Seeing through New Eyes: An Experimental Investigation of the Benefits of Photography

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1 Journl of Bsic & Applied Sciences, 2015, 11, Seeing through New Eyes: An Experimentl Investigtion of the Benefits of Photogrphy Jime L. Kurtz * Jmes Mdison University, Hrrisonburg, VA 22807, USA Abstrct: This study exmined the ffective nd cognitive benefits of tking photogrphs of one s everydy surroundings. Thirty-eight undergrdute prticipnts were rndomly ssigned to either tke photogrphs in mindful, cretive wy; tke photogrphs in neutrl, fctul wy; or do count-your-blessings writing exercise, n ctivity tht is known to relibly increse mood [1]. Plnned contrsts reveled tht those tking mindful, cretive photogrphs were, on verge, in significntly better mood nd were significntly more pprecitive nd motivted thn those tking neutrl photogrphs. There were no significnt differences between either photogrphy condition nd the writing ctivity. These results suggest tht, when done thoughtfully, photogrphy cn be n effective wy of improving mood nd pprecition of everydy life. Keywords: Hppiness, svoring, pprecition, well-being, emotion, positive psychology. I believe in photogrphy s one mens of chieving n ultimte hppiness nd fith. Ansel Adms (1985) [2] In recent yers, psychologicl reserch hs estblished the effectiveness of severl cognitive nd behviorl strtegies people cn dopt to enhnce everydy life. These include performing cts of kindness, visulizing your best possible self, cultivting optimism, expressing grtitude to others, nd counting your blessings [1, 3, 4]. A primry reson why these strtegies re beneficil is becuse they pper to counterct the process of hedonic dpttion, in which experiences lose their emotionl intensity s result of repeted exposure [5, 6, 7]. Composing photogrph clls for some degree of focused ttention nd evlution of one s immedite environment. Photogrphers, be they professionl or mteur, ssess their environments for signs of beuty, mening, or vlue. In so doing, they my see things tht they normlly fil to notice nd recognize the unique, positive fetures of their everydy lives. Although the effects of photogrphy hve never been empiriclly tested, I hypothesize tht tking photogrphs of the plesnt but reltively unchnging fetures of one s dily environment my be nother strtegy for reping more pprecition nd enjoyment from one s surroundings. This study exmines the ffective effects of photogrphy, with the prediction tht tking photogrphs cn crete sense of enhnced pprecition, more motivtion nd energy, nd n increse in positive mood. *Address correspondence to this uthor t the 91 Est Grce St., Jmes Mdison University, Hrrisonburg, VA 22807, USA; Tel: ; Fx: ; E-mil: kurtzjl@jmu.edu ISSN: / E-ISSN: /15 This hypothesis is not s obvious s it my seem. In fct, there re severl resons to believe tht tking photogrphs my ctully detrct from positive experience. Imgine the stereotypic tourist, stnding before the Grnd Cnyon or the Eiffel Tower. Rther thn tking in the scene before him, he is fumbling with his unwieldy cmer, thinking bout focus, shutter speed, nd the position of the sun. Similrly, the person who is lwys snpping pictures of friends t prties is often disengged in the fun ctivities going on round him. Therefore, sometimes the ct of tking photogrphs my ctully detrct from the experience t hnd. In fct, one recent study [8] found tht those who took photogrphs of the works they viewed in n rt museum showed poorer recll of those works compred to people who didn't tke photogrphs. Essentilly, cmer cn serve s n externl hrd drive for our memories. In light of this, I hypothesize tht benefits result from certin kind of photogrphy, one in which people re using the cmer s tool to help them locte beuty nd mening in their everydy environments. As Ansel Adms put it, Both the grnd nd the intimte spects of nture cn be reveled in the expressive [itlics dded] photogrph. Both cn stir enduring ffirmtions nd discoveries, nd cn surely help the specttor in his serch for identifiction with the vst world of nturl beuty nd the wonder surrounding him. [1] In other words, mindful photogrphy with the pproprite gols, nd subject mtter - cn be one wy of promoting both pprecition of one s immedite 2015 Lifescience Globl

