Why You Don’t Think Your Photos Look Like You

Have you ever seen a photo of yourself and thought, “That looks nothing like me,” but your friends and family love the picture and think it looks just how you always look to them?

This experience is actually quite common. Why does it occur? The answer is simple: Mirrors.

There’s a difference between your image in the mirror and in photos. The image you see in the mirror is reversed compared to the image that others see face-to-face with you. Your friends are familiar with your non-reversed image, while you are familiar with your reversed image in a regular mirror.

We don’t particularly like photographs of ourselves because those pictures present a view of our faces that is less familiar to us. In fact, researchers have shown that individuals prefer photos showing their mirror images, while others prefer photographs of those same individuals showing their “true” images (Mita et al., 1977). This phenomenon is likely due to the mere exposure effect, which is the consistent finding that we’re more comfortable with and favorable toward things we frequently see (Zajonc, 1968).

Why does it matter? Research on the psychology of mirrors and reflection, detailed in my latest book, Mirror Meditation, finds that many people don’t like their image in the mirror and like their non-reversed image even…