Funny images have long been a significant part of the world wide web. However, as scientists from the United States have found out, funny pictures can not only make you laugh, but also reduce stress, especially at the present time against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns and other related "delights."
A study by the American Psychological Association found that viewing memes can help a person lower their stress levels. Moreover, funny images about COVID-19 can increase the user's confidence in a favorable outcome of the current situation.
In the course of the study, scientists worked with 748 respondents aged 18 to 88 years. During surveys, researchers determined how memes affect the occurrence of positive emotions, while the subjects of the pictures were different. Also, some of the images have been replaced with pictures touching on the current problem of the coronavirus.
The experiment proceeded as follows: to begin with, the respondents were asked if they had a feeling of nervousness and stress in the last month. Then they were randomly assigned to subgroups to display three memes with the same (animal or human), degree of attractiveness (child or adult) and name (related or not related to the pandemic). In addition, they were shown text without pictures to compare reactions to various types of content.
Then the respondents rated how funny the text or meme was, and talked about the degree of anxiety and positive feelings after watching. At the same time, test participants spoke about how their belief that they can survive the disease increased, and whether the viewing made them think about the coronavirus.
As a result, the researchers concluded that the least susceptibility to anxiety is inherent in people who viewed memes about COVID-19. In addition, this part of the respondents rated the content more and had strong confidence in the ability to cope with the consequences of the pandemic. At the same time, some of the participants who evaluated the memes with children thought less about the coronavirus, even if the text in the picture was somehow related to the disease.
Based on their work, the researchers concluded that government agencies should resort to using memes to create a favorable situation for citizens in difficult stressful times.
A study by the American Psychological Association found that viewing memes can help a person lower their stress levels. Moreover, funny images about COVID-19 can increase the user's confidence in a favorable outcome of the current situation.
In the course of the study, scientists worked with 748 respondents aged 18 to 88 years. During surveys, researchers determined how memes affect the occurrence of positive emotions, while the subjects of the pictures were different. Also, some of the images have been replaced with pictures touching on the current problem of the coronavirus.
The experiment proceeded as follows: to begin with, the respondents were asked if they had a feeling of nervousness and stress in the last month. Then they were randomly assigned to subgroups to display three memes with the same (animal or human), degree of attractiveness (child or adult) and name (related or not related to the pandemic). In addition, they were shown text without pictures to compare reactions to various types of content.
Then the respondents rated how funny the text or meme was, and talked about the degree of anxiety and positive feelings after watching. At the same time, test participants spoke about how their belief that they can survive the disease increased, and whether the viewing made them think about the coronavirus.
As a result, the researchers concluded that the least susceptibility to anxiety is inherent in people who viewed memes about COVID-19. In addition, this part of the respondents rated the content more and had strong confidence in the ability to cope with the consequences of the pandemic. At the same time, some of the participants who evaluated the memes with children thought less about the coronavirus, even if the text in the picture was somehow related to the disease.
Based on their work, the researchers concluded that government agencies should resort to using memes to create a favorable situation for citizens in difficult stressful times.
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