Watching Oprah Makes People Want To Do Good Deeds

The warm and fuzzy feelings you may experience after watching others perform virtuous deeds may in turn lead you to act altruistically as well, according to a new study based on the results of two separate experiments.

Among the findings: People who watch inspirational clips from the Oprah Winfrey Show are more likely to commit to helping others, and spend more time doing a “good deed.”

However, since the study was based on a small number of participants who were all female, more research is needed to back up the findings.

Inspiration from Oprah
Past research has shown when we watch others lend a helping hand, we feel inspired and uplifted. Few studies, however, have actually looked at whether or not we’re really more likely to follow suit after witnessing the do-gooder behavior.

Taking time to lend a hand
To find out how watching good deeds could actually spur actions, in the second experiment, 36 female participants individually watched one of three videos: the Oprah segment, the nature doc, or a clip from a British comedy show.

This time, the female instructor who was showing the videos pretended that she couldn’t open an important computer file needed for the participant to complete the test. Without the file, each participant was told she was free to leave.

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