First impressions matter — and this psychologist can tell you what yours is saying.
A psychologist and holistic life coach revealed what your profile picture says about you in a recent series of viral TikTok videos.
Francesca Tighinean recently graduated from the University of London with her Bachelor of Science in psychology. The young professional has gathered 1.2 million followers on TikTok sharing insights into psychology and life coaching advice.
Recently, she’s shared insights into what perception your profile pictures give off.
While this may seem trivial, research has found that it only takes 40 milliseconds to judge someone from a photo — so maybe you’re not overthinking it.
“Extroverts tend to have colorful pictures where they’re surrounded by many people,” Tighinean explains.
An extrovert is widely characterized as an outgoing, confident and friendly person who is energized by those around them. So if you want to seem like the life of the party, gather up your crew in front of a colorful backdrop and snap some pictures for your profile.
On the other hand, Tighinean warned that “very sexy pictures can signify that the person has an inferiority complex where they feel like they need to be more expressive or show more in order to compensate because they don’t feel good enough.”
But don’t go changing your profile picture just yet: She also claimed that changing your profile picture often “can symbolize that the person doesn’t have a strong identity and is pretty insecure.”
Other than showing off your hot date, couple photos can also give a lot of insight into someone’s personality. Tighinean said that using a couple photo as a profile picture can show that the person “sees their partner as part of their identity.”
The psychologist also shared that the quantity of photos you post with your significant other can give viewers insights into your attachment style. She claims that people with anxious attachment styles are more likely to post cute couple pictures more often than people with avoidant attachment styles.
Tighinean’s tips also exposed some common seduction techniques used by men and women.
“Having pictures with kids or animals shows that you have the ability to empathize and take care of others,” she said, noting this as a common strategy employed by men.
She went on to explain that poses looking down “transmit an image of superiority and dominance, and can sometimes signify a big ego,” while poses looking up can express a message of “inferiority and submissiveness” — and is a common seduction trick used by women.
The comments on the two TikTok videos are filled with people joking about feeling attacked and called out for their photos while others rushed to ask follow-up questions begging to learn more.
So whether you’re dating on Bumble, job hunting on LinkedIn or Slack-ing your boss it’s important to remember a picture is worth a thousand words.