Examining Comfort Media: A Tool for Self-Regulation and Refuge?

Media can be an important tool for self-regulation, but what media features and content are most associated with positive outcomes? Building from media-based coping and mood management research, this work defines comfort media, akin to comfort foods, as sources of solace and examines which media characteristics relate to experiencing comfort from media use. A survey experiment asked participants to recall a physically stressful event (e.g. illness/injury), a socially stressful one (e.g. a fight with a loved one), or a generic everyday encounter (low stress comparison group). We then examined what media features were most associated with anticipated psychological comfort and if this varied across stress conditions. Using a large international sample also allowed us to also compare media preferences and perceptions of comfort media in four countries. Comforting media was positively valenced and familiar across all conditions—including the low-stress comparison—and countries, and was associated with nostalgia, low arousal, and parasocial relationships in some contexts but not others. Previously viewed content was positively associated with comfort but not emotional improvement, suggesting that comfort is a distinct outcome which may prove helpful in media-based intervention planning and design.