A Study of Japanese University Students Influenced by the Covid-19 Pandemic and their Awareness with Their One’s Own Face

Abstract

In 2019, an outbreak of novel coronavirus infection (hereafter referred to as Covid-19) occurred, and on January 16, 2020, the first case of an infected person was confirmed in Japan. Now that more than two years have passed, the world is gradually returning to normal. However, the increased use of Social Networking Services (SNS) and web conferencing tools has caused young people, who are accustomed to seeing filtered faces, to become dissatisfied and uncomfortable with their own real faces. This has resulted in an increased number of young people who have become dissatisfied and mentally stressed with their facial features and expressions. Therefore, the author conducted a study on young people aged 18–20 years old in 2022 regarding this issue. The author evaluated the changes in awareness one’s own face between the Covid-19 pandemic and the present among students attending Japanese universities, despite being affected by Covid-19 in the latter half of their high school or college years. The results indicated that 49.2% of the respondents revealed that their awareness their own faces had changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on these findings, it is necessary for educators and parents to take considerable actions, so that young people do not become obsessed with the quality of their facial features and feel unduly stressed. Furthermore, young people should not be ashamed of their real, unfiltered faces.