Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Face fatigue: Study finds staring at yourself during virtual talks is bad for your mood

“The more self-focused a person is, the more likely they are to report feeling emotions that are consistent with things like anxiety and even depression.”

Face fatigue: Study finds staring at yourself during virtual talks is bad for your mood

According to a new study, the longer a person glances at themselves when conversing with a partner in an online chat, the worse their mood becomes over the length of the encounter. The researchers discovered that alcohol use appears to exacerbate the condition.

The findings of the research were published in the journal 'Clinical Psychological Science'. The findings point to a potentially problematic role of online meeting platforms in exacerbating psychological problems like anxiety and depression, the researchers said. 

"We used eye-tracking technology to examine the relationship between mood, alcohol and attentional focus during virtual social interaction," said Talia Ariss, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign doctoral candidate who led the research with U. of I. psychology professor Catharine Fairbairn.

"We found that participants who spent more time looking at themselves during the conversation felt worse after the call, even after controlling for pre-interaction negative mood. And those who were under the influence of alcohol spent more time looking at themselves."

The findings add to previous studies suggesting that people who focus more on themselves than on external realities - especially during social interactions - may be susceptible to mood disorders, Ariss said.

"The more self-focused a person is, the more likely they are to report feeling emotions that are consistent with things like anxiety and even depression," she said.

"Users of the online video call platform Zoom increased 30-fold during the pandemic - burgeoning from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million by April 2020," the researchers wrote. "The pandemic has yielded a surge in levels of depression and anxiety and, given reports of heightened self-awareness and 'fatigue' during the virtual exchange, some have posited a role for virtual interaction in exacerbating such trends."

In the study, participants answered questions about their emotional status before and after the online conversations. They were instructed to talk about what they liked and disliked about living in the local community during the chats, and to discuss their musical preferences. Participants could see themselves and their conversation partners on a split-screen monitor. Some consumed an alcoholic beverage before talking and others drank a nonalcoholic beverage.

In general, participants stared at their conversation partners on the monitor much more than they looked at themselves, the researchers found. But there were significant differences in the amount of time individual participants spent gazing at themselves.

"The cool thing about virtual social interactions, especially in platforms like Zoom, is that you can simulate the experience of looking in a mirror," Ariss said. This allows researchers to explore how self-focus influences a host of other factors, she said.
Adding alcohol to the experiment and using eye-tracking technology also allowed the scientists to explore how mild inebriation affected where a person focused their attention.

"In the context of in-person social interactions, there is strong evidence that alcohol acts as a social lubricant among drinkers and has these mood-enhancing properties," Ariss said. "This did not hold true, however, in the online conversations, where alcohol consumption corresponded to more self-focus and had none of its typical mood-boosting effects."

"At this point in the pandemic, many of us have come to the realization that virtual interactions just aren't the same as face-to-face," Fairbairn said. "A lot of folks are struggling with fatigue and melancholy after a full day of Zoom meetings. Our work suggests the self-view offered in many online video platforms might make those interactions more of a slog than they need to be."

(ANI)

More For You

indian-army-reuters

Indian security force personnel stand guard at the site of the attack on tourists in Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, April 24, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Indian and Pakistani troops exchange fire along Line of Control

INDIAN and Pakistani troops exchanged fire overnight along the Line of Control in Kashmir, officials from both sides said on Friday.

The exchange took place days after a deadly attack in the region and amid calls from the United Nations for both countries to show "maximum restraint".

Keep ReadingShow less
India declares state mourning for Pope Francis, Modi leads tributes

A sculpture by Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik in Puri, Odisha, on Monday (21)

India declares state mourning for Pope Francis, Modi leads tributes

INDIA began three days of state mourning on Tuesday (22) for the Pope, a rare honour for a foreign religious leader, as prime minister Narendra Modi joined other south Asian and world leaders in paying tributes following his death on Monday (21).

Pope Francis, the 88-year-old leader of 1.4 billion Catholics across the world, died of a stroke, causing a coma and “irreversible” heart failure, the Vatican said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Minority youth face racist content online once a week, report reveals

As many as 95 per cent of respondents reported encountering violent or abusive racist content online. (Photo: iStock)

Minority youth face racist content online once a week, report reveals

MOST young people from black and minority communities in Britain encounter racist content online, a new study revealed, with more than half reporting it damages their sense of safety.

The "Youth, Race and Social Media" report published on Thursday (24) highlighted a troubling picture of online racism and its effects on young people aged 16-24.

Keep ReadingShow less
england-gp-iStock

The researchers analysed data from over 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 as part of the GP work life survey. (Representational image: iStock)

GPs in England’s deprived areas face lower pay, greater pressure: Report

GPs working in the most deprived areas of England earn an average of £5,525 less per year than those in wealthier areas, according to a study by the University of Manchester published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The researchers analysed data from over 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 as part of the GP work life survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harry and Meghan urge tougher safeguards to protect children online

Prince Harry criticised tech companies for citing privacy laws to deny access

Getty

Harry and Meghan urge tougher safeguards to protect children online

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called for stronger protections for children online, warning that not enough is being done to shield young people from the dangers of social media

During a visit to New York, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled a new memorial dedicated to the memory of children whose families believe harmful online content contributed to their deaths. The installation, named the Lost Screen Memorial, features 50 smartphones, each displaying an image of a child lost to what their families describe as the adverse effects of social media. The memorial was made available to the public for 24 hours.

Keep ReadingShow less