When Self-Awareness Becomes Self-Surveillance

The mental cost of watching yourself all the time

In 1998, researchers handed a group of women a one-piece swimsuit. They tried it on alone in a dressing room with a full-length mirror and were instructed to look at themselves. Then, still in the swimsuit, they had to take a math test.

Across the board, they performed worse than a control group who’d tried on sweaters, even the ones who were good at mat…