2 2 Journl of Bsic & Applied Sciences, 2015 Volume 11 Jime L. Kurtz environment nd n increse in positive mood. And indeed, Henkel found tht prticipnts instructed to tke more detil-oriented photogrphs of the rt they were viewing (i.e, brushstroke or smll detil) showed enhnced recll, presumbly becuse they were processing the works more deeply [8]. The present study employed methodology tht is frequently used when exmining the effectiveness of hppiness-incresing strtegies, in which prticipnts re rndomly ssigned to prticulr ctivity, perform tht ctivity on their own, nd then report their mood nd relted outcomes for period of time rnging from severl dys to severl weeks [2, 4]. For the ske of comprison, nd to llow for high degree of psychologicl relism, similr methodology ws used here. I hypothesized tht prticipnts tking mindful pictures in positive, pprecitive mindset would be in better mood nd show pprecition thn those tking pictures in more neutrl wy. A second im of this study ws to compre the effects of photogrphy to the effects of counting your blessings technique tht is well-estblished mood enhncer [1, 9]. METHOD Prticipnts Thirty-eight college students (11 mle, 27 femle) prticipted in exchnge for course credit. Response rtes for ech of the four time points were 38 (100%), 37 (97%), 36 (95%), nd 38 (100%), respectively. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE Initil Session Prticipnts reported to group session in the lbortory. They provided consent nd were given n initil questionnire, which contined the Subjective Hppiness Scle (SHS) [10], four-item mesure of dispositionl hppiness ( = 0.87); the Grtitude Questionnire 6 (GQ-6) [11], six-item mesure of trit grtitude ( =.0.60); nd the Mindful Attention Awreness Scle (MAAS) [12], 15-item mesure of trit mindfulness ( = 0.76). They lso provided demogrphic informtion. After completing this questionnire, prticipnts were given pcket of study mterils. The version of mterils they received ws mens of rndomly ssigning them to one of three experimentl conditions: the mindful photo condition, the neutrl photo condition, or count your blessings condition. There were four sets of study mterils, one for ech dy they were to do their respective exercise. Experimentl Exercises The four experimentl sessions were done on pressigned dys, on the prticipnts own time. They received n emil reminder the night before, to ensure tht they would remember to do the exercise nd complete the questionnires. Prior to doing the ctivities, those in the mindful photo condition sw the following: Sometime tody, set side t lest 15 minutes. Tke your digitl cmer nd go for wlk round cmpus. Look round for the THREE BEST exmples of cmpus rchitecture nd tke three pictures (one ech) of these three exmples. Imgine tht your pictures will be in the cmpus ctlog tht gets sent out to prospective students. Try to mke your pictures cretive, beutiful, nd meningful to you. Try to cpture the best view of the subject mtter. Do not rush through this exercise. Insted, try to tke everything in nd tke the best pictures tht you cn. The topic cmpus rchitecture ws replced with your friends, your nturl environment, nd wht is most personlly meningful to you on cmpus for the second, third, nd fourth sessions, respectively. Those in the neutrl photo condition sw the following instructions: Sometime tody, set side t lest 15 minutes. Tke your digitl cmer nd go for wlk round cmpus. Look round for three exmples of bike rcks on cmpus nd tke three pictures (one ech) of these three exmples. Imgine tht your pictures will be prt of report bout cmpus mintennce. Try to mke your pictures ccurte, neutrl, nd informtive. Try to cpture the best view of the subject mtter. Do not rush through this exercise. Insted, try to tke the best pictures tht you cn. Similr to the mindful photo condition, the topic bike rcks ws replced with dorm lounges, benches, nd cmpus fcility of your choosing for

3 Benefits of Photogrphy Journl of Bsic & Applied Sciences, 2015 Volume 11 3 the second, third, nd fourth sessions, respectively. These topics controlled for the effects of being outside nd being in socil setting, which were chrcteristic of the photogrphy topics in the mindful photo condition. Twice week for two weeks, prticipnts in the count your blessings condition red the following. Sometime tody, set side t lest 15 minutes. Turn off ll distrctions nd write for 15 minutes bout the positive qulities of cmpus rchitecture. You cn write either in prose or in list. Don t worry bout grmmr or spelling. Just focus on wht is beutiful nd meningful to you. Do not rush through this exercise. Insted, try to relx nd reflect. The writing topic for ech session vried to mtch those of the mindful photo condition. After ech exercise, ll prticipnts completed one-item mood scle, in which they circled one dot on 26-point dot scle (1 = very negtive, 26 = very positive). This scle ws used s wy of minimizing nchoring effects over multiple dministrtions of the mood scle. Prticipnts lso completed items regrding motivtion ( How motivted do you feel right now? ), energy ( How energized do