Remember the photographs of yore? They were elaborate and expensive affairs that got snapped only during some milestone events. But today, photographs flow with the moments and seem to only ask for some space on your hard drive.
"You hear that you shouldn't take all these photos and interrupt the experience, and it's bad for you, and we're not living in the present moment," says Kristin Diehl, associate professor of marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Diehl's team of scientists got involved in nine experiments in the lab and in the field, examining whether people liked their lives' greatest moments when they clicked them. They found, to their vast surprise, that photographing their happy moments do make people enjoy their lives more---not less!
"What we find is you actually look at the world slightly differently, because you're looking for things you want to capture, that you may want to hang onto," Diehl explains. "That gets people more engaged in the experience, and they tend to enjoy it more."
In one experiment, about 200 participants got on to a double-decker bus to tour Philadelphia. There were two groups, both forbidden from using cell phones. However, one tour gave everyone digital cameras and encouraged the members to take photographs. One group snapped their experiences and reported that they really enjoyed them and seemed engaged in them much more than the other group.
The reasons are not too tough to document. When you click, you direct your attention at something and enhance your enjoyment of it. You tend to revel in archaeological museums, even if you had thought they were boring. "People look longer at things they want to photograph," Diehl says. They report liking the exhibits more, too.
Surprisingly, photography even stokes your taste buds. Those who took three photos while eating lunch tended to be more involved in their meals than others who did not take photographs.
What exactly is the magic behind shooting photographs? Not the physical act of clicking them, but just the plan to take the snaps---even if you end up not taking them. "If you want to take mental photos, that works the same way," Diehl says. "Thinking about what you would want to photograph also gets you more engaged."
However, ultimately, it is not just the act of whipping out the camera and clicking photographs that help you to enjoy it. "That kind of technology we don't think will have any effect," Diehl says. "It's when you actively decide what you what to take photos of that you get more engaged."
