Culture
New research shows why people like to reread books, watch movies, and why they prefer to experience the same emotions over and over again. This is not an addiction or “ritual” behavior, but a conscious effort to better understand “learned information”, as well as to reflect on one's own spiritual growth through a prism a famous book, movie, or place.
Cristel Russell, a consumer behavior researcher at an American university, and her colleagues interviewed 23 people to identify the main reasons for what they call “repetitive” consumption.” As described in an article in Consumer Research, researchers have found that “reconsumption” is not only nostalgic attempts to return to experiences, but also an active search for new meaning , one that has great emotional significance.
“Because reexperiencing emotions allows you to look at yourself through the same lens but with different eyes, it has a therapeutic effect,” says Russell. “As long as a person is actively experiencing a repeat experience (and this is not a passive, uncontrollable addiction), there are many opportunities.”
For example, one study participant was a church minister who regularly re-reads the Bible. He noted that he sometimes interprets different passages in different ways, so he often changes his views, which should be expressed publicly. “He sees this as a sign of growth,” Russell continues.
The authors of the study also emphasized that their conclusions are supported by the claims of German philosopher Martin Heidegger, who in 1953 argued that repetition makes it possible to achieve understanding your personal past. Moreover, repeated consumption causes a contrast between our past and our present self-perception. We remember how we interpreted events in the past, and we differentiate between how we perceive them now.
“Re-consumption” can also have a profound therapeutic effect. “Psychotherapists consider repeated experience as a way to cleanse a person from emotional excesses,” explain the authors of the study. Repeated experience allows a person to find the suppressed consequences of traumatic events. Understanding this led to the creation of a special method of therapy where patients could reproduce the experience in a controlled environment. For example, this method helps to get rid of post-traumatic disorder.
For example, one of the survey participants noted that she regularly re-reads the book “Bridges of Madison County” in order to experience the same experience. She explained that “as soon as I start to feel bad for some reason, I need to reread this book, cry well, and clean up, then I feel better.” Scientists have explained that the book allows a woman to free herself from excessive amounts of sadness.
Russell noted that the results obtained are important for marketing. “Marketers are always striving to support new experiences. We were able to demonstrate that even old experiences can be perceived as something new, opening up new perspectives,” she wrote. “In addition, many business sectors are “restarting” (reprinting old classics, old movies, etc.), so we show them how consumers can respond to such experiences” .
She stressed that the study also has psychological consequences. That is; reading books, watching movies again and visiting the same places should not make you feel awkward, because in fact, it has a therapeutic effect and should be encouraged. “In an age of progress and novelty, we seem to have begun to forget that repeating experiences is normal.”