In 2019, a scientific study carried out by two Israeli academics showed that watching a few minutes of one of the films from the Spider-Man or Ant-Man saga would help reduce the phobias aroused by these species. Yes Yes !
If you are arachnophobic or suffer from myrmecophobia, the fear of ants, this is for you! According to the newspaper Times of Israel which reported the information, a study conducted by two researchers from Bar-Ilan and Ariel universities, and published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, showed that watching a few minutes of one of the films from the Spider-Man or Ant-Man saga could reduce arachnophobia and myrmecophobia.
Their work, conducted on a corpus of 424 people anyway, was based on the theory that exposure to specific phobias could counteract irrational fears. The two scientists broadcast seven-second excerpts from the films Spiderman And Ant Manwith the objective of determining the effects of these works on people with arachnophobia and myrmecophobia.
The results were, according to the researchers, rather surprising: the sight of these short extracts by people with these phobias could reduce them by 20%. “Being exposed for seven seconds to an insect-specific phobia in a positive context reduces the level of symptoms of the phobia” they explained.
Professor Menachem Ben-Ezra, one of the two researchers, declared that if superhero films are known to have a beneficial psychological effect on the whole, their results could possibly contribute to exploring a new path in cognitive therapy.
His colleague, Dr. Yaakov Hoffman, for his part believed that the use of images from films or comics could be more effective than the use of real elements or virtual reality to treat certain phobias.
Being a bit cynical, we can say that TF1 probably also had to think of these people, since the channel will continue to surf on the theatrical release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, by broadcasting the sequel next Sunday. first part, Ant-Man and the Wasp.