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Why do we watch the same TV series over and over again?
Psychology
Seeing a chapter of “Friends” that you have already seen a thousand times instead of something new is a pattern that many people adopt when it comes to watching television series
Sometimes choosing which series to watch can be tricky. There is so much on offer, so diverse, so many, that it can become overwhelming. It is then that many times we decide to return to what we already know. We ended up seeing a series that we have already seen other times. But this return has a psychological explanation, since this return to the known gives us a certain comfort.
“Do rewatching of a series we love because it is a safe bet, we are sure that we will have a good time and it reaffirms our good opinion about the product. We go back to feel the same positive emotions and we also discovered new aspects that we had overlooked », explains Marta Calderero, professor at the UOC’s Studies in Psychology and Education Sciences. But it’s not just that. In addition, the teacher explains that “the studies that have been carried out in this regard also indicate that we do rewatching parareduce the cognitive fatigue that causes us to have to decide between hundreds of options.
Although right now we have a very wide offer, it is that vastness that overwhelms us. For this reason, many times «we return to the familiar to avoid uncertainty and the risk of making a mistake when choosing something new. “The more options, the more doubts we may have and the more overwhelmed we can feel, so sometimes we prefer to opt for something that we already know and like,” adds the psychologist.
Elena Neira, professor at the UOC’s Information and Communication Sciences Studies, also comments that this safe value and convenience are essential reasons why we choose to return to a chapter of «Friends», for example, when we have dozens of new series at our fingertips: «By having so many new features, going back to series that we have already seen allows we do not face the dilemma of having to choose. We know the plot, we can get hooked on any episode without problems … The quintessence of comfort.
A waste of time?
But, although this return to the acquaintance makes us feel safe and makes things easier for us in many moments, it can also make us feel bad. Professor Calderero explains that watching a series again can cause us discomfort, since «it gives us the feeling that we are wasting time». Professor and researcher Ed O’Breid, from the University of Chicago, discovered in his study “Enjoy It Again: Repeat Experiences Are Less Repetitive than People Think” that, in general, people tend to underestimate the enjoyment of an activity already experienced and that’s why they opt for something new.
Even so, the satisfaction that we get from repeating the same action can in some cases be even higher, according to the study’s conclusions. “The data show that repetition is just as or more enjoyable than the novel alternative. So, based on these findings, we could conclude that the rewatching It is a great leisure proposal ”, explains Calderero.
The psychologist advises repeating a series, reading a book, seeing a gallery again, etc., “when we have little time and we want to relax. So we will take advantage of all that time to enjoy and disconnect, and we will avoid feeling frustrated for losing it looking for something new to do. He adds that experiencing something a second time allows you to “look at it more closely, see nuances, look at it from another perspective, or anticipate enjoyment.”