Sterling College Senior David Amador wanted to know if an Instagram profile full of selfies, or self-portraits, was beneficial to the user’s social status. Through a survey reviewing two hypothetical Instagram profiles, one that contained a variety of modest photos, or photos that were not self-promoting, and a second self-promoting profile of mostly selfies. Amador found students felt they would be more likely to be friends with the modest social media profile.

Amador, a psychology major at Sterling College, was interested in research on social media and chose Instagram, a social network that is not as heavily investigated as Facebook. The two Instagram profiles used pictures from his female friend who is not a Sterling College student and were separated into the modest and self-promoting categories by a small focus group that rated each picture on the degree to which they thought it was self-promoting. The profile was private, so it did not have any connection to other Instagram profiles or the ability for Instagram users to comment on the photos. Amador then asked a group of students to view one of the profiles and rank the Instagram user on different perceived qualities and character traits by using the Likert scale.

“The use of the word modest when describing the first profile solely means the pictures were not self-focused. They were mostly group photos. The self-promoting profile did not include any pictures that were sexual in nature either, but the subject was clearly the focus of the photo,” said Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Jennifer Dyson.

In eight of the nine categories, the surveys resulted in statistically significant results, favoring the modest profile. The modest profile was seen as having better leadership skills, kinder, and more mannerly, trustworthy and loyal. Surveyed students also thought they were more likely to attend a social gathering with, study with or engage in a romantic relationship with the person in the modest profile. The quality that was not statistically different was the person’s popularity.

“I was surprised at the results. The self-promoting profile was more appealing since the person was always well put-together. She had on nice clothes, her hair was done, and she had on makeup. But it was clear that people preferred the modest profile,” said Amador.

Amador presented his research at the Southwestern Psychological Association conference in April, where he was met with a full session and several questions on his project.

“I think a lot of people found the subject interesting because it is a popular subject with surprising results. The irony is that in an attempt to promote themselves through selfies, people may be unintentionally doing the opposite. The survey was only done with Sterling College students, so we’re not sure if the results would generalize. There is research, however, that suggests that they might,” said Dyson.

Sterling College is a Christ-centered, four-year college located in Sterling, Kansas, with a mission to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith. For more information, visit www.sterling.edu.