Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Donna C. Owens

Abstract

This paper conceptualizes and proposes the current thesis topic: how does media consumption and screen time usage affect our therapeutic aesthetics? The thesis is a critical review of the literature that focalizes on highlighting key themes between both concepts. Literature findings convey an increase of screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature collected tentatively suggests four key findings: media multitasking serves an emotional and sensory gratification purpose and less of a cognitive functional one, an increased risk of psychiatric disorders with excessive media use, social media consumption as a behavior is highly associated with the hedonic pleasure system, and media consumption as a behavior is highly influenced by our therapeutic aesthetics. The literature also tentatively suggests mindfulness as a preventative factor from the potential unhealthy byproducts of social media consumption. The thesis further explores how the expressive arts therapies serve as interventions between excess screen time use due to its innate properties of mindfulness, naturalism, and aestheticization.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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