A hectic day can put your emotions and mental stability through the wringer. But research at Indiana University shows that you can quickly recharge your personal energy and warm your outlook with something that’s quick, easy … and feline.
Yes, seriously … just watch a cat video online.
Research at the Indiana University Media School that involved 7,000 people demonstrates that cat videos are more than a mindless way to pass the time. You can use them to re-energize and zap negative feelings.
“Some people may think watching online cat videos isn’t a serious enough topic for academic research, but the fact is that it’s one of the most popular uses of the Internet today,” says researcher Jessica Gall Myrick. “If we want to better understand the effects the Internet may have on us as individuals and on society, then researchers can’t ignore Internet cats anymore.”
If you are already watching cat videos, you’re not exactly alone. More than 2 million cat videos were posted on YouTube in 2014. They totaled a stunning 26 billion views. Cat videos elicit more views for each video than any other type of of YouTube video.
According to Myrick, when you watch a cat video you:
- Feel less fatigued and have a more positive outlook.
- Are bothered by fewer negative emotions like sadness, anxiety and annoyance.
- Get sufficient pleasure from the video that it outweighs the guilt you feel about procrastinating.
Myrick adds that the “… emotional pay-off (of watching a video) may actually help people take on tough tasks afterward,” Myrick said.
So when the going gets tough, the tough… watch a cat video?
Couldn’t hurt.
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