noticed increased happiness and within the selfie group, students noted how they felt more confident, comfortable and even creative when it came to being in front of the camera.
Even when fake smiling in their selfie, participants reported how it still uplifted their mood.
‘It made me feel good, thinking, ‘this is probably how I look like for the rest of the day,’ one student said. ‘It’s a way of telling me that I could get through the day no matter what happens.’
Speaking to the Metro, author Yu Chen said: ‘Our research showed that practicing exercises that can promote happiness via smartphone picture taking and sharing can lead to increased positive feelings for those who engage in it.’
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.