Jiang Yaqi, Yan Zhihao, Yang Zeyang
Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Jul 10;15(7):930. doi: 10.3390/bs15070930.
Short videos' increasing popularity and increased user engagement have sparked concerns about time perception. While studies have linked gaming or watching TV series to time loss, research on short videos' temporal impact is scarce. This study aims to investigate the impact of short video use on time distortion (including perceptions of time for experimental tasks and weekly usage) through an experimental design. Fifty-six college students were randomly assigned to two time duration conditions (long-duration for 16 min 9 s or short-duration for 5 min 23 s). Participants in both conditions were instructed to watch short videos and read public articles for the same duration and then estimate the time duration of the tasks. Subsequently, participants completed a questionnaire about their estimated and actual weekly short video use and problematic short watching levels. The results showed that the impact of task duration on time perception was significant. Task type had no significant impact on time perception, with no notable difference in time estimation between conditions involving watching short videos and reading. The interaction between time duration and task type was not significant. Additionally, problematic short video watching and the estimated weekly short video use were not significantly related to time distortion. This study contributes to empirical research on time distortion while watching short videos, providing insights for expanding theoretical models of addictive behaviors and interventions for problematic short video use.
短视频日益普及且用户参与度不断提高，引发了人们对时间感知的担忧。虽然已有研究将玩游戏或看电视剧与时间流逝联系起来，但关于短视频对时间影响的研究却很少。本研究旨在通过实验设计，调查短视频使用对时间扭曲的影响（包括对实验任务时间的感知和每周使用情况）。56名大学生被随机分配到两种时长条件下（长时长为16分9秒，短时长为5分23秒）。两种条件下的参与者都被要求观看短视频和阅读公共文章，时长相同，然后估计任务的时长。随后，参与者完成了一份关于他们估计的和实际的每周短视频使用情况以及有问题的短视频观看水平的问卷。结果表明，任务时长对时间感知的影响显著。任务类型对时间感知没有显著影响，观看短视频和阅读这两种情况下的时间估计没有明显差异。时长和任务类型之间的交互作用不显著。此外，有问题的短视频观看和估计的每周短视频使用与时间扭曲没有显著关系。本研究为观看短视频时的时间扭曲实证研究做出了贡献，为扩展成瘾行为理论模型和针对有问题的短视频使用的干预措施提供了见解。
