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Unhappy People Watch More TV
Hugh Pickens writes "A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as 'very happy' spend more time reading and socializing. 'TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,' says researcher John P. Robinson. 'It's more passive and may provide escape — especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise.' Unhappy people also liked their TV more: 'What viewers seem to be saying is that while TV in general is a waste of time and not particularly enjoyable, "the shows I saw tonight were pretty good."' The researchers analyzed two sets of data spanning nearly 30 years (PDF), gathered from nearly 30,000 adults, and found that unhappy people watch an estimated 20 percent more television than very happy people, after taking into account their education, income, age, and marital status — as well as other demographic predictors of both viewing and happiness. 'TV can become a kind of opiate in a way. It's habitual, and tuning in can be an easy way of tuning out.'"
And what - happy people hang out on Slashdot??
Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity
I wonder if the same holds true for people who spend time idly on the computer?
How do video games fall into this continuum of "unhappy" to "happy"? In some respects, video games are like TV, like reading (many RPGs, visual novels), and (particularly with MMOs and live competitive games) socializing, too.
present day... present time... hahahaha...
Weird that they don't include internet usage in here. And when they say "reading newspapers," does reading online count? And is it only newspapers? What about blogs? Aggregating internet use into one category would be kind of silly, considering there are many things you can do online (play games, watch Hulu/YouTube/pirated stuff, read newspapers and blogs, socialize, do chores and get practical information, etc.), but they should have at least tried.
What channels do they watch? What shows do they watch? Do they use TiVo or do they just channel surf? There are perfectly productive, informative, and educational reasons to watch TV. There is also good entertainment and derivative formulaic uninspired drivel. Simply saying "More TV = unhappy" is very vague.
Twinstiq, game news
Watching TV makes one unhappy....as they fail to realize the addictive nature of advertising of things they really don't need, the BS of the news media and oh my.....the re-runs....
Watching TV is so very non-interactive.....
Slashdot makes for the frustrated TV watchers to release their frustrations.... which explains the generally negative attitude on the internet.
Solution.... do not get a digital TV converter box is a first step. We might just get a better internet because of it. ... sure buddy.....
How do you get one of these grants?
I would like to research, for example, whether the Pope is Catholic, or whether bears shit in the woods. Does anyone at the University of Maryland know where I can get funding, since they have so much success with similar quests.
Anyway, if you weren't unhappy to start with, watching 90% of the 2008 fall schedule on TV will make you that way pretty quickly. Writer's strike aside, this is one of the worst new seasons in the history of TV. Kath and Kim? Knightrider? Worst Week? Heroes? Are you kidding, Network Execs? You can pretty much cancel every show that debuted in 2008, on every network. You all fucked up.
but that doesn't stop me from being sad when people talk about the latest heroes episodes :(
That's an easy one! Recently Fox News viewers are a VERY unhappy lot.
The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise.
Even those who aren't actively watching television tend to show negative side-effects if a TV is on in the same room. I recall this one study about background TV causing abnormal development in attention spans.
See it there, a white plume over the battle - A diamond in the ash of the ultimate combustion - My panache. --Cyrano
When I watch TV I usually become unhappy. There's almost never anything of interest on.
TV can become a kind of opiate in a way.
What does that make Slashdot?
Watching people fail first post makes me sad :(
All the study found is correlation, and we all know that correlation is not causation. May be people who don't socialize much and waste their time watching the idiots box are unhappy.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Stoned people also watch a lot of TV.
The stoned people I know seem pretty happy.
The important thing is to balance the TV time with video games.
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Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity
obligatory correlation is not causation post.
Many studies, such as this one, are well aware of the 'defect'. The point isn't to show causation always, proving correlation can be a very valuable result in a study, it helps us understand structure of data and generates hypotheses for future studies. And for the record, there has never been a randomized, blinded, clinical trial that shows smoking causes cancer.
"unhappy people watch an estimated 20 percent more television than very happy people"
Uh, if it is only a 20% difference, perhaps unhappy people do not have anyone to socialize with during that non-television time of the very happy people. And maybe that's why they are unhappy.
Do people watch TV because they are unhappy, or are they unhappy because they watch TV?
so of course unhappy people watch more TV. They are trying to become happy by enjoying TV programs and movies. But it does not always work, and some shows actually make people unhappy, so they change the channel and try to watch different shows.
