Summary: A new study finds that taking photos often enhances how much people enjoy their experiences.
Source: APA.
Contrary to the common assumption that stopping to take pictures detracts from enjoying an event, research published by the American Psychological Association indicates that people who photograph their experiences often report greater enjoyment than those who do not.
Researchers Kristin Diehl, PhD (University of Southern California); Gal Zauberman, PhD (Yale University); and Alixandra Barasch, PhD (University of Pennsylvania) write that this work represents one of the first comprehensive investigations into how photography affects enjoyment. They conclude that, compared with not taking photos, photographing positive experiences can increase enjoyment by boosting engagement.
Their paper, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, summarizes nine experiments involving more than 2,000 participants conducted in both laboratory and real-world settings. The studies tested a range of everyday activities—such as riding a bus tour, eating in a food court, touring a museum exhibit, and completing or observing an arts-and-crafts task—by assigning participants either to take photographs during the activity or to refrain from photographing.
After each activity, participants completed surveys measuring enjoyment and engagement. Across most conditions, those who photographed the experience reported higher enjoyment, and the authors identify increased engagement as the primary mechanism explaining this effect. Photo-taking can direct attention, encourage closer inspection of the environment, and prompt active decision-making about what to capture, all of which deepen involvement with the moment.
In a museum experiment that used eye-tracking glasses, people who took photos spent more time examining artifacts than those who only observed, demonstrating that photography can heighten visual attention to the objects or scenes people find worth recording. Similarly, in one study participants who took “mental” photographs—intentionally noting what they would photograph without using a camera—also reported greater enjoyment, suggesting the effect is not limited to physical camera use but relates to intentional, engaged attention.
However, the benefits of photographing experiences are not universal. The authors found several boundary conditions. Photo-taking did not increase enjoyment when people were already highly engaged in the activity itself; for example, those actively participating in an arts-and-crafts project did not gain additional pleasure from taking pictures, while observers did. Likewise, enjoyment did not rise when photography interfered with participation—such as when people had to handle cumbersome equipment—or when the experience was negative or aversive. In one virtual safari scenario where participants watched lions attack a water buffalo, those who photographed the distressing scene reported lower enjoyment than those who simply observed it.
The researchers also note that the nature of the recording device matters. Cameras or systems that automatically capture moments without requiring people to choose what to photograph are unlikely to produce the same engagement-driven boost in enjoyment. The positive effect depends on the individual’s active decision-making about what to focus on and preserve.
Source: Jim Sliwa – APA
Image Source: This NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Diehl, Kristin; Zauberman, Gal; and Barasch, Alixandra, “How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Published online June 6, 2016. doi:10.1037/pspa0000055.
APA. “Photographing Experiences Usually Increases Positive Feelings About Them.” NeuroscienceNews. June 12, 2016.
Abstract
How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences
Experiences play a central role in people’s well-being, so it is important to identify what amplifies or diminishes their enjoyment. Photo-taking is increasingly common but has been little studied. Across three field experiments and six laboratory studies, we find that taking photos tends to enhance enjoyment of positive experiences when it increases engagement with the moment. This engagement effect is evident across different contexts and measures; photo-taking promotes visual attention to aspects of the experience people find worth capturing. The effect is less likely to occur when the experience is already highly engaging, when photography interferes with the activity, or when the experience is negative—in which case greater engagement can worsen evaluations.
Diehl, K.; Zauberman, G.; & Barasch, A. (2016). How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi:10.1037/pspa0000055