Curtin University research has found deep listening or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) could be used as an effective tool to encourage pro-environmental behaviour and create social bonding among young people.
ASMR is a spontaneous, calming, positive feeling that occurs in response to certain stimuli including whispering and brushing sounds. This exploratory study used similar stimuli in a purpose-made video to promote positive climate change messages to high school students, and then gauged their opinions on whether the approach could be effective.
Lead researcher, Curtin Adjunct Postdoctoral Fellow and University of Sydney researcher and Manager of the Centre for Advanced Food Enginomics (CAFE) Diana Bogueva, who undertook the study while at Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute said the study was focused on whether ASMR can be used to communicate positively about climate change with young people.
“Young people are consistently bombarded with gloomy messages on climate change and the environment, including devastating pictures of bushfires and other extreme weather events. So we asked whether there were other, more optimistic ways, to talk about the issue to evoke positive feelings and empower young people to take action,” Dr Bogueva said.
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