A new analysis of the binge-Watching phenomenon has revealed potential benefits of this behavior, including the possibility that viewers build “mental worlds” where stories and characters continue beyond the original narrative.
To do Marathons to see series Compulsively on television or streaming platforms like Netflix does us well, a new study concludes.
The results of the, conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia, were presented in an article recently published in the Acta Psychologica.
The investigators concluded that the continuous mental involvement with fiction stories, after television marathons, can improve memory and help viewers manage emotions in stress periods.
Similar benefits were found in compulsive book readingthough less sharply.
“Human beings are creatures that live on stories,” says Joshua Baldwinresearcher at U.Georgia and main author of the study at one from the university.
Baldwin suggests that longer narratives created during television marathons can help satisfy basic human needshow to connect to other people, feel autonomous and confident, or even safe and protected.
“Stories have characters that play these rolesand we can satisfy these needs through them, ”explains the researcher.
To explore the potential benefits of behavior often considered unhealthy, scientists recruited Hundreds of students for two clinical trials.
Each participant was invited to list three memorable stories of television, books and movies that continued to think even when they were no longer watching or reading them. Were also invited to identify Three Uns Memorable Storiesthat they never remembered outside the moment of vision or reading.
When organizing the answers, the team selected the most memorable story and the second less memorable in each category. The investigators justified the Choice of the second, not the third“For fear that not all participants could list three stories.”
In relation to the selected stories, participants answered questions about the Middle (television, cinema or book)the duration of each viewing or reading session and its global appreciation of the narrative.
In particular, each participant was asked about how often he interacts with stories and characters outside these moments – a designated process of Retrospective-Imaginative Involvement (RII).
A second set of questions focused on the general motivation To watch television or read, including options like “expansion of horizons”Or“ escapism ”.
Finally, each volunteer answered questions about their trend To watch television compulsively, the Free Time of which he had and the stress levels felt.
As expected, the team found that participants who saw several episodes of a series in one session showed higher levels of RII regarding the story than those who saw isolated episodes.
The authors of the study suggest that this greater fanciful involvement is due to the Greater memorability of stories Accompanied in television marathons, compared to an episodic consumption.
“People who have a habit of seeing marathon series often do not do so passively, but continue to actively think about them after”Said Baldwin.“They really want to get involved with the storieseven when they are not watching television. ”
The team also found Similar correlations with reading compulsive. Baldwin stated that this relationship made sense, given the greatest involvement achieved in prolonged reading sessions.
“If we think of people who are great readers, who even read an entire book at once, they are likely to have a Best Memory of this work And a greater tendency to mentally get involved with the story after they finish it, ”explained the researcher.
A deeper analysis of the questionnaires revealed that the longer duration Associated with television or reading marathons made the stories “more memorable”, thus increasing the probabilities of RII.
The authors also concluded that participants who resorted to compulsive visualization as a form of escapism had greater propensity to get involved in fantasies about the stories seen.
“Television marathons can make stories more memorable, helping viewers connecting narrative wires and retaining a broader view of the plot,” the researchers wrote. “This is especially true in long series, with multiple narrative lines and many characters to accompany. ”
In the conclusion of the study, scientists recall that watching television in marathon “has been, sometimes viewed as a dysfunctional activity associated with unconscious excess and indulgence ”.
However, the results show that “It’s not always the case The consecutive consumption of media being dysfunctional, as proves the involvement in the RII of participants with narratives seen in marathon or prolonged readings ”.
“There is a lot of debate on whether The media are good or badBut it’s always a complex matter, ”said Baldwin.“ It always depends on the content itself, the reasons that lead people to see it, the individual’s psychological context and the situation. ”
