Earlier this year, the American Heart Association released a detailed report documenting heart-related diseases and how it was the leading cause of death in the US. Of particular note was the mention of a sedentary lifestyle and how it is “associated with an increased risk of fatal cardiovascular diseases.”
Watching TV shows and films on a long stretch in one sitting, a habit that has come to be known as binge-watching, is one of the leading causes behind such a sedentary lifestyle. Multiple research papers have detailed the ills of such physically inactive routines. Now, fresh scientific analysis says there’s actually a bright side to binge-watching.
The study, which comes courtesy of experts at the University of Georgia, notes that binge-watching content can actually help cope with stress. That’s because when users dig into a fictional world for a long spell, it makes the stories linger longer in their mind, connect on a deeper level with the plot, and build their own imaginary worlds.
“The study found people who marathon movies, shows or books are more likely to remember stories and keep engaging with them through daydreams and fantasies,” the team shared in a statement. The research, which has been published in the Acta Psychologica journal, concludes that binge-watching can help people recover from real-life stressors by letting them build mental models of the narratives they are seeing in a TV show or film series.
Broadly, the lingering (and comparatively stronger) memories from a binge-watching session serve as an ongoing psychological resource, and it extends its influence on a user long after they finish watching the content. These memories, as per the research, can help users “counteract negative outcomes, mentally recover, and flourish.”
Memories, stories, and imaginations
The overarching theme is the mental engagement with stories that unfold in a TV show and how it is associated with retrospective-imaginative-involvement (RII). That, as per the experts, will only happen if users retain a healthy memory of the content, and that’s where binge-watching comes into the picture.
“Most participants said they tend to remember and fantasize more often about stories they enjoyed or thought to be moving and meaningful,” the team explained. It’s like reading a book in one sitting. People who go cover-to-cover in one go are more likely to remember the plot points than those who take breaks or finish it across days or weeks.
When users watch a TV show in full, or a whole season at once, they don’t lose out on the overall narrative or the small events that connect the plot pacing and character arcs. This memory is what allows them to engage with the story through “daydreams and fantasies.”
Binge-watching or marathoning entertainment is not always a purely mindless and forgettable activity
Naturally, people who binge-watch a TV series are more likely to reminisce about the plot compared to people who watch the same content across smaller sessions. The research was conducted by enlisting more than 300 students across two universities.
The threshold for binge-watching was set at watching five or more episodes of a TV series in a single session. Based on their watching habit, students were asked to recall the plot points and story elements in a survey across two stages. The team found that viewers often reflect on the stories they watched, and even play around with them in their imaginations.
That is more likely to happen if these TV shows are deeply encoded in their mind and elements are “retrieved from long-term memory.” But do keep in mind that this research is not an endorsement for binge-watching films and TV shows.
One must also keep in mind that the experiences might vary from person to person. Compared to students who were enrolled in the study, a person with a 9-to-5 job may not retain the same level of detail from a binge-watched TV show and derive psychological benefits, especially when it comes to dealing with real-life stress.
