Positive News Articles Can Emotionally Buffer Impact Of Negative Stories
Viewing kind acts, versus merely amusing acts, was especially effective in helping participants retain beliefs about the goodness of others

According to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kathryn Buchanan from the University of Essex and colleague Gillian Sandstrom from the University of Sussex, UK, people who saw the news about kindness among people after consuming news about a terrorist attack or other immoral acts felt less negative emotions and retained more belief in the goodness of humanity.
The authors split 1,800 study participants into different groups. Across all the groups, participants were shown one- to three-minute-long video news clips or given brief news stories to read: news reporting on a recent UK-based terrorist attack or similar ("Immorality" group); reports of kind acts performed in response to the terrorist attack or unrelated kind acts ("Kindness" group); lighthearted, unserious material ("Amusement" group); and content from the Immorality group plus either the Kindness ("Immorality and Kindness") or the Amusement ("Immorality and Amusement") group.
The "Immorality" group participants reported both significant increases in negative emotion and significant decreases in positive emotion, as well as more negative perceptions of humanity and society. In comparison, "Immorality and Kindness" participants reported relatively lower increases in negative emotion and lower decreases-or even significant increases-in positive emotion.
"Immorality and Kindness" participants also reported significantly more positive perceptions of humanity than those in the "Immorality" group. The "Immorality and Kindness" group reported more effective mitigation of the negative effects of immorality than the "Immorality and Amusement" group, both in terms of increases in positive emotion and perceptions of society.
The results suggest that positive news can help provide an emotional buffer against negative news. Viewing kind acts, versus merely amusing acts, was especially effective in helping participants retain beliefs about the goodness of others.
The authors hope their results will push the media to incorporate more positive coverage, as well as constructive or solution-oriented framing for complex, important issues.
The authors add: "News stories featuring the best of humanity take the sting out of items exploring the worst of humanity. This allows people to believe to maintain a core belief that is crucial for good mental health: that the world and the people in it are fundamentally good." (ANI)
Around The World
Recent
Novel Approaches For Anticipating Outcomes In Pregnancies With Foetal Complications
Improved prediction of which pregnancies are likely to result in stillbirth, neonatal death, or extremely preterm delivery will aid in identifying the...
ISKCON's World Holy Name Week And Bhadra Poornima Celebration
The celebration concludes along with over 15,000 Bhagavata Purana Sets distributed ...
Amrita University Unveils Groundbreaking Research Projects During Amma's Birthday Celebration
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) —spiritual leader, humanitarian and visionary—was born on 3rd October, 1953 in a remote coastal village in Kerala...
Genetics Helps Explain Childhood Cancer: Study
The findings, which will help with genetic counselling were published in The Lancet Oncology....
The Power Of Mindfulness: A Secret Weapon For Competitive Exam Success
Being fully present when studying, rather than letting the mind wander, can lead to more efficient learning and better recall during exams...
Spiritual Well-Being And Mental Health
Discussing the connection between spiritual well-being and mental health and exploring practices that promote both ...