Watching a movie or series over and over again is more common than you think. If by having various options available on streaming platforms, you end up watching the same thing almost always, psychology experts assure that this may have an important relationship with your emotional management.
The reason is that a well-known movie or series can offer you something “extra” that a new production does not guarantee: predictability. You already know what will happen, how the story will evolve and what its outcome will be, so you can enjoy it without feeling uncertain about an unknown plot.
Especially on days full of personal changes, anxiety or fatigue, this fact generates emotional well-being, good stress management and comfort for the viewer.
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Why rewatching a series can help manage emotions?
Cristel Antonia Russell, researcher at the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University; and Sidney J. Levy, professor and seminal scholar (died 2018), conducted a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
This analyzed why people see the same thing over and over again, that is, the voluntary re-consumption of productions. The research suggests that this fact does not necessarily constitute passive repetition.
According to both researchers, people can turn again to certain productions to regulate their emotions, face transition periods and reconnect with aspects of their own identity.
Familiarity plays a central role: knowing what will happen allows the person to focus more on enjoying the experience than on trying to anticipate the next event. That's why a favorite series can become a kind of safe space that's easy to return to.
Nostalgia also explains why we repeat our favorite movies
A film can be associated with a certain stage of life, with certain people or with a specific sensation. In this sense, that nostalgia could lead the viewer to remember how he felt when he saw it for the first time.
In this sense, certain productions function as a kind of “emotional anchor”, capable of connecting the present with previous experiences, the happiness felt at that time and a safe space to reconnect with emotional ties or important moments.
And there is another interesting aspect: although the film remains exactly the same, the person watching it “is not the same.”
A production seen at 20 years old can provoke different interpretations when watched again at 30 or 40. Some dialogues take on another meaning, certain characters can be understood in a different way and situations that previously seemed secondary can take on greater importance.
This means that, despite repeating a movie or series, it does not mean that you will experience the same thing.
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