How often do you take selfies, and what does this say about your self-confidence?

Choose from the following: Never – maybe once a year; Rarely – maybe one or two a month; Often – at least once a week.

And when you do take a selfie (assuming you’ve taken at least one) how: (a) attractive and (b) likeable do you think you come across in the picture, on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very).

If you answered “often”, you probably do not come across as attractive or as likeable as you think. If you answered “rarely” or “never”, your ratings of your own attractiveness and likability were probably spot on.

A study by the University of Toronto divided 200 students into selfie takers and non-selfie takers. Participants were invited to take a selfie in the lab and to rate how attractive and likeable they came across in the picture. They then asked other people to rate the same photo.

On average, non-selfie takers rated themselves as only 0.5 points more attractive and likeable (on the 7-point scale) than other people rated them. But selfie takers rated themselves 1.5 points more attractive and likeable than other people rated them. When asked to measure their own attractiveness and likability in a photo taken by the experimenter, both groups were pretty much spot on.

So, selfie enthusiasts overrate their own attractiveness and likability, but only in their selfies.

A fully referenced version of this article is available at benambridge.com. Order Psy-Q by Ben Ambridge (Profile Books, £8.99) for £6.99 at bookshop.theguardian.com