Keep Watching Those Cat Videos: They Boost Energy and Positivity

by Monica Joshi

From Grumpy Cat to compilation videos about funny cats, the internet phenomenon of watching cat videos has become a new pastime. Watching cats yawn, meow, play, snuggle with each other or even just exist and eat on screen can be a real relaxer. Especially when you're swamped with work or have just read another distressing story about yet another a mass shooter in the States. Getting a warm, fuzzy feeling after watching cute cat videos online may have an even more profound effect than you think.

According to a new study from Indiana University Media School, watching cat videos does more than just entertain: it boosts the viewer's energy and positive emotions, as well as decreases negative feelings.

The study, conducted by assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick, surveyed almost 7,000 people about their cat video viewing habits. It further demonstrated how it affects their moods.
Myrick defended her work by saying that:

“Some people may think watching online cat videos isn’t a serious enough topic for academic research, but the fact is that it’s one of the most popular uses of the Internet today. If we want to better understand the effects the Internet may have on us as individuals and on society, then researchers can’t ignore Internet cats anymore.”

It was published in the latest issue of Computers in Human Behavior. Lil Bub’s owner, Mike Bridavsky, who lives in Bloomington, helped distribute the survey via social media.

Among the possible effects Myrick hoped to explore were the effects of viewing cat videos online compared to the positive effects of pet therapy. She also wanted to explore whether some viewers actually feel worse after watching cat videos, because they feel guilty for putting off tasks they need to tackle.

Of the participants in the study, about 36 percent described themselves as cat people. About 60 percent said they liked both cats and dogs.

Participants in Myrick’s study reported that they were more energetic and felt more positive after watching cat-related online media than before. They also had fewer negative emotions, such as anxiety, annoyance and sadness, after watching those videos. They often view Internet cats at work or during studying, which suggests that they watched the videos while they wanted to de-stress or relax.

“Even if they are watching cat videos on YouTube to procrastinate or while they should be working, the emotional pay-off may actually help people take on tough tasks afterward.”

The study also showed that the pleasure they got from watching cat videos outweighed any guilt they felt about procrastinating. Cat owners and people with certain personality traits, such as agreeableness and shyness, were more likely to watch cat videos. In addition, about 25 percent of the cat videos they watched were ones they sought out; the rest were ones they happened upon.

The one slight bias in the study could have been that they were familiar with many so-called “celebrity cats,” such as Nala Cat and Henri, Le Chat Noir. However, overall, the response to watching cat videos was largely positive.

Myricks commented on the findings of the study:

“We all have watched a cat video online, but there is really little empirical work done on why so many of us do this, or what effects it might have on us. As a media researcher and online cat video viewer, I felt compelled to gather some data about this pop culture phenomenon.”

Internet data show there were more than 2 million cat videos posted on YouTube in 2014, with almost 26 billion views. Cat videos had more views per video than any other category of YouTube content. The most popular sites for viewing cat videos, the study determined, were Facebook, YouTube, Buzzfeed and I Can Has Cheezburger.

The results suggest that future work could explore how online cat videos might be used as a form of low-cost pet therapy. It might also be interesting to see if there could be a similar result from people watching other cute animal videos.