Science alert - going to festivals can make you a better person

Festival crowd — (Image credit: Juan Angel/Getty Images)

A study by scientists at Yale University has concluded that going to festivals can make you a better person – just in case you need any more reasons to go.

Dr. Daniel Yudkin’s team was inspired by the traditions of religious celebrations, along with the sense of loss many people felt during lockdown, and decided to explore the idea of whether going to large-scale events is good for you.

They concluded that it is. “Humans have long sought experiences that transcend or change their sense of self,” Dr Yudkin’s paper begins. “By weakening boundaries between the self and others, such transformative experiences may lead to enduring changes in moral orientation.

“We’ve long known that festivals, pilgrimages, and ceremonies make people feel more bonded with their own group. Here we show that experiences at secular mass gatherings also have the potential to expand the boundaries of moral concern beyond one’s own group.”

Research was carried out among 1,200 people who attended a number of events including Burning Man in the US and Burning Nest in the UK. They were invited to “play games for science” at festival booths, then interviewed again later, while an additional 2,000 people who hadn’t taken part in the games were also interviewed.

The psychologist reported: “Overall, 63.2% of participants reported having transformative experiences so profound that they left the events feeling radically changed, including a substantial number of people who did not expect or desire to be transformed.”

Subjects expressed a greater sense of understanding of different people, a greater willingness to help others and a higher sense of general wellbeing, with the effects lasting for up to six months for some.

Dr Yudkin said: “The findings are an important reminder of what we’ve missed in years of pandemic isolation –powerful social experiences, or what the sociologist Emile Durkheim called ‘collective effervescence.’”

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.