Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: Determining Changes in Happiness Before and After Watching Positive Videos

Overview

Objectives/Goals Sadness can be a problem among junior high students. One way to decrease sadness among this group was found in this experiment. The objective of this study was to determine the difference in happiness before and after watching three different types of positive videos: a comedy, a friendship and a romantic video. The hypothesis stated that the comedy video would increase happiness the most because of the increase in endorphins when a person laughs. Methods/Materials Eight 7th grade subjects were used for this experiment, including seven girls and 1 boy. Two trials were conducted on different days. During each trial, four of the subjects watched all three videos. Each video was viewed on a different day. The other four subjects watched no videos and just rested during the testing time, which was two minutes in length. Prior to watching each video or resting, each subject was given a test which consisted of 5 questions which would rate their happiness. After watching the video or resting, the subject took the test again to see if their happiness changed and how much, if it did. Results The results of this experiment showed that watching the comedy video increased the subjects happiness the most. The average of the differences for the comedy video for both trials was 2.625, for the friendship video it was 2.125, for the romantic video it was .875, and for the control group it was 0. The results correlated with the purpose because results told of the averages of the differences for each video. Conclusions/Discussion The hypothesis was proven right. If a junior high student is unhappy and they are choosing to watch a video to increase their happiness, this experiment would indicate that the video they need to choose would be a comedy. Watching this video will produce endorphins, also known as the "happy chemical", in their body which will cause relaxation and good mood through positive physiological and biochemical changes. These changes will cause a person's happiness to increase.

Competition history

• CSEF 2009 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0308

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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