Personality is a major predictor of human behavior in online environments (Błachnio et al., 2013; Orchard et al., 2014). Studies show significant links between the Big Five personality traits (McCrae and John, 1992) and several dimensions of SNS usage, like motivation (Orchard et al., 2014), self-monitoring (Hall and Pennington, 2013), impression management (Leary and Hoyle, 2009; Rosenberg and Egbert, 2011; Wang, 2013), communication patterns (Balmaceda et al., 2014) and social media language (Park et al., 2015). Online behavior could also be linked to personality traits known as the Dark triad—narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy—and a tendency to self-objectification (Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002; Fox and Rooney, 2015). Additionally, psychological traits could be linked to the posting of photography on the Internet (Eftekhar et al., 2014) and selfie posting behavior (Qiu et al., 2015; Weiser, 2015; Sorokowska et al., 2016).

When the selfie initially appeared on social networks, it was intuitively considered, especially in popular media, as a sign of pathology (e.g., narcissism) in SNS users. However, research does not support this intuition, and selfie posting behavior shows weak links to some specific facets of narcissism in combination with sex (Fox and Rooney, 2015; Sorokowski et al., 2015; Weiser, 2015; Barry et al., 2017). Selfie posting is recognized as normative behavior practiced by the majority of SNS users (Barry et al., 2017). At the same time, the frequency of selfies online is relatively low in comparison to the quantity of other photographs (Tifentale and Manovich, 2015).

The research summarized above mostly targets the expression and recognition of personality traits from online behavior, based on data mining techniques and on a huge amount of information. These studies count various items available online, trying to reconstruct the digital footprint of the users. Examples of such items include the number of social network posts, the number of images posted or comments received, the number of “friends” and likes received, the frequency of profile image updates, etc. Recognition of personality traits from this complex digital footprint (Hall and Pennington, 2013) or from image posting behavior (Eftekhar et al., 2014; Sorokowski et al., 2015; Sorokowska et al., 2016) proved to be possible and very accurate. Some authors claim that it could be even more accurate than reporting by close relatives or even self-reporting (Youyou et al., 2015). On the other hand, these approaches require a large amount of data from user profiles. It can also be noted that quantitative research usually omits the content of any available messages or images. A similar deficiency has also been recognized by Shelton and Skalski (2014) with regard to Facebook research in general. The studies by Eager and Dann (2016) and Qiu et al. (2015), which focus on selfie content analysis related to the self-presentation process or personality traits, are exceptions in this regard.

Although the selfie is linked to the context of mobile devices and social networks by definition, in its basic form it remains photography. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the selfie as a photographic genre and interpret it via concepts of photographic theory, like index, composition and reflexivity (Frosh, 2015).

However, it should be noted that the selfie is not primarily an art form. In some rare cases it is indeed used as a tool for artistic expression, but in general it is a casual snapshot. The snapshot represents the most widespread type of photograph. It has not only esthetic value but also a specific social purpose (Batchen, 2008). Therefore, a selfie is a gestural image with a direct communicative purpose. It is an index showing the activity of its author, and its meaning could be interpreted as “see me showing you me” (Frosh, 2015, p. 1610).

From the above, the selfie's potential for recognition of the personality characteristics of its author could be anticipated. Frosh (2015) additionally explains this potential through identification of the selfie as a photographic genre of personal reflexivity, where attention is focused on the context and self-presence of the author. The spatial distribution of particular elements in the image, the composition, is influenced by the technology as well as by body limitations and sensorimotor coordination skills (Frosh, 2015). For this reason, the selfie could be seen as distinct in comparison to other forms of self-portraiture. The selfie is an expressive gesture by its author. Because it is not considered as an artistic expression, we should interpret its content and composition through the function it serves. The way the message is forwarded and the content of the message in selfies are both linked to the author present in the image. Therefore, we assume that a selfie, as a meaningful picture, can potentially reveal some personality aspects of its author.

Personality related cues can be retrieved from a person's photographs, objects and behavior and provide a solid basis for personality judgments by unfamiliar others (overview in Qiu et al., 2015). In this regard, the process of personality assessment is similar to the basic logic of projective techniques. Those techniques are based on observation and interpretation of a person's responses to stimulation of the imaginative processes (Murray, 1938).

