Female peers look down on sexy Facebook selfies, study finds

Beauty, apparently, is in the eye of the phone holder.

According to a new study by Oregon State University, women who post sexy pictures on Facebook are judged as less physically and socially attractive by their female peers.

“This is a clear indictment of sexy social media photos,” researcher Elizabeth Daniels said in the university press release. “There is so much pressure on teen girls and young women to portray themselves as sexy, but sharing those sexy photos online may have more negative consequences than positive.”

Researchers used fake profiles for the study, posing as a 20-year-old woman named Amanda Johnson. In one profile, Johnson posted a photo in a scarf covering her chest, while the other profile had Johnson in a low-cut dress with a mid-thigh slit and a garter belt.

Both profiles listed the same interests.

Researchers then asked girls between 13-18 and 18-25 to answer questions on one of the profiles regarding physical attractiveness, social attractiveness and task competence. The “modest” Amanda scored higher in each category and was considered prettier, friendlier and more competent by her peer group.

“Why is it we focus so heavily on girls’ appearances?” Daniels said in the press release. “What does this tell us about gender? Those conversations should be part of everyday life.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2014 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Female peers look down on sexy Facebook selfies, study finds."