Emily Chan
In the world’s first study of its kind, scientists have proven that “doomscrolling” is bad for our health. Doomscrolling is the habitual act of searching for negative news stories on social media, such as shootings, conspiracies, corruption, and war.
Researchers from Flinders University warn that doomscrolling promotes existential issues that can impact our outlook on humanity and the meaning of life. It makes people feel more anxious, suspicious, and distrustful of others.
“Viewing negative news on social media has become a source of vicarious trauma, where someone has a negative psychological impact even though they did not experience the trauma themselves,” said Reza Shabahang, the lead author of the study from the College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work.
“By being exposed to images and information about traumatic events, people have been found to experience symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) such as anxiety and despair.”
Shabahang and colleagues surveyed over 800 university students from two different cultures — the Western individualistic culture of the U.S. and the Eastern collective culture of Iran.
The researchers wanted to explore how the consumption of negative news on social media affected people’s thoughts and feelings regarding their existence.
Participants were asked questions on how often they doomscrolled through social media, how anxious they felt about their existence, how they felt about humanity, and whether they believed the world was a fair place.
The research team found that doomscrolling was linked to existential anxiety in both American and Iranian individuals.
Additionally, doomscrolling was a significant predictor of misanthropy, or the dislike of people, in Iranian participants.
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