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Scientists have discovered that viewing nature pictures on Instagram can have a optimistic influence on customers’ well-being and feelings, in distinction to prevailing narratives about social media use.
Instagram utilization has been cited many instances in earlier analysis as having a detrimental influence on customers, usually being attributed as inflicting low shallowness, unhappiness, and physique dissatisfaction.
However new analysis led by Dr. Chris Stiff in Keele’s Faculty of Psychology has discovered that when customers have interaction with the proper kind of content material, particularly pictures of nature, the platform can truly improve well-being and optimistic feelings. The research is printed within the journal Psychiatry Worldwide.
The researchers say this helps a psychological idea known as Stress Discount Concept, which means that nature is unthreatening and a spot of tranquility and peace, permitting us to loosen up. This idea additionally says the other is true for non-natural settings, with man-made environments akin to skyscrapers carrying connotations of noise, crowdedness, and discomfort.
To check this idea, members hung out viewing Instagram pictures utilizing both the #naturephotography hashtag, or a impartial hashtag akin to #bookshelves, with the researchers’ evaluation displaying that the #naturephotography group reported elevated well-being and optimistic feelings.
They recommend this was no less than partially influenced by an elevated feeling of connectedness to nature, they usually say this optimistic affect might even prolong to utilizing Instagram as a system of self-care for creating optimistic adjustments in customers’ psychological well being.
They now wish to broaden their work to see if this impact can create significant behavioral change amongst customers, and the way such optimistic results may be sustained long run.
Dr. Stiff, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Keele College, mentioned, “Instagram has a bad reputation, and certainly there are substantial issues with how it can affect body image. However, this research shows that the image resources it has available can also be used in a positive way, to improve people’s lives.”
Extra data:
Christopher Stiff et al, Not All Unhealthy: A Laboratory Experiment Analyzing Viewing Pictures of Nature on Instagram Can Enhance Wellbeing and Optimistic Feelings, Psychiatry Worldwide (2025). DOI: 10.3390/psychiatryint6040117
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Nature pictures on Instagram can enhance well-being and optimistic feelings, researchers say (2025, October 20)
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