Researchers have shown for the first time that doomscrolling – the habit of checking up on disturbing stories on social media – can prompt existential issues, such as impacting your view of humanity and the meaning of life.

In recent years, news reporting has becoming increasingly negative. The media’s wholehearted embrace of the adage “if it bleeds, it leads”, has led to the global dominance of negative news stories that focus on corruption, fraud, shootings, terrorism, and war. At the same time, there is now a blind spot for good news, which is often disregarded as unimportant.

But this is not necessarily a top-down development led by the media itself. In fact, research has shown that consumers prefer and actively seek out cynical and negative news. Together, these circumstances have contributed to a biased focus on negative news and media content.

Of course, this is not new. Humans have a propensity to seek out bad news as it keeps us alert. Previous research has shown that this negative bias – the tendency to find negative information more valuable than positive information – manifests at various stages in human development, even in infancy. This suggests it has deep evolutionary roots.

With the rise of this focus on negative content, a new consumer behavior has emerged that is referred to as “doomscrolling”. In essence, this is the act of seeking out saddening or negative social media content or news stories to read and scroll through. The behavior is usually compulsive and discriminant, to the point of being addictive.

Now, a new study has shown that doomscrolling makes people more likely to feel suspicious of other people while also contributing to the sense that life has no meaning.

“Doomscrolling can have some dire consequences on our mental health and wellbeing leaving us feeling stress, anxiety, despair and questioning the meaning of life,” lead author Reza Shabahang, from Flinders University, Australia, said in a statement.

“Viewing negative news on social media has become a source of vicarious trauma, where someone has a negative psychological impact even though they did not experience the trauma themselves.”

When exposed to images and information about traumatic events, people have even developed symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which include anxiety and despair.

In their study, Shabahang and colleagues surveyed 800 university students from two distinctly diverse cultures – students from the US, a Western individualistic culture, and students from Iran, an Eastern collective culture. The aim was to explore how the consumption of excessively negative news and social media content can impact a person’s thoughts and feelings regarding existence.

Participants were asked questions related to how anxious they felt towards their existence, whether they believed the world was a fair place, how they felt about humanity, and, most importantly, how often they doomscrolled.

“We wanted to see if there were any connections between doomscrolling and subsequent thoughts and feelings about humankind and the importance of life,” Shabahang added.

The team found that doomscrolling was associated with higher existential anxiety in both American and Iranian samples. They also found that, for the Iranian sample, doomscrolling was a significant predictor of misanthropy – the dislike of people.

“When we’re constantly exposed to negative news and information online, it can threaten our beliefs when it comes to our own mortality and the control we have over our own lives,” Shabahang explained. “Moreover, doomscrolling can negatively affect how we view the people and world around us.”

The study shows that we must be careful when we use social media. Exposing ourselves to the constant stream of negative information can have an impact on our minds. It is important to take breaks and to be mindful of our user habits.

“We suggest that people pay attention to how much time they are spending on social media and to be aware of the impact it is having on their emotions, thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to negative news and events,” Shabahang says.

“It’s a good idea to keep track of how much time you spend doomscrolling and start making changes to reduce that time if it’s problematic. By becoming more aware of our online habits, such as doomscrolling, and taking small steps to address them, it could help with improving our overall mental wellbeing.”

The study is published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports.