Looking Good with AR Leaves a Bad Feeling

For many of us, social media and peer pressures are a key reason that we choose to look good online. To put it simply, many individuals work hard to portray themselves in the most favourable light, particularly when doing so online, since there are powerful social and cultural incentives to do so. Nevertheless, there is mounting evidence that digital beauty filters are harmful to users’ psychological well-being.

Specific picture editing technologies called beauty filters combine AR elements and AI to change face appearance in supplied images. Commonly applied filters are the “perfect face filter” on Instagram, which alters facial characteristics in line with an ideal ratio, and “the skinny filter” on TikTok, which slims the user’s face to certain “golden triangle” proportions.  When employing these, the user hopes to be able to portray themselves in a much better light than in reality.  

The problems arise when it becomes apparent that they have used a filter and that can leave them open to either ridicule by others or it can induce a feeling of hopelessness as the user can’t attain the same effect without the filter. In addition, the widespread usage of beauty filters on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have caused worries about their possible implications on mental health.

It’s About Comparison

Traditional social comparison theory illustrates how individuals assess themselves by comparing their attributes with those of others within their peer group. However, recent research has speculated that beauty filters also provoke a novel dynamic: contrasting one’s authentic look with an idealised, filtered representation; comparing reality against the apparent perfection of the filter results. This behaviour, known as social self-comparison, may exacerbate the adverse psychological effects already linked to social media usage. 

The concept of social self-comparison occurs when a user creates a filtered version of themselves and then starts to have feelings of insecurity and a hatred of the altered version of themselves, and that can be a dangerous downward spiral.  Makenzie Schroeder – a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri – became fascinated with this issue and decided to investigate further. 

She began contemplating the potential harm that could result from individuals comparing their current selves to a digitally altered version of themselves, as opposed to comparing themselves to others.  This led to the development of a new study.

The study amassed 187 participants, predominantly women, aged between 19 and 66, who were recruited online, with the average age of the participants being 36. At the start of the test, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions:

• Those using a slimming beauty filter on their own image.
• Those viewing a video of another person using the same beauty filter
• Those using a neutral filter that simply added a blue tint to their image.

Using this format, the researchers were able to compare the effects of social self-comparison (1) with traditional social comparison (2) and a control group (3). 

First, participants answered a questionnaire gauging their social media usage and baseline body image impressions. Then they were told to use or see filters using a well-known AR beauty app. Those in the self-filtering condition changed their own picture using a slimming filter meant to narrow the face and improve attractiveness. Following this, participants responded to questions designed to gauge body-dysmorphic thoughts, self-objectification, desire for weight loss, anti-fat attitudes, and preference for their filtered picture over their actual look after exposure to their assigned condition.

The findings showed that using a weight-loss beauty filter had worse effects than watching someone else use the same filter or using a filter that didn’t change look.  Furthermore, people who used the slimming tool were more likely to have negative thoughts about their bodies. These thoughts show a warped view of how they look, leading to unhappiness with their appearance and wanting to change it. 

The study found that people who compared themselves to others socially were more likely to want to lose weight, but may be unsure of how to effectively do it, increasing their anxiety.  

Negative Effects

While this study focused on only one AR filter, undeniably they are all much the same because they all create an unnatural image of a person, and that is the basis of the dysmorphia.  The main problem extends from the proposition that a person uses AR filters because they are unhappy with their own body.  This is particularly strong in younger people.  

Those under the age of thirty who use AR face filters that beautify their appearance, have been found to have lower levels of body satisfaction. The negative effect has been explained using social comparison theory, which states that people compare themselves to an improved version of themselves. Specifically, many people can experience:

• Reduced body satisfaction. AR filters can make users compare themselves to an idealized version of themselves, which can lead to dissatisfaction with their appearance 
• Selfie dysmorphia. AR filters can create a distorted perception of one’s body, which can lead to negative self-esteem and a desire for cosmetic surgery 
• Unrealistic expectations. AR filters can create unrealistic expectations of one’s appearance, which can lead to stress and dissatisfaction 
• Loss of confidence.  AR filters can subconsciously implant a sense of imperfection and ugliness, which can lead to a loss of confidence 
• Heightened symptoms of depression and anxiety. AR filters can remind people of painful times in their lives or highlight their insecurities, which can heighten symptoms of depression and anxiety

Any of these symptoms can lead to long term psychological issues, which only grow with increased use of the filter set.

Preventing Long-Term Damage

Plainly, AR filters can be bad for a user’s social esteem if over-used, and that is key to reducing their effect on users.  Undoubtedly, filters of this nature are here to stay and with the increased use of AI is only likely to drive their use and scope of abilities. 

Like anything in life, restraint is the answer and only using this kind of tool in a limited way; if you are going to apply a filter to every image or video that you post, don’t be surprised when others raise eyebrows when they meet you in the flesh.

As the world of AR continues to expand and the use of Avatars and doctored images of ourselves grows with it, the issue is only going to become bigger.  Check back regularly to get updates and our thoughts on this disturbing subject.

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