YouTubers film themselves producing soft sounds, but recorded very closely so that the viewer has the impression that they are produced a few centimeters from their ear. — YuliaLisitsa/Shutterstock pic via ETX Studio
LONDON, Feb 5 — It’s been several years now that “ASMR” videos have become a category onto itself with endless quantities of videos. They provoke powerful emotions in some, and annoyance in others. British researchers sought to study them and their findings suggest that they can have a positive impact on the mental health of those who watch them.
“ASMR” is an acronym that stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response.” These somewhat complicated terms refer to a trend that appeared on the internet in the early 2010s. YouTubers are filming themselves making soft sounds but recorded very closely so that the viewer feels they are being made just a few centimetres from their ear.
Researchers at Northumbria University in England looked at the benefits of ASMR. They asked 64 people to watch an ASMR video to study their emotional state before and after viewing. Note that most of the participants in the study had watched them in the past. It turns out that these volunteers were more anxious by nature than the others and derived many psychological benefits from the ASMR videos. They even reported being less stressed after the experience.
An anti-stress tool but not for everyone
Researchers at Northumbria University in England looked at the benefits of ASMR. They asked 64 people to watch an ASMR video to study their emotional state before and after viewing. Note that most of the participants in the study had watched them in the past. It turns out that these volunteers were more anxious by nature than the others and derived many psychological benefits from the ASMR videos. They even reported being less stressed after the experience.
On the contrary, participants who had never watched an ASMR video before did not report less anxiety after the experiment. “This suggests that ASMR-experiencers also have greater predisposition for baseline state anxiety, which can be alleviated by watching ASMR videos,” the researchers state in the study, which was recently published in the scientific journal PLOS One.
These findings corroborate those of a 2018 study by researchers at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. At the time, they also found that ASMR could cause sensations of “tickling” and euphoria in some viewers, and that they made them feel less stressed. Despite all the attention that the internet is giving to ASMR, the scientific community has studied this phenomenon relatively little. It is therefore more than possible that we have more to find out about it. — ETX Studio