A UC Santa Barbara study finds that stress can be reduced by a quick bit of intentional media management.
We’ve all been there. Scrolling aimlessly on our social media feeds can fill us with anger, anxiety and self-doubt. But according to a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a little mindful counterprogramming is all it takes for a quick reset, with effective results that can be surprisingly long-lasting. The trick is to identify an emotion that can alleviate stress, then purposely trigger that emotion.
In a 2023 study of 1,000 adults living in the United States, Robin Nabi, Ph.D.—an expert on how media can be used to mitigate stress and enhance well-being—divided men and women from all walks of life, between the ages of 18 and 86, into five groups. For five days, each group was exposed to three to five minutes of a certain type of content every day. Group 1 watched inspiring videos of people overcoming adversity. Group 2 viewed humorous clips from late-night talk shows. Group 3 meditated for three to five minutes. Group 4 scrolled on their phones, like they might normally do in real life. And Group 5—the control group—went about their usual lives, without being told what to do. At the end of the study, the results were clear.
The study included 1,000 men and women who were divided into groups, and exposed to different types of content.Photo credit: Canva
And the survey says...
“What we found is that the people in Group 1, who were exposed to those inspiring stories, felt elevated levels of hope during that week,” said Nabi in an interview with Upworthy. “And the hope they felt predicted reduced stress the following week, and the week after that.”
The surge in hope triggers what psychologists call “coping efficacy”—an individual’s belief that they can handle difficult situations—just like the protagonist they viewed in the Group 1 videos. According to the study, this halo effect can linger for a few weeks.
“We have some evidence that there is an increase in selection of inspiring content in the days following,” the professor further noted. “Of course when people do that, their algorithms might shift, leading to even more inspiring content in their feed. Another option is that they’re just thinking about the stories that they had seen the week before. It’s like replaying a happy event in your life. It brings those feelings back when you think about them.”
Results for two of the other groups indicated varying degrees of shorter-term stress relief.
“Group 2—the comedy group—those people had elevated levels of amusement, which makes sense,” said Nabi. “You see something funny, you’re going to laugh. But that amusement didn’t predict reduced stress over time.”
For Group 3—the meditation group—participants reported feeling reduced stress, but the results were more nuanced.
“In all likelihood, the meditation is affecting people physiologically, as well as psychologically, whereas the inspiring content is perhaps working more at the psychological level,” Nabi explained. “With meditation, the reduced stress is coming from the breathing, and the efforts to calm one’s body physiologically. It’s not explained by hope. It’s coming from something else.”
The most stressful time of year
The study, which was published in Psychology of Popular Media, only included participants who self-identified as being stressed. It was also conducted between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays—a time when people tend to feel overwhelmed as they prepare for celebrations, juggle end-of-year finances, or gear up for final exams.
UCSB professor Robin Nabi shares her findings about hope and stress at a TED TalkPhoto credit: Brad Elliott
Mindfulness and other easy strategies
“We were really interested in this as an intervention to help people with stress, but there are many different strategies that work,” said Nabi. “Meditation is one, exercise is another. Getting good sleep, connecting with others, unplugging, getting out into nature—there are so many strategies, but the irony is that when people are stressed, they’re less likely to do those things. People don’t always make the healthiest choices for themselves when it comes to food, when it comes to exercise, and when it comes to their media selection. So what if we suggested content that has been demonstrated to create the kind of emotional experiences that could counteract stress?”
Even so, one size does not fit all. Content that elicits a positive response in one person may lead to a negative outcome in someone else.
Moving forward
“Make notes,” Nabi advises, “and be mindful of what our own emotional responses are to the content that we see. And find whatever content makes you feel hopeful.”
By curating our content to include inspiring stories, we can perhaps change the narrative around scrolling on our phones.
“Just think about how much better it would be to say, ‘I want to take my five-minute media break right now’ without thinking, ‘Oh gosh, I feel so bad I was on my phone,” she concludes. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
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Just to get you started
Here are a few videos we found inspiring, to jump start your journey to stress relief:
Zeke’s Story: Young Boy with Neurological Disease Overcomes Challenges
Maggie Doyne: Founder of Children’s Home, Women’s Center and School in Nepal
Noelle Lambert: Para-Track & Field Athlete