Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Agrawal, Ayushi, Kondai, Aditya, Vemuri, Kavita
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17055
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912343909203968
author Agrawal, Ayushi
Kondai, Aditya
Vemuri, Kavita
author_facet Agrawal, Ayushi
Kondai, Aditya
Vemuri, Kavita
contents AI-powered facial assessment tools are reshaping how individuals evaluate appearance and internalize social judgments. This study examines the psychological impact of such tools on self-objectification, self-esteem, and emotional responses, with attention to gender differences. Two samples used distinct versions of a facial analysis tool: one overtly critical (N=75; M=22.9 years), and another more neutral (N=51; M=19.9 years). Participants completed validated self-objectification and self-esteem scales and custom items measuring emotion, digital/physical appearance enhancement (DAE, PAEE), and perceived social emotion (PSE). Results revealed consistent links between high self-objectification, low self-esteem, and increased appearance enhancement behaviors across both versions. Despite softer framing, the newer tool still evoked negative emotional responses (U=1466.5, p=0.013), indicating implicit feedback may reinforce appearance-related insecurities. Gender differences emerged in DAE (p=0.025) and PSE (p<0.001), with females more prone to digital enhancement and less likely to perceive emotional impact in others. These findings reveal how AI tools may unintentionally reinforce and amplify existing social biases and underscore the critical need for responsible AI design and development. Future research will investigate how human ideologies embedded in the training data of such tools shape their evaluative outputs, and how these, in turn, influence user attitudes and decisions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_17055
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Psychological Effect of AI driven marketing tools for beauty/facial feature enhancement
Agrawal, Ayushi
Kondai, Aditya
Vemuri, Kavita
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
AI-powered facial assessment tools are reshaping how individuals evaluate appearance and internalize social judgments. This study examines the psychological impact of such tools on self-objectification, self-esteem, and emotional responses, with attention to gender differences. Two samples used distinct versions of a facial analysis tool: one overtly critical (N=75; M=22.9 years), and another more neutral (N=51; M=19.9 years). Participants completed validated self-objectification and self-esteem scales and custom items measuring emotion, digital/physical appearance enhancement (DAE, PAEE), and perceived social emotion (PSE). Results revealed consistent links between high self-objectification, low self-esteem, and increased appearance enhancement behaviors across both versions. Despite softer framing, the newer tool still evoked negative emotional responses (U=1466.5, p=0.013), indicating implicit feedback may reinforce appearance-related insecurities. Gender differences emerged in DAE (p=0.025) and PSE (p<0.001), with females more prone to digital enhancement and less likely to perceive emotional impact in others. These findings reveal how AI tools may unintentionally reinforce and amplify existing social biases and underscore the critical need for responsible AI design and development. Future research will investigate how human ideologies embedded in the training data of such tools shape their evaluative outputs, and how these, in turn, influence user attitudes and decisions.
title Psychological Effect of AI driven marketing tools for beauty/facial feature enhancement
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17055