Researchers from the University of California have documented that turning on the camera during online classes can heighten appearance anxiety and impair student learning outcomes. This finding was reported in a publication within Applied Cognitive Psychology, highlighting how self-presentation pressures shape online learning experiences.
In the initial study, more than 170 undergraduates took part in a 15-minute online lecture delivered to small cohorts of eight to ten peers. A portion of participants were instructed to enable their video, while others kept their cameras off. After the session, all participants completed self-assessments of anxiety related to their appearance and were tested on the lecture content to gauge retention. A second experiment replicated the design with larger groups, ranging from 30 to 40 students, to explore whether group size moderated the observed effects.
In a third phase, 224 students were randomly assigned to three groups. One group watched the lecture with cameras off, a second group with cameras on, and a third group with the option to view their own video feed while listening. Group sizes in this phase varied from 10 to 25 participants. Across these conditions, statistical analyses indicated that having the camera on raised appearance anxiety, which in turn hindered comprehension and memory for the lecture material. Interestingly, the act of seeing oneself on screen amplified anxiety more than simply having the camera on. Across all experiments, researchers found no consistent influence of gender on the observed effects, suggesting a generalizable pattern across diverse student populations. The broader takeaway points to instructors and institutions: encouraging video use without support for managing appearance concerns may reduce learning efficacy in online settings. These results align with prior work emphasizing how self-presentation stress can distract attention and disrupt cognitive processing during online learning tasks. [Source: Applied Cognitive Psychology study, UC researchers.]