Mental Health: The Unexpected Benefits Of Watching Sports On Television
As the Paris 2024 Olympics are in full swing, millions of viewers are watching the performances of the world's best athletes on their TV screens. If you feel guilty about sitting in front of your television, a recent study from Anglia Ruskin University in England should put your mind at ease. It has indeed demonstrated the unsuspected benefits of watching sports... on television!
Sports are good for morale, even on television!
You probably already know that regular physical activity is good for your health and morale. But would you have imagined that you can enjoy the positive effects of sports on mental well-being simply by being a spectator of a sports competition?
A survey conducted by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England revealed that watching sports on television contributes to the viewer's mental well-being. The positive effect on morale is not as strong as practicing physical activity yourself, but it is indeed real!
The television broadcast is as effective as a match in the stadium.
To reach this conclusion, the research team led by Dr. Helen Keyes from the School of Psychology and Sport Science at Anglia Ruskin University relied on data from a national survey. As part of the Taking Part survey initiated by the UK government in 2019, data were collected from 7,209 people aged 16 to 84.
Volunteers had to answer a questionnaire about their level of satisfaction and loneliness when participating in a sporting event, either live in a stadium or on television from their couch. It appeared that watching sports on television improves mental well-being as much as attending the stadium.
In both cases, the sporting competition allows one to escape from daily life, strengthen their sense of belonging to a group of supporters, and discuss the event during or after the competition.
Sporting events help combat loneliness and anxiety.
The recent study from Anglia Ruskin University in England revealed that watching sports on TV offers multiple mental health benefits.
Regardless of the discipline, from football to figure skating to handball, watching sports competitions from your couch allows you to:
• decrease feelings of loneliness.
• reduce depressive symptoms and anxiety.
• improve the viewer's mental well-being.
The positive effect is greater with the most popular sports.
If you have doubts about the conclusions of this British survey, note that another study conducted in Japan in 2021 on more than 21,000 elderly people had already established a link between mental well-being and watching sports on television.
In this other study, Japanese researchers found that the level of spectator satisfaction is higher when they watch a popular sport in their country, such as football in our country or sumo competitions in Japan.
The explanation for this phenomenon is simple: the more a sport is known and appreciated by the population, the more it promotes social cohesion and encourages interactions with others. In other words, the most followed sporting events offer a good topic of conversation, and these discussions are beneficial for morale.
Is it necessary to specify? In the event of a victory, the happiness of the viewers is even greater. The positive effects, both socially and emotionally, are multiplied. But whether your team wins or loses, watching sports on TV is good for your mental health.
You now have an additional good reason to follow the Paris 2024 Olympics on television ;-) And if this global event makes you want to put on your sneakers and do some sports, it will be even better for your physical and mental health!
