Much has been pondered and written about the selfie mania. This urge of people to photograph themselves – in all (im)possible situations and poses, to which digital photography with the smartphone no longer sets any limits. As an inner motivation, an exaggerated ego, self-infatuation or even disdainful bragging rights have already been discussed. What else could be behind it if a field of flowers, a summit cross or a sunset is not simply chosen as a motif, but only with the person who is actually there?

Pia Heinemann

Editor Nature and Science

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Scientists from the University of Tübingen, the University of Waterloo in Canada and Ohio State University now report their findings on the choice of egocentric perspective in photos in the journal "Social Psychological and Personality Sciences". They wanted to find out when people choose a photo from the first perspective – i.e. exactly as they themselves see it, and when they choose the third perspective, in which they themselves are in the picture. The researchers had conducted six studies with a total of 2113 participants.

When people pursue the goal of grasping a meaning, i.e. the moment had triggered strong emotions in them or they had a meaningful experience, they chose the selfie perspective. If they were more interested in capturing the physical experience, i.e. more of a "Beautiful here, impressive!", they chose the perspective without themselves in the picture. Unsurprisingly, they also liked the photos better in surveys, in which the intended goal was achieved.

This finding fits with what the critic Susan Sontag had already suspected in 1977: she explained that people almost compulsively photographed in order to transform the experience itself into a way of seeing.

According to the new study results, selfies are not about showing off, but rather about capturing the meaning of moments. And, according to the scientists, putting oneself in the limelight in a photo also helps people to connect with past experiences and to build and consolidate a self-narrative.

However, the scientists emphasize, there is no right or wrong perspective for the photos. However, people should be aware of the observed effect of the respective perspective in order to better achieve the respective goal of a recording - i.e. to capture either the physical experience or the deeper meaning of a moment. "If people are clear about what they are aiming for with their photo, they would be better able to capture their memories that they want to think about later."