Just five minutes a day consuming positive and inspiring content helps reduce stress and increase hope.
A new published in Psychology of Popular Media suggests that consuming only a few minutes of inspiring content a day can help people feel more hopeful and less stressed.
Research led by Robin Nabi of the University of California found that watch three to five minutes of inspirational videos daily for five days significantly increased feelings of hope among participants. The increase in hope, in turn, predicted lower levels of stress in the following ten days, says the .
The study involved nearly 1,000 U.S. adults, ages 18 to 86, who were randomly assigned to one of several groups. Some watched inspiring “underdog” stories, like cancer survivor Sean Swarner’s journey to climb Mount Everest with just one functioning lung, while others watched comedy videos, practiced brief meditation or didn’t watch anything at all. Both the meditation group and the inspirational video group reported higher levels of hopewhile the comedy and control groups showed no significant changes.
“We were surprised to see that the effects of watching inspirational videos were similar to those of meditation. Both increased hope, which predicted lower stress“, said Nabi. Although the effects were modest, Nabi emphasized that even small positive changes can accumulate over time, helping people better deal with life’s challenges.
Experts say the findings highlight how intentional media consumption can shape emotional well-being. However, implementing this in everyday life can be complicated. Social media algorithms prioritize emotionally charged content or negative to keep users interested. This way, you can search for inspirational hashtags or topics that match your interests, or keep a media log to monitor how content affects your mood.
