How online art viewing can impact our well-being

New research sheds light on the positive effect of online art breaks on our mood

2023-05-05

(Press-News.org) Art can have a positive effect on our mood. But does this also work when we look at paintings on a screen? An international research team involving the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main decided to investigate this question. The study was funded by the EU Horizon ART*IS Project. The results have now been published as an open access article in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

240 study participants viewed an interactive Monet Water Lily art exhibition from Google Arts and Culture. By filling out a questionnaire, they provided information about their state of mind, how much pleasure they felt when looking at the pictures, and how meaningful they considered the experience to be. The results showed significant improvements in mood and anxiety after just a few minutes of viewing.

“Online art viewing is an untapped source of support for well-being that can be consumed as bite-sized bits of meaning-making and pleasure,” says MacKenzie Trupp, first author from the University of Vienna.

The study also found that some participants were more receptive to art than others and were able to benefit more. This advantage could be predicted using a metric called “aesthetic responsiveness.”

“Aesthetic responsiveness describes how people react to diverse aesthetic stimuli, like art and nature. The results showed that individuals with high levels of art and aesthetic responsiveness benefit more from online art viewing due to having more pleasurable and meaningful art experiences,” explains Edward A. Vessel of MPIEA, developer of the Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA).

The findings of this study are particularly interesting for people who are unable to visit museums in person, such as those with health problems. Furthermore, the results suggest that interactive art exhibitions and similar online experiences should be designed with an awareness of individual differences in aesthetic responsiveness. The study thus expands insight into the benefits and limitations of art in digital media and points the way for increasing the wellness potential of online art.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Precision mass measurements of nuclei reveal neutron star properties

2023-05-05

Researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators recently measured the masses of several key nuclei with high-precision by employing a state-of-the-art storage-ring mass spectrometry technique. Using the new mass data, they investigated X-ray bursts on the surface of a neutron star, thus deepening the understanding of neutron star properties. The study was published in Nature Physics. Neutron stars are considered to be the densest objects besides black holes. Type-I X-ray bursts, among the brightest stellar ...

Terasaki Institute holds grand opening celebration at new research center

2023-05-05

(WOODLAND HILLS, CA) – The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), a non-profit research organization devoted to developing bioengineered systems, devices, and technology for biomedical applications, held a Grand Opening celebration at their newest research facility in Woodland Hills. The event drew almost 100 guests, which included local dignitaries, members of the Terasaki family, TIBI faculty and staff, and members of the building’s design and construction teams. A special Grand Opening program, emceed by KTLA 5 Morning News anchor Frank Buckley, began with certificates of commendation presented ...

Tuning brain cells with light

2023-05-05

An international research team, comprising scientists from DZNE, University Hospital Bonn, the Netherlands, and the US has been awarded a US$ 1.3 million grant by the “Human Frontier Science Program” to investigate brain immune cells and manipulate them via light irradiation. This will involve using gene transcripts (mRNAs) as molecular mediators. From these laboratory studies, the scientists aim to gain new insights into how these cells change their shape in response to hazards and the role they play in neurodegenerative ...

Secret behind Amazonian 'dark earth' could help speed up forest restoration across the globe

2023-05-05

Between approximately 450 BCE and 950 CE, millions of Amerindian people living in today’s Amazonia transformed the originally poor soil through various processes. Over many human generations, soils were enriched with charcoal from their low-intensity fires for cooking and burning refuse, animal bones, broken pottery, compost, and manure. The result is Amazonian dark earth (ADE) or terra preta, exceptionally fertile because rich in nutrients and stable organic matter derived from charcoal, which gives it its black color. Now, scientists from Brazil show that ADE could be a ‘secret weapon’ to boost reforestation – not only in the Amazon, where 18% or ...

Altruism can make job seekers afraid to negotiate salary

2023-05-05

AUSTIN, Texas — Job seekers looking to land a role with an altruistic organization may feel too guilty to ask for higher pay, according to a new study from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Both for-profit and nonprofit organizations increasingly employ what has been termed “social impact framing” that emphasizes that their work has welfare benefits for society. Although companies might have entirely noble intentions when using social impact framing, a recent study by Texas McCombs Assistant Professor of Management ...

How diet quality affects the gut microbiota to promote health

2023-05-05

URBANA, Ill. – We know that eating a healthy diet affects body weight, cholesterol levels, and heart health. A new study from the University of Illinois focuses on another component: the role of diet in supporting a healthy gastrointestinal microbiota. The researchers conclude that following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) promotes a gut microbiota composition that may support overall health. “Currently, there is no definition of a ‘healthy’ microbiome. Understanding how diet may influence the structure of the gut microbiota is important so we can make recommendations on dietary approaches,” says ...

EIC Center at Jefferson Lab announces six Research Fellowship Awards

2023-05-05

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The Electron-Ion Collider Center at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (EIC Center at Jefferson Lab) has announced the winners of six new research fellowships. Over the next year, the fellows will work to advance the science program and further the research of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The EIC is a unique physics research facility dedicated to answering fundamental questions about nature’s building blocks. The EIC is slated to be built at Brookhaven Lab in partnership with Jefferson Lab and scientists worldwide. The ...

The Texas Heart Institute and The University of Texas at Austin awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to develop injectable hydrogel electrodes to prevent ventricular arrhythmias

2023-05-05

The Texas Heart Institute and The University of Texas at Austin received a four-year, $2.37 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop a novel method of managing ventricular arrhythmias, which cause sudden cardiac death. The research initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez, Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, an expert in biomaterial scaffold engineering for tissue repair and regeneration and electrophysiology medical device pioneer and clinician ...

Majority of NHS Trusts do not offer training to prevent sexual harassment, study finds

2023-05-05

Failure to implement active bystander training could thwart NHS attempts to tackle sexual harassment, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. An analysis of data from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests found that fewer than one in five NHS Trusts in England provided active bystander training to address workplace harassment, sexual harassment and other forms of unacceptable behaviour like bullying and racism. It found of those that did – the majority of which were in London – most did not deliver content specific to sexual misconduct and ...

Only one NHS Trust offers standalone training on sexual harassment intervention, study shows

2023-05-05

Only one NHS Trust offers its staff training focused on how to intervene when they witness sexual harassment at work, according to new research published in JRSM Open. Dr Sarah Steele of the University of Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge, and Dr Ava Robertson, received responses from 199 NHS Trusts to their Freedom of Information request. Of those, 35 Trusts offer their staff Active Bystander Training (ABT) but only one of these has a specific module on sexual harassment. While welcomed by the researchers, they note that even that one module is optional for staff and outsourced to a private provider. No staff have yet completed the module. Of the 163 Trusts ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Insilico Medicine and Taigen achieves license agreement to develop and commercialize AI-driven PHD inhibitor for anemia of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)