Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students
This study investigated the impact of a kindness intervention on Instagram on innovation and empathy among 50 participants. Divided into a kindness group (N = 25), instructed to post kind comments, and a control group (N = 25) with no such instructions, participants posted comments for three weeks....
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2024-03-01
|
Series: | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958823000957 |
_version_ | 1797287553265565696 |
---|---|
author | Beatriz M. Brandao Julie M. Fratantoni |
author_facet | Beatriz M. Brandao Julie M. Fratantoni |
author_sort | Beatriz M. Brandao |
collection | DOAJ |
description | This study investigated the impact of a kindness intervention on Instagram on innovation and empathy among 50 participants. Divided into a kindness group (N = 25), instructed to post kind comments, and a control group (N = 25) with no such instructions, participants posted comments for three weeks. The intervention's effect on innovation, defined as abstract thinking and idea generation, and empathy were assessed at baseline and after the intervention. Results revealed a significant interaction effect between the intervention and innovation, with a trend towards increased innovation in the kindness group. No significant changes in empathy were observed. These findings suggest a complex relationship between social media-based kindness interventions and cognitive skills like innovation, highlighting the need for further research in this domain. This finding is the first step in investigating how to leverage social media to positively affect prosocial behavior and cognitive skills. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:36:01Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-378db3b6516147619493187e748b2518 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2451-9588 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:36:01Z |
publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | Article |
series | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
spelling | doaj.art-378db3b6516147619493187e748b25182024-03-02T04:54:31ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior Reports2451-95882024-03-0113100362Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college studentsBeatriz M. Brandao0Julie M. Fratantoni1Rice University, Department of Psychological Sciences, Houston, TX, United States; Corresponding author.Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, TX, Dallas, United States; Corresponding author.This study investigated the impact of a kindness intervention on Instagram on innovation and empathy among 50 participants. Divided into a kindness group (N = 25), instructed to post kind comments, and a control group (N = 25) with no such instructions, participants posted comments for three weeks. The intervention's effect on innovation, defined as abstract thinking and idea generation, and empathy were assessed at baseline and after the intervention. Results revealed a significant interaction effect between the intervention and innovation, with a trend towards increased innovation in the kindness group. No significant changes in empathy were observed. These findings suggest a complex relationship between social media-based kindness interventions and cognitive skills like innovation, highlighting the need for further research in this domain. This finding is the first step in investigating how to leverage social media to positively affect prosocial behavior and cognitive skills.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958823000957CognitionEmpathyInnovationKindnessSocial mediaInstagram |
spellingShingle | Beatriz M. Brandao Julie M. Fratantoni Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students Computers in Human Behavior Reports Cognition Empathy Innovation Kindness Social media |
title | Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
title_full | Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
title_fullStr | Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
title_full_unstemmed | Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
title_short | Social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
title_sort | social media kindness intervention increases innovation in college students |
topic | Cognition Empathy Innovation Kindness Social media |
url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958823000957 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT beatrizmbrandao socialmediakindnessinterventionincreasesinnovationincollegestudents AT juliemfratantoni socialmediakindnessinterventionincreasesinnovationincollegestudents |