Watching videos starring cats can be good for health, research says

Videos showing cats with their heads stuck in plastic pots will garner thousands of views within hours. But why? Willing to investigate the effects of pussies that star in social networks, Jessica Myrick, a professor at Indiana University, conducted a study that lists three lines of thought that explain why animals are so popular on the web.

The researcher's results take into account the responses of 6, 795 respondents - of the participants, 90.4% are white and 88.4% women. According to Myrick, videos starring cats are capable of first serving as a "palliative" as a tranquilizer for times of stress. Another of the hypotheses raised is the most obvious one: we spend time with the little four-legged to procrastinate tasks, such as “the completion of writing an article”, exemplifies the teacher.

Finally, those watching cat-starred movies may be manifesting a certain personality trait; is that animals are seen as antisocial, and can mirror the behavior of an introspective subject. Myrick's statement is consistent given the interviewee's profiles: most of them are, in fact, introspective or timid - when asked about the mood of the past two weeks, however, participants said they were "happy."

Happiness and Guilt

Research says that levels of irritation, anxiety, guilt and sadness go down when we watch cat videos. Plus, positive emotions such as hope, happiness and contentment increase during an “online therapy at the expense of pussies”.

But not everything is perfect. Those who stave off an obligation tend to feel bad and think something like "I should finish my job, not waste hours laughing at a cat who plays the piano or complains during a sink bath." Videos that show dogs and other animals in funny situations are also good for their health, most of the time - we find thousands of cats online because there are more posts, Myrick points out.

Via TecMundo.