This is basically common sense.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Seriously though; I do watch CSI (Las Vegas) to remind me what could happen if I *ever* watched MTV (of VH1) again. Now those were suicidal times:
"Well, the next video probably won't suck... (hours later) Come ON! The *next* one can't possibly suck too... (still more hours later) I am NOT leaving this sofa until I see a video that doesn't SUUUCCCKK!"
Oh! It's 3pm, gotta go. There's an asteriod coming.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Find a copy of the 70s classic: "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" by ex-Mad Ave Exec Jerry Mander. Classic.
All my friends live in the T.V.
Mothore OUT!
This may be true for you, but the study is not saying that watching TV makes people unhappy, nor is it saying that being unhappy drives people to watch TV. It is merely stating there is a correlation between watching TV and being unhappy. Causality cannot be derived from correlation research.
Go watch TV if you are so sad!
... watch our friends on TV using the tiny cameras we've planted in their houses? I think we're very happy.
Now, everything on my screen seems to be wobbly and unstable.
I'll admit that I don't watch TV but I have substituted it with the Internet. I'm a happy guy, I have a good sense of humor and personality. I'm not anti-social so much as I am using the Internet, as an excuse to not socialize. I should add that I exercise a lot, eat right, don't smoke etc -so that I'm more fit than average Joe my age and younger. I'm not unhappy, just that I wish that I know I should socialize more - but - past life experience hasn't helped.
To build hypotheses, true. But am I the only one who thinks that an "estimated(sic!) 20%" isn't much of a difference for the uncertainties involved in this study?
Thinking of my own life, I usually sat down and vegetated in front of the tube when I was "beat" after coming home from work. If work was stressful, with too many hours, too little time spent on planning and too little money spent on resources, so that keeping all plates spinning fell more and more on the people working there, I come home tired and don't feel the energy to do anything else, work has sucked all my energy via too many hours and too much asked for in those hours - with the too much not being critical thinking but rushing from crisis to crisis. On the other hand, I've worked at places where hours are more reasonable and work is more enjoyable, so I have more time and energy at night to socialize or do other constructive things. Watching too much television might be a sign of unhappiness, but what are the causes of that unhappiness?
While I think the main cause of unhappiness leads to the correlation of watching too much television, I also think television has an anesthesizing and depressing effect of its own. Aside from watching the US electoral debates recently, I have very rarely watched any television. Almost all of it garbage. The only channels that are any good are the Independent Film Channel, which has good stuff sometimes, or sometimes C-SPAN or PBS has someone interesting on. The only things I used to watch regularly were the Daily Show and Colbert Report, but now I'm usually doing something else at that time.
Yeah, there's also never been a randomized, blinded clinical trial that shows gunshot wounds to the head cause death.
If you put a bunch of babies in a room together and don't interact with them in any way except to provide food, will they develop their own language?
There are countless studies that for ethical reasons cannot be completed.
If this were about computer games, the headline would have been "TV makes people unhappy", or have you ever seen "Murderous teenagers play counterstrike" ?
I'm single and have no roommate. I find it soothing to have the TV or a movie on when I am home, even if I am reading or doing chores. I don't get the same effect with music. My theory is that just having some kind of conversation in the background helps me to feel less lonely when I'm by myself.
Do I consider myself "unhappy?" I suppose a little lonely at times, but who isn't?
Seriously, I don't watch a lot of TV normally but a few years ago I hit a very bad time where my anxiety disorder took over my life. There were a few times where I spent more than a week laying on my couch watching Seinfeld. I have all the episodes on my MythTV box and I would start at the beginning and watch as many episodes would fit in a day. It was an escape and got me through it.
Let me tell you, mental disorders suck. I used to think people should just get over it but I now realize it's not that simple. It's really hard to put yourself in the same position as someone else with a serious problem like this. I can't even put myself back in the place I was when I had the most severe anxiety problems. Now I can't imagine sitting on the couch watching TV day after day like that... In other words I can't even put myself back into what I was feeling back then even though I went through it!
So I hang out here where I can vent my spleen :-)
Stick Men
New findings printed today in all papers and broadcast on ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 reveal that television is "virtually a mental vitamin" for intelligence and emotional well-being. In addition, it helps treat arrhythmia, psoriasis, tooth decay, distemper, dropsy, haemorrhoids and impotence, and lets you see through clothes.
The findings were revealed today by the study's funders, a consortium of commercial television broadcasters and newspaper proprietors. They have recommended that television and printed newspapers be made mandatory as a public health measure, and that the Internet be renamed "The Paedophile Channel" as a warning to possible users.
