If you have ever agonized over which photo to use as your profile picture, you are not alone. Most of us scroll through dozens of pictures, wondering if we should go with the beach photo, a cute snap with the dog, or maybe even something mysterious like a sunset or a flower. But according to a recent study, you might want to just stick with a picture of yourself. Really.

In the article Profile Pictures in the Digital World: Self-Photographs Predict Better Life Satisfaction by Hung, Lee, Peng, and Sui (2021), researchers explored how our profile photo choices are connected to how happy we are in real life. They found that people who use pictures of themselves as profile photos reported higher levels of life satisfaction compared to those who used other types of images. This seems to have a lot to do with how closely our online identity matches our offline one. In other words, the more “you” your online presence is, the better you might feel overall.

The study also dug into how personality traits and gender play a role. Women who were more open and chose self-photographs had a stronger connection to life satisfaction, while for men, openness and the use of a self-photo each played separate roles. For both men and women, extraversion was a consistent predictor of life satisfaction.

This is a reminder that in a world full of filters, avatars, and anonymous memes, there is real value in showing up as yourself. That little square photo might be doing more than just making a first impression. It might actually reflect how comfortable and confident you feel in your own skin. So the next time you are updating your profile, consider skipping the landscape or the quote. Smile for the camera, post the real you, and embrace the possibility that authenticity really does feel better.

Reference
Hung, K., Lee, N. A., Peng, K., & Sui, J. (2021). Profile pictures in the digital world: Self-photographs predict better life satisfaction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), 6667. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126667