you feel right now?) nd pprecition ( How pprecitive do you feel right now? ). They lso reported how bsorbing, chllenging, nd plesnt the ctivity ws, nd how skillful they felt while doing it. Responses were given on seven-point Likert scles (1 = not t ll, 3 = modertely, 7 = very much). The fourth nd finl session ws followed by second dministrtion of the SHS ( = 0.89), GQ-6 ( = 0.58), nd MAAS ( = 0.85) questionnires, to llow for comprisons with bseline mesures. Prticipnts turned in their mterils nd were debriefed. RESULTS I exmined pretest mesures of hppiness, mindfulness, nd grtitude, which were dministered prior to rndom ssignment, predicting no significnt differences by condition. This prediction ws confirmed (ll p s > 1). There were lso no significnt gender differences on ny of the vribles, nd therefore gender is not discussed further. To control for dispositionl effects of hppiness, bseline SHS score ws used s covrite in ll nlyses described below. Rtings of mood, pprecition, energy, nd motivtion were correlted ( = 0.75, 0.62, 0.64, nd 0.63, respectively) nd therefore verged cross the four time points. In order to test specific hypotheses, I conducted three plnned contrsts [13]. To test the effect of the mindful photo condition s compred to the neutrl photo condition, I ssigned weights of 1, -1, nd 0 to the mindful photo, neutrl photo, nd count your blessings conditions, respectively. This contrst ws significnt for the mood item (t (35) = 2.73, p <.01), the pprecition item (t (35) = 1.74, p <.05), nd the motivtion item (t (35) = 2.45, p <.05). All effects were in the predicted direction, with mindful photo prticipnts scoring higher on ll mesures. See Tble 1 for mens nd stndrd devitions of these mesures. A second plnned contrst ssigned weights of 2, - 1, nd -1 to the mindful photo, neutrl photo, nd count Tble 1: Adjusted Mens nd Stndrd Devitions for Mood, Apprecition, nd Motivtion Mesures, Averged over Four Time Points, s Function of Experimentl Condition MP NP CB Mood (3.89) (3.93) b (3.88) Apprecition 5.49 (0.94) 4.80 (0.79) b 5.27 (0.76) Motivtion 5.10 (0.94) Energized 4.92 (0.97) Absorbing 5.81 (1.41) 4.15 (0.97) b 4.47 (0.93) 4.19 (0.97) 4.37 (0.96) b 4.72 (1.38) 5.49 (1.39) Chllenging 2.97 (1.33) 3.86 (1.31) 3.59 (1.33) Skilled 4.89 (1.66) 4.41 (1.65) 4.50 (1.63) Plesnt 6.70 (1.30) b 5.46 (1.27) Note: MP = Mindful photo condition, NP = Neutrl photo condition, CB = Counting your blessing condition. Mens with different subscripts re significntly different (p < 0.05) using plnned contrsts (1.29)

4 4 Journl of Bsic & Applied Sciences, 2015 Volume 11 Jime L. Kurtz Tble 2: Mens nd Stndrd Devitions on Pre-test nd Post-test Mesures s Function of Experimentl Condition MP NP CB Subjective Hppiness Scle Pretest 4.63 (0.97) 5.11 (0.74) 4.77 (1.27) Posttest 4.51 (0.97) 4.82 (1.11) 4.75 (1.29) Mindful Attention Awreness Scle Pretest 3.54 (0.48) 3.74 (0.63) 3.97 (0.53) Posttest 3.58 (0.92) 3.79 (0.90) 3.64 (0.64) Grtitude Scle 6 Pretest 5.89 (0.70) 6.25 (0.47) 6.05 (0.63) Posttest 5.78 (0.83) 6.06 (0.56) 5.91 (0.57) Note: MP = Mindful photo condition, NP = Neutrl photo condition, CB = Counting your blessing condition. your blessings conditions, respectively, to exmine the effect of the mindful photo condition ginst the other two combined. This ws significnt for the composite mood item, t (35) = 2.03, p <.05. Contrst nlyses reveled no significnt effects between the mindful photo nd the count your blessings conditions or between the neutrl photo nd the count your blessings conditions. Reports of how bsorbing, chllenging, nd plesnt the ctivities were lso verged cross four time points ( = 0.72, 0.66, 0.67, respectively), s well s how skillful prticipnts felt during the ctivities ( = 0.77), nd were tested using the sme nlyses. Plnned contrsts reveled tht mindful photo prticipnts rted their ctivity s significntly more plesnt (t (35) = 2.48, p <.05) nd bsorbing (t (35) = 1.68, p <.05) thn those in the neutrl photo condition. There were no significnt differences on perceived skill or chllenge, nd no significnt differences on ny of these mesures between either photo condition nd the count your blessings condition. See Tble 1. To exmine dispositionl chnges in hppiness, grtitude, nd mindfulness, I conducted 2 (Time) x 3 (Condition) repeted mesures ANOVAs for SHS, GQ- 6, nd MAAS scores t pretest nd posttest. Contrry to predictions, there were no significnt effects on these mesures, suggested effects re more momentry thn dispositionl. See Tble 2 for mens nd stndrd devitions. DISCUSSION The present study hd two primry ims. First, it sought to exmine the ffective impct of photogrphy, both with positive nd neutrl emphsis. Second, it compred the