Taking photos will boost your enjoyment of experiences, researchers say

< div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" > < a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-atujb_ZiS-4/V5Y-ZoKKFeI/AAAAAAAADyY/rU-XeK46UloH95So84uRAMQ2Ddl1ZNr2ACK4B/s1600/ThinkstockPhotos-499173860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" > < img border="0" height="416" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-atujb_ZiS-4/V5Y-ZoKKFeI/AAAAAAAADyY/rU-XeK46UloH95So84uRAMQ2Ddl1ZNr2ACK4B/s640/ThinkstockPhotos-499173860.jpg" width="640" / > < /a > < /div > The last time I went to the Thames to enjoy London's New Year's Eve firework display, I ended up watching it on a little screen. Everyone around me was holding up their phones, taking pictures of the pretty light-filled sky, obscuring my view in the process. I scoffed privately at their inanity – why couldn't they just enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture it in a megabyte? < br / > < br / > My scorn might have been misplaced. Based on < a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/111/2/119/" > their series of nine studies < /a > published in the & nbsp; < i > Journal of Personality and Social Psychology < /i > , a team of US psychologists has concluded that taking photographs enhances our enjoyment of events, likely because it increases our sense of immersion. < br / > < br / > Led by Kristin Diehl at the University of Southern California, the research featured several field studies, including people on a city bus tour, diners at a farmers market and visitors to a museum. In each case, hal...

Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - July 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Research Digest Source Type: blogs