"The quick-fix nature of televisual gratification accumulates and quickly becomes permanent," said Dr Desmond Murdoch. "The artistic brilliance of thirty-second messages provides the viewer's necessary daily dose of thoughtful mental stimulation and wit.
"I met a scientist once," said Dr Murdoch. "Well, he said he was a scientist. He handed me a remarkably large cheque."
Further results from the research group are expected to include revelations that jaffa cakes, crisps and Coca-Cola are "fruit" for the purposes of achieving one's government-mandated five portions a day, and that snake oil liniment does all it is claimed to.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
This is a correlation statement.
A causation statement would be:
or
the more unhappy and sad i am, the more i tend to read books, trying to escape from the reality. on particularly bad weeks i can read up to 10 standard sized 300 pages paperbacks. i use all of my spare time for reading then.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
A new scientific study demonstrates that bored people watch more TV, AND they eat more junk food.
In a related study Sexaholics have sex more often, and Alcoholics like to drink!!
More at 11pm on Fox News!!
I am open source, and Linux baby!
Is it watching porn on tv making them feeling happy?
I like the fact that the tag is the most incisive comment possible about this article.
our children are hopelessly depressed.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Why would a good movie, or a very interesting documentary, not be as long-term lasting as reading a good book? The things learned and seen from a good documentary can stay with you a whole lifetime!
I haven't watched any TV with WotLK being released only this past week, but what I will say that I typically don't watch TV anymore now that I have found World of Warcraft. :P
I have shows I enjoy and I buy the whole season on DVD because commercials are for morons.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Banning it and lots of other similar drugs would certainly cut down on the violence and suicide they cause. If you do some research you will find they have lost many lawsuits already over their involvement in deaths and general violence.
Or "something which causes unhappiness also causes people to watch more TV"
TV is enough,
It's providing artificial friends and relatives to lonely people,
What it is are recurrent families,
Same friends and relatives come back
Week after week after week after week,
And they're wittier and they're better looking
And much more interesting and they are richer
Than your real friends and relatives
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Yeah, there's also never been a randomized, blinded clinical trial that shows gunshot wounds to the head cause death.
Never say never. A surprising amount of our current medical knowledge about how the human body reacts to specific circumstances is derived from nazi human experimentation. While I can't point at a specific gunshot experiment by the nazis, I am not familiar with the complete scope of their trials either.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
If television rules the nation, then this must be an unhappy nation.
1-Crawl 2-Cnfg 3-ATF 4-Exit ?
Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television
Sorry, couldn't resist.
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Toro
Not to mention, time. If they have somebody to socialize with, then that cuts into the time they can spend watching TV.
Geek introverts like me, just own a computer with a TV tuner.
Having a well balanced diet of entertainment and interactive gaming is the key to a successful non-life.
I wonder if the measure of happiness comes from the subjects themselves. Maybe they're just as happy as everyone else, but they think they're not as happy as "the happy people you see on TV" (not that I've read the article or anything).
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i must be so depressed that i killed myself already
did anyone in this study mention that a disabled person might watch a MASSIVE amount a tv versus a person that can get off his but and go out side?
Stupid study
I've been single for three years and I have the ultimate digital cable package; you do the math.
And for the record, there has never been a randomized, blinded, clinical trial that shows smoking causes cancer.
Yes, but it's hard to believe that cancer causes smoking...
Making people unhappy is fundamental to the business strategy of the television companies.
They pump out depressing boring shit non-stop to make people watching feel as miserable and discontented as possible. Then they show you ads for crap that promises to make you happy - and you rush out and buy it out of desperation.
The television companies would never make a cent if they made their audience feel happy and contented.
This is a correlation statement.
Ah, very true.
'TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,' says researcher John P. Robinson.
But the implication from the article and summary is that the people are unhappy because they are watching TV. Hence the correlation-vs-causation comment initially.
Well, thankfully, we can always perform animal trials instead.
I watch WAY too much TV.
First Post! Now that I'm caught up on my Tivo.
The average American watches an average of 4.5 hours of television every day, according to Nielsen. I don't know what percentage of viewers break down into the "happy" v. "unhappy" camps, but 20% of that is close to another hour of TV -- every day.
To put that in perspective, consider two things:
1) Most people spend 8 hrs/weekday at work and 8 hrs/day asleep. That's over half of the rest of one's day used for meals, grooming, chores, travel time, etc. For many people, TV is how they spend all of their free time during the week.
2) 4.5 hrs/day = 31.5 hrs/week. 20% of that is over 6 hours. That's not a trivial time investment.
