Online Art Can Quickly Boost Your Mood Like Real Museums, Researchers Find

Everyone has times when they feel down, be it from the stresses of life, bad news, or just being in a funk. While it would be ideal if we could pack our bags and head off on a vacation to tour the sights, sounds, and art the world has to offer, it’s often not possible.

Here’s some good news: viewing art online could be as beneficial to one’s well-being as wandering through the hallways of the Louvre, according to new research.

It’s not a new suggestion that looking at art helps reduce stress, but now, researchers at the University of Vienna and the Max Planck Institute of Empirical Aesthetics have found that even looking at paintings on the internet can have a similar effect as physically being in a museum.

MacKenzie Trupp, the first author of the study, explained that viewing art online could be an “untapped source of support” for the morale boost everyone so desperately craves and can be consumed as “bite-sized bits of meaning-making” as part of our daily lives.

To put the theory to the test, the team tasked 240 participants with viewing an interactive online exhibition of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies on Google Arts & Culture. After looking at the artwork, the subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire about their state of well-being.

Results showed that the average viewing time was just over two minutes, with participants looking at the famed painting from a span of 10 seconds to nearly nine minutes.

Amazingly, the team found that viewing one artwork on a smart device for such a short time had a “detectible positive effect” on one’s mood and anxiety levels. This morale boost was emphasized in those who were more receptive to viewing the art, dubbed by researchers as “esthetic responsiveness.”

The term refers to how people react to different esthetic stimuli, such as art and nature. The study’s results posited that individuals who have high levels of responsiveness to art benefitted more from the online art show as they had “more pleasurable and meaningful” experiences.

These findings could be a game-changer for those looking for easy ways to boost their mood throughout the day. Not to mention, it could help benefit those who are unable to leave their homes to go out to actual art galleries and museums.

[via New Atlas and Max Planck Institute of Empirical Aesthetics, images via various sources]