Why People Who Post The Most Selfies Are Happier, More Confident And Attractive

To me, the second best moment in television history was when Ellen passed out slices of pizza to rows of America's most beloved movie stars at the Oscars, and then made a group of them clump together for a group selfie.

It doesn't matter — young or old — selfies have become an epidemic. A study from a project called Selfiecity, backed by the City University of New York, California Institute of Telecommunication and Information, shows that selfies are more popular with women under 40 and men over 40. And it's no wonder, considering how selfies help boost your confidence.

But is there more to the insecurity and narcissism associated with these sexy selfies that flood our Instagram feeds? As our faces and our bodies and our self-esteem changes, so does what we learn from taking this very up-close and personal photos of ourselves.

Here's how selfies help boost your confidence and some valuable takeaways from men and women who love to take selfies.

1. You control what picture you take.

"I hate always having to ask friends or strangers to take photos of me. With a selfie, I can take my photo and capture what I want, when I want it. Plus sometimes it's straight-up awkward to hand your phone to a friend and say, 'Hey, can you take a photo of me… by myself?' I'd rather not do that." —Mitchell, 28

2. You embrace your tiny flaws.

"If someone was to hijack my phone, they'd see a camera roll of about 1,000 photos — with 40 percent of those just being selfies. No one takes just one photo of themselves at a time. They take multiple using different angles. When doing that, I've learned to embrace my imperfections and it helps me see things about my face I would not have known about or appreciated before." — Jane, 24

3. You can feel like you're with someone who's hundreds of miles away.

"I'm in a long-distance relationship and instead of sending a typical good morning or a hello text message, I'll pair it with a selfie photo and I feel like for a few seconds, my boyfriend can feel as though I'm there with him. Sure, there is Skype and Facetime, but a selfie is something you can save on your phone and view forever." —Sarah, 34

4. You secretly encourage yourself to accept who you are.

"We all take selfies and therefore I think it shows that we all secretly like ourselves — or at least something about our selves. That's huge because people walk around ashamed or they lack confidence. The ability to take a selfie and send or post a selfie is a giant step in accepting who we are. I think that’s cool." — Michael, 29

5. You can still be proud, even when you don't look picture-perfect.

"I've seen people take selfies in the strangest of places. Mostly at the gym. I find that weird because it's a place where no one looks their best. Yet in between sets, people are snapping a photo of themselves." — Elyse, 23

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Jen Glantz is the author of All My Friends Are Engaged, a book of dating disaster stories. She's the heart behind the website The Things I Learned From. She'd love you to say hello on Twitter.

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