When stress creeps in while we’re at work, running errands, or waiting for dinner to finish cooking, we may turn to a social media scroll for a quick distraction. While this isn’t always the most effective strategy for finding our inner calm, a recent study says that our phones could help lessen our anxiety — because consuming a specific type of content may reduce stress just as effectively as meditation does.
Published by the American Psychological Association, the research found that watching short inspirational videos over a five-day period helped lower participants’ stress levels for up to 10 days afterward, and those who meditated for the same amount of time felt the same effects. The key to the anxiety reduction? Feeling hopeful.
“What we found is that even a few minutes of watching content that makes people feel hopeful can put a dent in that stress,” lead author Robin Nabi said in a press release. “It’s a short, simple, and even enjoyable break — and it can make a meaningful difference in helping people feel more optimistic and able to handle what’s in front of them.”
The researchers conducted a four-week-long, online experiment involving about 1,000 adults during the interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a stressful time of the year for many Americans. After identifying the participants’ initial stress levels, the team divided them into four groups and gave them “media prescriptions” of either watching professionally-produced inspiring videos, watching comedic content, listening to guided meditations, or scrolling through content of their choice on their mobile device, for three to five minutes a day. A control group was also designated.
While the comedic videos included humor akin to what you’d see in a slapstick skit or on a late-night comedy show, the inspirational media featured stories of people overcoming adversity — for instance, one clip depicted a cancer survivor who’d conquered Mount Everest. The guided meditations consisted of audio samples from videos on the Calm app, and the mobile device group was simply instructed to use their smartphones or computers as they normally would when taking a break or trying to relax.
After the five minutes were up each day, the participants reported their emotional states and stress levels. The comedic videos, while entertaining, didn’t impact stress. But compared to the control group, those who watched the inspirational or guided meditation videos felt significantly more hopeful, which predicted lower stress levels in the following days.
“Hope isn’t just uplifting in the moment,” Nabi said. “It can also motivate people to deal with the challenges in their lives. When people see others overcoming adversity, as they did in our inspiring videos, it can spark the belief that they, too, can persevere, survive, and thrive. That sense of possibility helps counteract stress and can have enduring benefits beyond the simple moment of viewing.”
However, Nabi also noted that these media prescriptions shouldn’t replace meditation or other evidence-supported anxiety-reducing strategies. “But rather, this is one more tool we can add to our toolbox to handle the stress that so many of us feel,” she said.
What to experience the positive effects of inspirational media for yourself? Nice News’ Instagram page may be the perfect place to start.
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