From this perspective, a selfie could be compared to constructive tests in the scope of projective techniques. In constructive tests, the respondent creates some previously non-existent object in response to a few very broad directions (Bornstein, 2007). A selfie is a construction used by an author to explore and share his/her own identity. This is similar to a respondent in a Draw-a-Person (DAP) test (Machover, 1951), who constructs a drawing that represents the author himself (Craddick, 1963). In projective drawing, psychomotor activity is captured on paper (Hammer, 1968), and in the case of a selfie, the same is captured in a snapshot. The content of the output is determined by conscious and unconscious perceptions of the self and the environment (Hammer, 1968).

One stimulus that initiates construction of the selfie is one's intention to present oneself before some audience. Hence, the author of the selfie intentionally expresses him or herself in such a way as to achieve a certain impression. However, besides the intentionally given expression, the same act also “gives off” an expression that is unintentionally revealed (Goffman, 1959). In the interaction at hand, such expressions play an important role in impression management and contribute to our understanding of the messages received. Behind this interplay of expressions, we assume that personality traits will provide a structure for what is projected.

Based on the previous research, the phenomenon of the selfie can be explored meaningfully from three perspectives: the selfie as picture, the selfie as reflection and the selfie as impression. From the first perspective, the selfie can be analyzed in the context of (self-portrait) photography, with the main focus on the visual elements or cues in the picture, their position and relations; from the second perspective, distinct cues in the selfie picture can be related to the personality characteristics of the author of the picture; and from the last perspective, the selfie is interpreted in the context of the impression formation created in others by the selfie picture.

In this context, we invited students to participate in a series of psychological studies exploring personality concepts, self-presentation and information technology use and focused our investigation on the first two perspectives of selfie exploration.

In the first part of the investigation (Study 1), the concept of the selfie was defined to students, and they were asked to each submit a freely chosen selfie with information about its availability to others (from private to completely available). With this strategy, we allowed students to reflect before deciding which selfie they should send; thus, we potentially fostered a more active relation between the author of the selfie and the product (the selfie picture).

The research focus of Study 1 was on the first perspective—i.e., the selfie as picture, aimed at answering the question of whether it is possible to analyze selfies systematically to build a valid and reliable coding scheme. According to the resulting coding categories, we further analyzed selfies in relation to gender and degree of availability to others.

After a delay (8–12 weeks), the same groups of students were asked to participate in the second part of the investigation (Study 2). They were asked to complete the survey battery, comprising a range of personality concepts and concepts related to information technology use. The special focus of Study 2 is thus exploration of potential relations between the coding of the selfies (according to the coding scheme from Study 1) and selected personality concepts (see Measures in Study 2) and indicators of information technology use.

Our approach to analysing selfies was similar to those used in previous research (e.g., Qiu et al., 2015; Eager and Dann, 2016). In line with Qiu et al. (2015), we used a more elaborate coding scheme and more personality constructs. We focused more on the visual cues of selfie pictures (i.e., what is shown) and on the relations of these cues to the personality characteristics of their authors and not on the impression created by the selfie, as was the case in a study by Eager and Dann (2016), which focused on what is seen and the story behind it.

Next, our research deliberately refrained from discussing the validity of projective techniques, which have been extensively criticized, especially in the US, while still attracting scholarly interest and value in clinical settings (Piotrowski, 2015a,b). This study aims to check personality projection into a selfie by using established psychological instruments.

Based on the literature review and the relative lack of comparative studies, we formulated some initial hypotheses:

In the context of Study 1, we expected that, according to the study of Qiu et al. (2015):

In the context of the selfie as photography and, according to Tifferet and Vilnai-Yavetz (2014), we presupposed:

Studies by Bruno et al. (see Bruno and Bertamini, 2013: Bruno et al., 2015) showed that there exists an unconscious, culture-independent preference for displaying one's left cheek. This results in a left-cheek bias in the case of standard selfies, whereas mirror-style selfies have right-cheek bias. According to Bruno, this effect originates from lateral asymmetries in processing faces. We further presupposed that, in the majority of standard -style selfies:

In accordance with Döring et al. (2016), we expected:

Initial studies of face-ism (e.g., Archer et al., 1983; Szillis and Stahlberg, 2007) indicated that women would have pictures with a smaller proportion of the face to the total picture. However, contrary to the above-mentioned assumption of the sexual objectification of women, selfies as self-portraits are also a potential means for women's emancipation (e.g., Warfield, 2014) and consequently we expected:

Relating characteristics of selfie pictures to psychological concepts and concept of NPI (Narcissistic Personality Inventory), in accordance with Giessner et al. (2011), we expected:

A similar trend can be expected for the concept of masculinity or, in the opposite direction, for femininity:

Finally, all assumptions about camera position can be attributed to the head position in the selfie pictures:

Table 1 shows the results of the selfie coding, i.e., main categories with frequencies and percentages for each sub-category of the coding scheme, with the most frequent sub-categories in bold. For each category of coding the result of interrater reliability (Fleiss' kappa) is in the last column.

