Cited by 155Innovative Human-Technology InteractionFlow Experience in Various FieldsRecreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management

How taking photos increases enjoyment of experiences

Open access
Diehl, Kristin, Zauberman, Gal, Barasch, Alixandra·2016·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Abstract

Experiences are vital to the lives and well-being of people; hence, understanding the factors that amplify or dampen enjoyment of experiences is important. One such factor is photo-taking, which has gone unexamined by prior research even as it has become ubiquitous. We identify engagement as a relevant process that influences whether photo-taking will increase or decrease enjoyment. Across 3 field and 6 lab experiments, we find that taking photos enhances enjoyment of positive experiences across a range of contexts and methodologies. This occurs when photo-taking increases engagement with the experience, which is less likely when the experience itself is already highly engaging, or when photo-taking interferes with the experience. As further evidence of an engagement-based process, we show that photo-taking directs greater visual attention to aspects of the experience one may want to photograph. Lastly, we also find that this greater engagement due to photo-taking results in worse evaluations of negative experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1037/pspa0000055

Cites

23 of 23 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Taking photos can increase the enjoyment of an event but less likely so when the photo-taking creates interference or the event is already highly enjoyable.

    “Regarding the latter, it has been demonstrated that taking photos can increase the enjoyment of an event but less likely so when the photo-taking creates interference or the event is already highly enjoyable (Diehl et al., 2016;Nardini et al, 2019).”

    From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Diehl et al., 2016

  • When taking photos increases experiential engagement, it can enhance enjoyment.

    “Specifically, when taking photos increases experiential engagement, it can enhance enjoyment [49], but taking photos with the intention of sharing them can increase self-presentation concerns and thus decrease experiential engagement and subsequent enjoyment [50].”

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Authors
Diehl, K., Zauberman, G., & Barasch, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Southern California (US)
  • Yale University (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Published
2016-08
Volume
111
Issue
2
Pages
119-140
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
OpenAlex
W2470314431
Cited by
155
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 2
FWCI
20.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Marketing Science Institute
  • Baker
  • Ackoff
  • The Wharton School
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Flow Experience in Various Fields
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management
Keywords
photo-taking, engagement, positive experiences, negative experiences, visual attention, experience evaluation, well-being
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention, Female, Humans, Male, Photography, Visual Perception, Young Adult, Pleasure

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