Lastly, note that the above 4:35 quote is for adult men. Women watch about 40 minutes more TV per day. (The good news is that teens and children watch less.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
The last thing I need right now is a bunch of little products running around.
Right, I'm saying we can glean useful information from trials that only show correlation.
i watch tv for entertainment, and the more selective i am in what i watch, i increase the quality of entertainment i receive. this increases the chance for me to receive a side-effect of entertainment...happiness.
to me entertainment does not equal happiness; it's just a causeway that sometimes leads there. social or solitary. it does not matter. most people like to read in a room vacant of human annoyances, so they can be fully immersed or entertained with whatever book.
tv, music, movies, sports, eating, exercising, and beating prostitutes with bats are all forms of entertainment, and an extrapolated purpose for them all is a level of escapism.
maybe if shit never oozed out of this planet, leaving us all eternally happy, we would never be in need of stupid things, like the Arts.
I should let this go, but there are so many things wrong with this post that I can't.
First, you are one person. Your experiences are interesting but are in no way disproof of the aggregate, average behavior of a population at large. It's nice that your life hasn't turned out the way the study predicts, but against the greater number of people looked at, your anecdotal story is not more valid than the entire study.
Second, the study does not predict a linear, mechanical mechanism by which one cannot watch X hours of TV without being Y levels of depressed. There is a correlation here. There may be an underlying cause, but nothing implies that that cause is universally true of the human population nor that all people are affected the same nor that people don't get lucky.
For example, driving while intoxicated clearly raises the likelihood you will be in an accident. However, people drive drunk without getting in accidents all the time (thanks to being lucky). If you drive home in one piece while plastered and do so regularly, that does not negate the overall truth that driving while intoxicated is risky.
Third, to follow up more on the linear relationship issue, there's nothing the study that says that if you watch too much TV you'll commit suicide.
Fourth, it might be worth pointing out that disabled people have a higher rate of depression that the population at large. Your objection about disabled people having to watch massive amounts of TV would only reinforce the numbers, assuming that the survey actually included disabled people.
I'm sorry for ranting, but this whole mindset of, "It hasn't happened to me, so these scientists are just plain wrong and stupid!" drives me absolutely bonkers. You are not the center of the universe. The rules by which it works do not center around your experiences. The plural of anecdote is not data.
Grah.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
So I guess people who cannot hear and watch TV while reading the closed captions would be considered bi-polar?
i dont watch over the air tv mutch anymore. i do still catch the shows i like over the internet and many company's now provide there shows for viewing for free on there websites abc cbs fox etc.
um, Nicaraguan sign language? It's taken 30 odd years, but there's a language that arose from nothing. (Some unethical trials do get carried out, although maybe not completely randomised, granted.)
"You only get ONE LIFE." Richard Rahl, Faith of the Fallen - Terry Goodkind
Of course, I'm not social; I only have a presence on every chat channel and irc in the known innernet and read lots of news on the innernet and watch lots of movies on the innernet and... and... and...
It is usually foolish to look for pure causation in the real world. Many things that go together in life are mutually reinforcing. Depressed people lack the motivation to undertake more ambitious activities, so depression causes TV watching. But TV watching is not as satisfying as learning something or being with people, so TV watching also causes depression. Second example: Israelis and Palestinians arguing about who is to blame for (i.e. who "caused") middle-east strife, when obviously it is an endless cycle of retaliation and escalation.
That's not a correlation, it's a coincidence.
NSL didn't arise from nothing, because each child involved had communicated with their parents via home sign systems, knew written Spanish, and were being trained in lipreading of spoken Spanish. NSL first developed as a pidgin of their individual home signs, and then developed into a full creole language. Without the home signs, the pidgin never would've formed in the first place, and influence from written Spanish might have shaped the language in very significant ways.
Range Voting: preference intensity matters
And I was under the impression that most of these deaf people had been quite poor at written Spanish, which supporters of the critical age theory were waving about as 'proof' that humans have to learn a first language very early on, in order to have any hope at acquiring native/near-native proficiency in subsequent ones. But, this is only something I've *taught* for a few lectures, I haven't *studied* it, so I admit I don't know too much about it :p
"You only get ONE LIFE." Richard Rahl, Faith of the Fallen - Terry Goodkind
Isn't is possible that people who watch more TV tend to be unhappy compared to others? i.e. the correlation may exist, but the causal relationship may have been "misinterpreted".
...you're as happy, TV watching or not, as you affirm yourself to be. Or is it joy you are talking about?
Says you! *dons lab coat*
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
Bill Hicks.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .