self love index

From November to December 2020, we asked over 22,000 people from 21 different counties how they rated their self-worth, happiness and wellbeing. Designed by us and market research leaders Ipsos, here’s what we learned about self-love from our unique global study.

Illustrated map of the world with pink hearts on

the self love crisis

The average score on our Self Love Index was just 53 on a scale of 0-100. This means that nearly 1 in 2 people around the world feel more self-doubt than self-love.

But we should feel optimistic too. Our study also revealed the power of self-love: those with high self-love are more likely to bounce back quickly after hard times. And people with high self-love were less emotionally impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of those people, amazingly, feel even more self-love since it started.

With this study, we want to learn how we can help even more people rise up with self-love around the world. Follow the link to the full report or read our key findings below.

Read the full report

Some Key Stats from the Self Love Index

Read the full report
Illustration of circle with 60% in the centre

Self-Respect

6 in 10 people across the globe wish they had more respect for themselves.

Illustration of circle with 41% in the centre

Generation Z

Over 4 in 10 people in Generation Z fall into the lowest self-love group.

Illustration of circle with 32% in the centre

Social Media

Nearly 1 in 3 people using social 2+ hours a day have the lowest self-love.

What Personal Factors Affect Self Love?

Read the full report
Illustration of a globe

Country

Denmark and Australia scored the highest on our Self Love Index with 62. The lowest was South Korea with 45 and France and Saudi Arabia with 48.

Heart illustration

Gender

Women feel nervous, anxious and depressed more than men. The LGBTQ+ community also tends to have lower self-love than cisgender and/or heterosexual people.

Illustration of a birthday cake

Age

Women 25 or older have higher self-love than Generation Z. Women in Generation Z are 2-3 times more likely than Baby Boomers to fall into the lowest self-love group.

Illustration of an arm flexing with a heart next to it

Resilience

7 in 10 people say they bounce back quickly after hard times. Self-love helps make us more resilient: those with high self-love are more likely to bounce back quickly.

What Social Factors Affect Self Love?

Read the full report
Illustration of woman stepping out of a mobile phone

Self-Esteem & Social

High social media users have lower levels of self-love: nearly 1 in 3 of those who are on social more than 2 hours a day have the lowest scores on our Self Love Index, compared to only about 1 in 5 who are not on social. People agree that influencers, celebrities and models in ads are the largest contributors to low self-esteem.

Illustration of woman holding a lipstick

The Beauty Industry

Most believe that the beauty industry can have a negative impact on self-confidence, stemming from the use of airbrushed or photoshopped images and unrealistic claims. Younger women also view the lack of diversity in advertising as a major negative impact of the beauty industry more than older women.

Illustration of people holding a pink heart up

What Actions Are We Taking?

The shift to body positivity is happening, and we are proud to have played our part by not airbrushing our photography and celebrating diverse, beautifully unique bodies in our casting. But the hard graft has only just begun. Because self-doubt, not self-love, is still the norm.

We will use the findings in our report to review and inform our own practices, especially in our marketing and our products. We will also continue to share our learnings and the improvements we make.

Our aim is to spread 1 million acts of self-love across the globe in 1 year and drive positive change together. Over time, we are committed to breaking down the barriers to self-love in ourselves, our organisation, the beauty industry, and the world.

Have you seen...