According to the modal values of sub-categories, the modal selfie from our sample is in a vertical frame, with a light background, taken in an inside context (a room). Generally, body and head are not tilted, and the face is centrally exhibited (C). The head is in the central (C) to central upper (CU) position in the picture, and the camera is in the left down (LD) or left center (LC) position. The actors in the selfies are at a close personal distance (CP), with eye contact and mostly exhibiting a positive mood.

On average, the measures of intererater reliability, Fleiss' kappas, show good agreement between raters (see Fleiss et al., 2003). However, there are differences between categories. Frame of the picture, eye contact, context, and social distance are categories with high kappa values, consequently reflecting a high level of agreement among raters; while the tilt of the body, camera position, and head position categories have relatively low kappa values from the first phase of coding and reflect less agreement between raters. In the subsequent phase, using Fiji, the kappas of coding categories that initially had relatively low kappas and the use of additional lines to improve the coding, substantively improve, with the exception of camera position, which we excluded from all subsequent analyses.

In the additional category Other, there were particular attributes or qualities of the selfies that could not be classified by the existing coding categories.

In our sample (N = 165) one selfie (0.6%) was taken in a mirror; one participant (0.6%) took a selfie with an animal; 1.8% (f = 3) of participants wore a mask in their selfie; 2.4% (f = 4) of participants wore a helmet; 4.8% (f = 8) of participants touched their hair while taking the selfie. 3% (f = 5) of participants sent us a group selfie (groupies), which means that the selfie included 3 or more people. 3.6% (f = 6) of the selfies in the study were not taken by a participant in the study. Despite the criterion in the definition that a selfie must be taken by the subject (actor) in the picture, we decided not to exclude these selfies from the study. They still represented the perception of study participants about what a selfie means to them and were thus representations of themselves, even though not meeting the technical criterion of a selfie.

A special case in the category Other were those selfies where the participants (actors) used effects to alter the appearance of the selfie. Some selfies were probably taken by mobile phones that have effects built into their default camera applications and these effects discreetly enhance the selfie. In this group of visibly altered selfies (19.4%, f = 32) there were three sub-groups. Most participants (7.3%, f = 12) altered their selfie by adding a black and white effect; 6.7% (f = 11) of participants altered their selfie by adding a portrait effect; some participants (5.5%, f = 9) altered their selfie by adding a color effect. Because of the heterogeneity of this category, we didn't include it in the coding scheme, and preliminary statistical analysis didn't indicate any significant relation to other coding categories or other constructs in Study 2. Additionally, there were no indices of selfie stick use, and four participants made mirror-style selfies with all actors in the pictures in a central position for the body, head and part of the face.

In Table 2 are the descriptive statistics for psychological constructs (NPI, BFI, BSRI, SDQ - physical appearance) and related concepts (FBI), according to the sub-categories from the coding scheme of selfies. From the initial coding scheme (Study 1) we used dichotomized categories for tilt of the head, context and social distance; and for the category head position, dimension categories (head position – abcissa, head position – ordinate).

We statistically analyzed relations between the selfie coding categories, psychological constructs and FBI using the t-test and Pearson's correlation. Generally, the analyses yielded statistically significants results, which are identified in bold text in Table 2.

There are no significant relations between coding cues and psychological constructs.

Entitlement is the only construct (from NPI) that had a significant correlation with the face-ism index (r = −0.27).

Additionally, we analyzed the relation between all the concepts and the availability of selfie pictures to others. The results for participants whose selfie was available on social networks (M = 3.07, SE = 0.079) showed more emotional stability [t₍₁₂₄₎ = −2.93, p < 0.01] than those whose selfie was available only to an intimate circle of people (M = 2.75, SE = 0.070), with an effect size of r = 0.27.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.