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Social media provides us with a constant influx of content.

Research has also shown how thesocial comparisonfacilitated by social media can be a real source of stress.

Online conversations can also quickly turn into conflicts.

Cute puppy and kitten

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Cute animal content, however, is not as likely to stress us out.

The other group saw pictures of their partners paired with neutral objects like buttons.

Increased positivity can be triggered by virtually anything that puts us into a more positive emotional state.

Cute animals can do the job especially well.

Videos Are Great Mood-Changers

Researchers are trying to determine which positive affect-induction techniques work the best.

Positive videos, however, are one of the strongest good-mood-inducers.

Those who viewed the cute animal pictures performed significantly better than the other two groups.

Other Ways to Boost Your Mood

There are many ways toboost your moodbeyond cute animal videos.

The following are other activities you might try in conjunction with cute-animal-video-viewing, or on their own.

you’re able to never have too many mood boosters in your stress-busting arsenal.

Gratitude Journaling

At the beginning of your day, list three things for which you are grateful.

You might feel watching cute animal videos is simply frivolous with everything else going on in the world.

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Seaward, B. L.Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Wellbeing, 7th Edition, 2011.