We do have more fun taking pictures
IT’S long been said that tourists or concert-goers who spend all their time taking pictures miss out on the real experience.
But it could be that those who are snap-happy have the last laugh after all.
Taking lots of pictures on cameras or a smartphone, in fact, enhances the enjoyment of the event for the photographer, according to research.
So those who are taking lots of pictures actively enjoy the event more than those who do not.
‘To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first extensive investigation examining how taking photos affects people’s enjoyment of their experiences,’ said Kristin Diehl, a researcher from the University of Southern California, along with her co-authors.
‘We show that, relative to not taking photos, photography can heighten enjoyment of positive experiences by increasing engagement.’
In the study, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, participants who took photos reported being more engaged in the activity.
‘One critical factor that has been shown to affect enjoyment is the extent to which people are engaged with the experience,’ the authors wrote. Taking photographs helps this because it naturally draws people into the experience more, they said. The researchers asked more than 2,000 people to take part in nine experiments.
In each test, they were asked to participate in an activity – ranging from going on a bus tour to eating in a food court – and either asked to take pictures or not.
Afterwards, they completed a survey to show how much fun they had during the task. In almost every case, people who were taking photographs reported higher levels of enjoyment.
But the research found that emotions were also amplified for unpleasant experiences, which were made worse by having to take photographs.
In one instance, participants went on a virtual safari and observed a pride of lions attacking a water buffalo, which most people did not enjoy. In that case, the photo-takers enjoyed it less than those who saw the same encounter but did not take pictures.
Taking photos did not appear to increase enjoyment when it interfered with the experience itself, for example having to handle bulky camera equipment.
The authors also found that this effect is not limited to using a camera. Participants in one experiment reported higher levels of enjoyment after just taking ‘mental’ pictures.