![]() ![]() The results for the Chinese sample were in line with her initial hypothesis. For the Chinese students, those who look at the enhanced images do feel better about themselves than those who look at their actual selves,” Niu said. “In the American sample, it seems that their self-evaluation is not really influenced by this exposure to a better-looking self, even though the exposure will slightly increase their willingness to conduct cosmetic surgery. At this time, Niu has not completed the study but she has seen some interesting differences between the results from the two country’s samples. Though the grant Niu received will only be applied to the data collection in China, she conducted a primary experiment on American students in collaboration with Felix Zhan, a consumer science graduate student, as well. This illusion of one’s self-image, she suggests, may cause people to temporarily feel better about themselves but later, when they are exposed to their actual look, their self-image may experience greater disturbance than traditional appearance comparisons. Niu believes that this different kind of comparison, which is the kind at play with selfie apps, may elicit a different response and cause students to lose perspective on how they actually look. That assimilation may cause you to think ‘I look pretty good’ or ‘I may look as good as this if I make a little bit of effort on myself,’” Niu said. “When comparing to a better-looking self, you may think ‘that’s a potential me.’ By this kind of comparison, you may see the potential of being prettier or you may assimilate that image to your self-image. When comparing yourself to a better-looking self, the effects may be very different. This theory says that when comparing yourself to others, people are more likely to compare themselves to someone who is better looking and this will negatively impact our self-evaluation. “I will then be asking each group questions about their self-evaluation and comparing the results to see whether the self-evaluations for these two groups of students are different,” Niu said.Īn important part of the study is how it relates to social comparison theory. In order to collect her data, she experimented by asking one group of students to look at themselves with a filter applied and another group to look at themselves through a regular camera without a filter. Winning the UW Global Health Institute’s 2019 Graduate Student Research Award allowed Niu to begin her study. Because of this, Niu is no stranger to research involving the effects that social media apps have on college students. ![]() Niu set out to conduct a study to find out if selfie-editing filters negatively or positively impact one’s evaluation of self, focusing primarily on Chinese college-age females.Īs a graduate student in the human development area of her department, Niu is also working on her dissertation that focuses on college student’s social-emotional adjustment and their use of technology and social media. “I started to wonder how looking at a different self will change how people will view themselves,” said Niu, who is in the Department of Educational Psychology.įrom this wondering, her research was born. ![]()
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