Why watching TV repeats is good for you
For those of us who have cancelled a social engagement in order to rewatch the entire series of The Comeback, or whose party trick is to do a move-for-move replay of the Ross-Monica "routine" in Friends, there is hope. A new study finds that watching repeats of our favourite TV shows can actually help us feel more in control and happier.
Research from the University of Buffalo builds on the theory that, after periods of self-discipline, a person is more likely to give in to temptation later on. The thinking goes: "I had a salad for lunch, therefore I'm going to have a pizza lightly sprinkled with a large bag of chips for dinner." In order to avoid this and to replenish our sense of self-control we need to boost our happiness levels, which is where rewatching much-loved TV shows comes in. Psychologist Dr Jaye Derrick calls this effect "social surrogacy", likening our old TV pals to a virtual friends and family. In experiments involving essay writing and word association, people found it easier to maintain their self-control and concentration if they had also been asked to describe a favourite television show. Others kept diaries to find out how entering "familiar fictional worlds" improved their mood. "[TV] can have unexpected psychological benefits," writes Derrick, "[and] fulfil needs that people are reluctant to fulfil through other means."
Which is fine, unless you happen to be reacquainting yourself with the devastating final episodes of Six Feet Under, M*A*S*H or The Wonder Years. In that case, you may want to add "large tub of ice cream" and "family size box of tissues" to your pizza'n'chips shopping list.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2012/aug/17/tv-repeats-good-for-youRewatching Beloved TV Shows Is Good for Your Health, Science Says
A 2012 study resurfaced proving that watching reruns gives you more self-control, energy, and a boost of happiness.
The study was published by The University of Chicago Press in the Journal of Consumer Research, examining the effects of reconsumption experiences on the brain.
Even if you've seen Rachel and Ross fall in love hundreds of times on Friends or know every episode of Golden Girls by heart, including the theme song, watching reruns of your favorite shows never gets old. And now thanks to a 2012 study resurfacing, science researchers have given audiences an even better and more nostalgic excuse to binge feel-good TV series.
Just in time for the summer of peak TV, a study published by The University of Chicago Press in the Journal of Consumer Research is making the rounds on the Interwebs. Researchers examined how reconsumption experiences, like, say, re-reading a classic novel, watching reruns, or listening to a go-to breakup song over and over, affects the brain. And turns out, repeating experiences is not only comforting, it also gives you a boost of happiness.
"We find that consumers who chose to repeat hedonic experiences even just once are expressing and affirming their individual experience and its special meanings to them," concluded the study's authors Cristel Antonia Russell and Sidney J. Levy.
https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a27336010/rewatching-old-reruns-is-good-for-your-health-study/I knew rewatching Sean Bean movies en series had benefits
