Can seeking out new experiences improve a person’s mental health? Mattie Zeigler, a student in the master of arts in psychological science program at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), is tackling this question with her thesis.
“If people decide to try new things every day—going to a different restaurant, trying a different type of food—or, on a larger scale, choosing a new place to go on vacation, how does that affect their well-being: factors like happiness, loneliness, stress, and depression symptoms?” she asks.
This research was prompted by a conversation with Assistant Professor Madeline Harms, who is developing a scale for exploration. Simply put, exploration is the practice of seeking out new information.
Existing literature examines the “explore-exploit” trade-off in decision-making—whether individuals select a known option or take a risk to explore the unknown. Research in this area has focused on how and why people make such decisions.
Zeigler’s research takes it a step further. She wants to understand how the exploratory decisions people make affect their mental health and overall well-being. She expects choosing novelty over familiarity will have benefits.
Harms notes that this is the first experimental study to examine the psychological and cognitive effects of exploration. “Experiments in psychology are kind of the gold standard, because we can look at causality,” she says, adding, “I'm very excited to see the results. They'll be interesting, whether the hypotheses are supported or not.”
An experiment in exploration
To test her hypotheses, Zeigler designed an experimental study with first-year UMD college students as subjects. “We thought it would be an interesting population to focus on because there's so much opportunity for them to experience new things,” she explains.
The experimental group tried new activities over five consecutive days, while the control group stuck to their regular routines. Explorers were prompted by text to try new tasks for at least 15 minutes a day and report back on their experiences.
They were given loose guidelines, with tasks grouped into three domains: social, physical and cognitive. Zeigler says it was fascinating to see the range of activities participants chose. “Some people interpreted the social domain as meeting a new group of friends or sitting with a new group of people at lunch, and others decided to go to a party,” she says.
Students were surveyed about their mental health and well-being after five days and again a month later to gauge whether the intervention had longer-term effects.
The value of discovery
There were unexpected challenges and rewards through the project, which solidified Zeigler’s affinity for research. Harms points out that for students who don’t have experience, research can be an abstract concept. “In my research methods course, students do a mini research project, and it is eye-opening for them—the logistics involved and how hard it is, but also, how fulfilling it is to work on a real project and to collect their own data. There's really no substitute for that type of hands-on learning.”
After she graduates in May, Zeigler plans to take a year off but, ultimately, intends to return to academia to pursue a Ph.D. She’s still analyzing the data, but suggests there are practical implications for students if the hypotheses are supported.
“I think it could be really important for students to understand that getting out of their comfort zones and trying new things could positively benefit them — and that there is research supporting that,” says Zeigler.