Jennifer Harriger and Seaver Alumna Gabrielle Pfund Explore Relationship Between Video Chatting and Appearance Satisfaction

In May 2022, Seaver College professor of psychology Jennifer Harriger and Gabrielle Pfund ('18) published the article‚ Looking beyond zoom fatigue: The relationship between video chatting and appearance satisfaction in men and women‚ in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

The article seeks to explore the repercussions of the high utilization of video chatting during the COVID-19 pandemic on appearance satisfaction. The study found that both men and women who spent more time on video chatting platforms, such as Zoom, actually reported higher appearance satisfaction.

This result was surprising and contradicts past research, the study states. It is possible that participants have adjusted to video chatting platforms and have habituated to seeing themselves on screen during meetings. It is also possible that, as restrictions have been lifted, those who were more negatively affected by video chatting elected to return to in-person meetings, while those less affected or were more satisfied with their appearance elected to continue to use video chatting platforms.

The researchers noted that using the ‚touch-up feature, utilizing gallery view, and spending time looking at oneself were all associated with appearance comparison, or individuals evaluating themselves by comparing themselves to others. Additionally, adjusting lighting and the camera angle and spending time looking at oneself was associated with self-objectification, or the continuous monitoring of one's body as if from an observer's view.

I hope that readers will evaluate how their use of video chatting platforms may affect their own satisfaction with their appearance Harriger shares. Do they spend a good deal of the meeting looking at themselves or comparing their own appearance to others in the meeting? Do they spend time adjusting the lighting or camera angle or using the "touch up my appearance" option on Zoom? The utilization of features such as "hide self from view" or "speaker view" may offer protection to users, although additional research examining these options would need to be conducted.

To read the full article, visit the International Journal of Eating Disorders.