Research results show that lonely people may think of their favorite characters from dramas and anime as real friends in their minds
Friends can influence our personality, behavior, and self-beliefs. This is true not only for friends in the real world but also for fictional characters in dramas and anime, and by following the story you can share the same experience as the characters. As a result, it has been reported that it can sometimes have the same effect as having an actual friend. A new research team from Ohio State University has reported that ``In people who suffer from loneliness, the boundaries between how they judge others in the real world and others in fiction become blurred.''
boundary between real and fictional others in the medial prefrontal cortex is blurred in lonelier individuals | Cerebral Cortex | Oxford Academic
For the lonely, a blurred line between real and fictional people
The research team attached an
After confirming the characteristics and name presented, the subjects answered ``yes'' or ``no'' as to whether the displayed characteristics described the person's personality. The research team analyzed brain activity in the subjects' prefrontal cortex at the same time they answered the questions.
According to the research team, the subjects selected for this experiment were fans of 'Game of Thrones.' In addition, research team member Dylan Wagner said, ``Game of Thrones is ideal for this study because it features many characters and has a structure that makes it easy to empathize with them.''
by
The research team compared when the subjects were thinking about a real-life friend and when they were thinking about a fictional character from 'Game of Thrones.' Mr. Wagner reports, ``When we analyzed brain activity in the prefrontal cortex using fMRI, subjects who did not suffer from loneliness clearly distinguished between real people and fictional people.''
On the other hand, Mr. Wagner said, ``As a result of our analysis, we could not identify a clear boundary between real people and fictional characters among the lonely subjects.''
Wagner describes how the line between reality and fiction collapses among lonely subjects: ``Lonely people turn to fictional characters to gain a sense of belonging that they lack in real life.'' 'There is a possibility that it may be aimed at They also reported, ``As a result of looking at fictional characters, we believe that the same neural activity that occurs with friends in the real world appears in fictional characters.''
On the other hand, the research team said, ``We found that even subjects who did not suffer from loneliness were influenced by their favorite characters in Game of Thrones.'' Researchers found that when presented with the name of their favorite Game of Thrones character, all participants, regardless of their level of loneliness or their favorite character, found that in their minds, the name was the same as their real-life friend. It has been discovered that the process has been carried out.
Wagner says, ``Favorite characters seem to be more real to subjects than other characters, regardless of their feelings of loneliness.''
Related Posts:
in Science, Posted by log1r_ut