Media versus meditation: A comparison of the stress-relieving benefits of multiple media experiences.

Abstract

Previous research on media prescriptions demonstrates that small doses of positively valenced media can support stress reduction. However, it is not yet known how such media exposures compare to traditional methods of stress reduction, such as meditation, or who such interventions most benefit. In this 4-week longitudinal experiment, 1,001 U.S. adults were randomly assigned to view one of four treatment conditions (professionally produced inspiring content, comedic content, guided meditation, or scrolling through self-selected mobile media content) or a no-media control group. Findings demonstrate a significant indirect effect of inspiring media content on stress reduction via media-induced hope. Importantly, this effect was comparable to that found in the guided meditation group. Further, moderation analyses suggested that inspiring media content reduced stress across participants with all levels of self-reported baseline stress, trait self-esteem, trait resilience, and age, though trends suggested that the intervention was especially helpful for older participants, as well as for those with higher baseline stress and self-esteem and lower resilience. Men and women experienced comparable benefits. Again, inspiring content evidenced similar patterns of effects as the meditation group. These results add to the growing body of evidence supporting the value of the media prescription paradigm generally and hope-inspiring content in particular. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)