effect of photogrphy to tht of n empiriclly-supported hppiness-incresing strtegy: counting one s blessings in writing exercise [1]. Results reveled tht those who were tking photogrphs while looking for mening nd beuty found the ctivity more plesnt nd bsorbing nd lso reported significntly higher mood nd higher levels of pprecition nd motivtion thn those who were sked to tke more neutrl, informtive photogrphs. In other words, the wy person engges in photogrphy seems criticl. Results suggest tht both mindful photogrphy nd counting one s blessings seem to be similrly effective t enhncing pprecition. One might rgue tht the photogrphy exercise tkes more time nd effort thn writing, which cn be done nywhere, t ny time. However, these results suggest otherwise. The mindful photo condition ws not only rted s the most plesnt nd bsorbing ctivity, but ws lso the lest chllenging. While these results re not significnt, they do suggest tht those who were sked to tke pictures were not prticulrly overburdened, nd those in the mindful photo condition ctully enjoyed the ctivity. To my knowledge, this is the first study to exmine the psychologicl benefits of photogrphy. Future studies could further ddress questions of implementtion. Positive interventions re more effective when certin fit exists between the person nd the ctivity, such tht it feels uthentic nd enjoyble [4]. Therefore, it is resonble to ssume tht not everyone would enjoy nd benefit from mindful photogrphy. In ddition, the current mnipultion ws

5 Benefits of Photogrphy Journl of Bsic & Applied Sciences, 2015 Volume 11 5 somewht miniml, with prticipnts tking three photogrphs of ech topic, twice week for two weeks. With the prcticlly limitless memory cpcity of digitl cmers, person hoping to implement this strtegy could esily tke these findings to the extreme, such tht they re so busy tking photogrphs tht they cese to be fully present in nd pprecitive of the moment. As with most hppiness-incresing strtegies, the pproprite dosge needs to be considered [4]. A limittion of this study is tht it is unknown whether this incresed motivtion trnslted into behviorl chnges. For instnce, did prticipnts in the mindful photo condition ultimtely do more to tke dvntge of their environments, such s going for wlk or plnning ctivities with their friends? Although other positive intervention studies [14] hve noted such behviorl chnges, the present methodology did not llow for these dt to be collected. In sum, this study suggests tht mindful photogrphy should be dded to the growing list of effortful strtegies people cn employ to increse their enjoyment nd pprecition of everydy life [1, 3, 4]. When used s tool for ssessing nd cpturing beuty nd mening in one s everydy life, tking photogrphs cn enhnced momentry mood, pprecition, nd motivtion s effectively s the wellestblished prctice of writing bout life s blessings. REFERENCES [1] Emmons RA, McCullough ME. Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimentl investigtion of grtitude nd subjective well-being in dily life. J Pers Soc Psychol 2003; 84: [2] Adms A. Ansel Adms: An utobiogrphy. New York: Bulfinch [3] Seligmn MEP, Steen TA, Prk N, Peterson, C. Positive psychology progress: Empiricl vlidtion of interventions. Am Psycho 2005; 60: [4] Sheldon KM & Lyubomirsky S. How to increse nd sustin positive emotion: The effects of expressing grtitude nd visulizing best possible selves. J Posit Psychol 2006; 1: [5] Brickmn P, Cmpbell DT. Hedonic reltivism nd plnning the good society. In: Appley MH, editor. Adpttion-level theory. New York: Acdemic Press 1971; p [6] Prducci A. Hppiness, plesure, nd judgment: The contextul theory nd its pplictions. Mhwh, NJ: Erlbum [7] Wilson TD, Gilbert DT. Explining wy: A model of ffective dpttion. Perspect Psychol Sci 2008; 3: [8] Henkel LA. Point-nd-shoot memories: The influence of tking photos on memory for museum tour. Psychol Sci 2014; 25: [9] Frttroli J. Experimentl disclosure nd its modertors: A met-nlysis. Psychol Bull 2006; 132: [10] Lyubomirsky S, Lepper HS. A mesure of subjective hppiness: Preliminry relibility nd construct vlidtion. Soc Indic Res 1999; 46: [11] McCullough ME, Emmons RA, Tsng J. The grteful disposition: A conceptul nd empiricl topogrphy. J Pers Soc Psychol 2002; 82: [12] Brown, KW, Ryn RM. The benefits of being present: Mindfulness nd its role in psychologicl well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol 2003; 84: [13] Rosenthl R, Rosnow RL, Rubin DB. Contrsts nd effect sizes in behviorl reserch: A conceptul pproch. Cmbridge: Cmbridge University Press [14] Kurtz JL. Looking to the future to pprecite the present: The benefits of perceived temporl scrcity. Psychol Sci 2008; 19: