Watching Puppy Videos for 15 Minutes Lowered Office Workers’ Blood Pressure by Up to 6.65 mmHg

Fifteen minutes of puppy videos produced measurable short-term changes in office workers’ blood pressure, pulse and mood, according to a South Korean research team.

The study involved 66 workers who watched five three-minute videos created by the researchers. The clips showed puppies playing in water, running around a yard, sitting in a toy car, and interacting with their mothers. The team selected the scenes after examining facial expressions, movements and other features likely to trigger emotional responses.

The researchers focused on the puppies’ large eyes, round faces and small noses and mouths, traits associated with young animals. In animal behavior, these features are known as “baby schema” because they can draw human attention and stimulate protective feelings.

Among participants whose pre-viewing systolic pressure reached at least 120 mmHg or whose diastolic pressure reached at least 80 mmHg, average systolic pressure fell from 125.23 to 118.58 mmHg. Diastolic pressure dropped from 88.28 to 83.38 mmHg, while pulse declined by 4.12 beats per minute. The normal-pressure group also recorded smaller reductions in systolic pressure and pulse.

Anxiety scores and overall negative mood scores, including tension, depression, anger, fatigue and confusion, also fell in both groups. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, compared measurements taken before and immediately after viewing. Professor Song Young-hwan said content-based interventions could become a supportive tool alongside existing treatment, but the study did not establish whether the effects last over time.

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Blood pressure cannot be managed completely through drug treatment alone, and it is continually affected by stress and living conditions.