I don't know if you have such an experience.
Dinners, team building... A group of people took a group photo, and after the shooting, we zoomed in with anticipation, but panicked and found out - how can we be so ugly again!
But at this time, people will always say —
"That's how you usually look."
However, what we usually see in the mirror is obviously ten thousand times better than this photo.
Why is that? What is our true appearance? Don't worry, you'll know by looking at it.
one
You in the photo
It's really different from you in the mirror
We know from an early age that the picture in the mirror is the result of the specular reflection.
Our faces look symmetrical, but in fact, the left and right faces are much different. If we take out a photo and compare it carefully, we can see that this is the case.
Here's an example of a photo of Dr. Tian Tai (Tian Tai Yi can't stand it!). ）：
Flatten with left face vs normal photo vs with right face
Image source: Tian Taiyi's selfie
Compare the two photos on the left and right, and they don't even look like the same person!
Because of this, we in the mirror, although we are only opposite to the left and right faces, also look very different.
Tian Taiyi in the photo vs Tian Taiyi in the mirror
All the imperfections that are usually accustomed to viewing, such as crooked glasses, high and low corners of the mouth, will be magnified after a mirror is flipped.
If you don't believe it, take out your camera now, take a selfie, and after being mentally prepared, choose to flip the mirror.
Then, accept the "surprise".
two
I think I look better in the mirror
Probably just because I saw too much
In our daily lives, we wash our faces, make up, shave, etc., and face ourselves in the mirror.
The more you see, the more you like yourself in the mirror.
This phenomenon is actually called the "Mere Exposure Effect" in psychology – we will simply feel good about something.
There was an experiment in which 4 similar-looking girls pretended to be students of a course, but each girl had a different number of lessons — 0, 5, 10, and 15.
At the end of the semester, the experimenter asked all students to rate the 4 girls, and the result was that the more girls appeared, the more attractive they were.
The more appearances, the higher the attraction score
图片来源：Exposure Effects in the Classroom: The Development ofAffinity among Students
Similarly, when we get used to the opposite of ourselves in the mirror, and establish this preference, and then see ourselves in the photo, that is, in the eyes of others, we will feel unaccustomed, and even a little disgusted.
As for our acquaintances and friends, they are used to seeing us in real life, and when they see our photos, they will not have a strong sense of discomfort.
That's why I said, "You look like this."
three
The photos are really not as good looking as the real people
As the saying goes, photos, photos, silly and silly are not clear.
Using photos to judge a person's appearance is really not a reliable way.
On the one hand, the photos taken by the camera have a certain degree of distortion, which will distort the face; on the other hand, the photos are also affected by angle, light, personal status and other aspects.
All in all, the gap between photos and real people is completely out of control. It is common to be ugly if you are not careful.
But in addition, we feel that the self in the photo becomes ugly, and there is an important psychological phenomenon - the Frozen Face Effect.
It's like having a video where we usually think the people in the video look better than the screenshots.
Tian Taiyi in the photo vs Tian Taiyi in the video
Robert B. Post, the psychologist who proposed this effect, and his colleagues did a series of studies to verify this effect:
They prepared some 2-second videos, along with 1200 still images taken from them, and then asked experiment participants to rate how good the 20 people in the video or screenshot were.
The result is that even for the same face, the score in the video is higher than in the screenshot.
图片来源：The frozen face effect: why static photographs may not do you justice.
This is also why, when we see the real star, we will feel that our eyes are bright, much better than in the photos.
So, the next time you see a photo of your blind date, don't rush to refuse, meet up, maybe there will be a surprise.
shop
Our real appearance is actually...
Having said all this, the self in the mirror is not our real appearance, and the self in the photo is not as good looking as the real person... Will we never know what we really look like?
The answer is heartwarming – yes.
However, there are two ways that we may be able to judge our true appearance.
Solution one: Ask someone to take a video of you
Mirrors and photos are unreliable, and if you want to exclude the influence of facial asymmetry and still images, then... Take a video.
And be sure to let others help shoot, so as to avoid the impact of facial distortion caused by lens shooting to the greatest extent.
Method two: discount your appearance in the mirror
In principle, no matter how powerful the camera is, what others see us is actually closer to what we see in the mirror. Although the left and right faces are asymmetrical, we are accustomed to seeing ourselves in the mirror, and others are accustomed to seeing us in reality.
However, we tend to overestimate our appearance.
Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, synthesizes volunteers' photos to make them more attractive/less glamorous, and then asks volunteers to pick out photos that they think fit their true looks.
As a result, most people picked those highly attractive photos.
Synthetic faces with different charm values
图片来源：Mirror, mirror on the wall: enhancement in self-recognition.
Therefore, the legend that "subtracting 30% of your own appearance in the mirror is your true appearance", although it is inaccurate, it also has a certain truth.
At the end of the day, we know two conclusions:
Your appearance is slightly worse than the self you see in the mirror;
But you're much better looking than you look in the pictures!
So, even if you don't look good in the photo, don't care. After all, seeing is believing, and photos don't represent anything.
As for some people, they can't even take pictures, either they use a beauty camera, or they really look good. There is no doubt about the high value.
that...... What are you doing! Seize your chance!
Curator Karen Producer Ding Brother Author Wang Qing Cover image source station Ku Helo
参考文献 [ 1 ] Richard L Moreland, Scott R Beach. Exposure effects in the classroom: The development of affinity among students [ J ] . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1992, 28 ( 3 ) :255-276. [ 2 ] Post, R. B., Haberman, J., Iwaki, L., & Whitney, D. ( 2012 ) . The frozen face effect: why static photographs may not do you justice. Frontiers in psychology,3, 22. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00022 [ 3 ] Zajonc, R. B. ( 1968 ) . Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,9 ( 2.2 ) , 1-27. [ 4 ] Epley Nicholas., Whitchurch Erin. ( 2008 ) . Mirror, mirror on the wall: enhancement in self-recognition. Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 34 ( 9 ) , 1159-70. doi:10.1177/0146167208318601
Author: Dr. Lilac
Source: Dr. Lilac