Doing Art versus Viewing Art as Therapeutic Modality

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M. N. Robert J.F. Elsner, “Doing Art versus Viewing Art as Therapeutic Modality”, ijmhs, vol. 6, no. 3, May 2016.
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Abstract

Art therapy has been shown to have some effect on lowering stress levels, but it is questioned whether the creative process or the imaginative aspects bring the therapeutic benefits.  Art therapy sessions were performed by 82 undergraduate college students aged 18-22 from a small, rural,liberal artscollege in the southeastern USA. Participants were administered the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which asked for gender class standing, and age, then randomly assigned them to either the experimental or control group. The control group was provided acrylic paints and paper, and instructed to create art, while the control group was instructed to examine the images in a folio art history book for similar amounts of time. Upon completion of session participants were administered another PSS.  Results showed a significant difference between experimental and control group through independent t-test, t(80) = -2.197, p<.031, indicating that undergraduate college students have a reduction in their perceived stress through the production of art as oppose to simply viewing art. 

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