Unhappy People Watch More TV 193
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.'"
Unhappy? (Score:5, Funny)
And what - happy people hang out on Slashdot??
Re:Unhappy? (Score:5, Funny)
No sorry, Happy People hang out in video game web sites.
Unhappy unemployed IT geeks and nerds hang out on Slashdot. Duh! :)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In Soviet Russia, Unhappy employs You!
I do apologize. But it struck me as obligatory. Really.
Re:Unhappy? (Score:5, Insightful)
And what - happy people hang out on Slashdot??
My guess is they are happier than people who spend the same amount of time watching TV. Slashdot built its popularity on its comments section and hence its utility as a social outlet.
But, speaking from experience, if one were to rub the worst half hour sitcom from one's daily tv viewing and substitute that for an equivalent amount of time getting aerobic exercise such as riding a bike, rowing, stair stepping, treadmilling, jogging, or using an elliptical trainer, one's happiness would take a quantum leap in the positive direction. If one coupled that with a complete elimination of food coloring and corn syrup and other sweeteners, then one would enjoy yet another boost in happiness. Switching to a diet where one gets 80% of one's calories from fruit, vegetables, and legumes would yield yet another jump. Of course the increase in sex that accompanied a newfound healthy appearance might possibly put one over the top in the happiness category.
Re:Unhappy? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah - and then all you happy healthy people will look stupid one day lying there: dying from nothing.
(on edit: I do not hope you will die soon, of course)
credit your quote, plagiarist (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
if one were to rub the worst half hour sitcom from one's daily tv viewing and substitute that for an equivalent amount of time getting aerobic exercise such as riding a bike, rowing, stair stepping, treadmilling, jogging, or using an elliptical trainer, one's happiness would take a quantum leap in the positive direction.
Skip the jogging, take it easy on the bike and the machines. "Light" aerobic exercise is healthier than "heavy". Better yet, stick to a half hour of moderately brisk walking. If it's not getting your heart rate up, carry some weight on your back. Running is something you reserve for when you're trying to escape tigers. Why resort to a method of getting your cardio up that beats the crap out of your joints when you can get the same exact effect another way?
Re: (Score:2)
Why resort to a method of getting your cardio up that beats the crap out of your joints when you can get the same exact effect another way?
To be exact, you're not getting the same effect. High-impact exercises build bone density. Astronauts who exercise in space lose bone density no matter how much they exercise, and the same is true of people on earth as they get older.
Re: (Score:2)
If the bike is hurting your joints, you're doing it wrong. Get someone to check your posture and adjust the saddle, etc.
btw, I can blow through 7-800 calories in an hour on the bike and that would take me a lot longer if I just walked places.
Re: (Score:2)
My guess is they are happier than people who spend the same amount of time watching TV.
I would agree but damn near every comment is someone disagreeing with the previous one.
Re: (Score:2)
I would agree but damn near every comment is someone disagreeing with the previous one.
No they're not!
Re: (Score:2)
So then why do we do all those "sinful" things again instead of living your Happy Hippy Healthy Lifestyle?
Re: (Score:2)
Switching to a diet where one gets 80% of one's calories from fruit, vegetables, and legumes would yield yet another jump
Only offset slightly by the distressing smells that would accompany such a diet :-)
Re: (Score:2)
That's funny. Typically I enjoy the odd game of squash with mates and all, but some of my best socializing and "feeling happy" moments are spent while consuming:
- Coffee
- Cigarettes
- Large quantities of dead animal
- Large quantities of Liquorice / drop / ice cream
- Alcohol
And I've never had issues with sex either. Plenty of that to go around. Well, after I turned 20, but still. :-D Furthermore, my appearance is *very* healthy (no, I'm not particularly overweight) and I'm a gamer.
So how does that compute?
Re: (Score:2)
We make TV for all those sad lonely people to STOP them going out and having sex! Stop planting ideas in their heads to go take away our wemmin!
Re: (Score:2)
In other news, people tell consistent lies: if they lie about their TV-viewing habits, they will lie about working out, reading, recycling, voting the Green Party, not bribing their way out of speeding tickets etc.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I went to Hulu after reading your comment just to see what it was all about. :-\
Re: (Score:2)
\o/ /\
|
Why yes, I AM happier...
Video Games? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Video Games? (Score:5, Insightful)
That said you can always find a depressing person any group.
Re: (Score:2)
That said you can always find a depressing person any group.
It dosen't help any depressed person to say that they're depressing, it only makes them feel worse and want to interact with people even less, continuing the cycle. There'd be much fewer depressives if people would interact with depressed folks in a optimistic, or at least opaque, manner rather than reflect every sigh and downward glance back at them.
It's kind of like not wanting to be somebody's friend just because they don't have friends! Of course, given that humans are basically dumb beasts who thin
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Hey! Speak for yourself, buddy!
I don't think I'm God because as opposed to God I'm relatively sure I exist.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think I'm God because as opposed to God I'm relatively sure I exist.
but can you prove it.....
What about the internet? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What about the internet? (Score:5, Funny)
What channels? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. [is.gd]
Re: (Score:2)
I watch cnbc the financial news channel.
Does watching your 401k melt into nothingness count as unhappiness?
Re: (Score:2)
The flip side question is more interesting. Does your 401K climb into the stratosphere on the basis of money that never existed in the first place count as happiness?
Most of the recent "performance" of the markets was banks enlarging the money supply with complex financial instruments while risks disappeared under the sofa cushion.
What's more, many of these fund managers were collecting advance fees, and massing their excessive compensation
Re: (Score:2)
Questioning the methodology behind an assertion isn't necessarily being defensive about the issue.
On the flip side of that coin.... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.....
Re:On the flip side of that coin.... (Score:4, Interesting)
I read a good article in new scientist (IIRC), that studied the addictive nature of TV.
It was the sudden transitions that you get with advertising and music TV that caused people to get hooked and also feel drained and zombified after long sittings. So yeah, it's not really the medium but what you choose to watch.
Have you looked at the faces of people "watching" MTV? Creepy.
Re: (Score:2)
"Have you looked at the faces of people "watching" MTV? Creepy."
I had the very first such experience with my 8 year-old daughter the other day.
Only thing was, she wasn't watching TV. She was doing stuff on her Facebook account. I asked her something and the expression on her face and tone of her voice was reminiscent of a heroin addict. It freaked me out.
Re: (Score:2)
So that she can keep in touch and play online games with her relatives. We monitor it and don't allow her to post anything personal (pictures, full name etc.)
Re: (Score:2)
It was the sudden transitions that you get with advertising and music TV that caused people to get hooked
You seem to forget that we are talking about data spanning 30 years. Music tv and advertising were not quite the same back then. And I think the main point they are making is not that "TV is bad for you", but that lack of social and other activity is. Why is reading a newspaper better than watching tv? Because when you read a newspaper, you are actively pursuing information and you are more likely to talk to your colleagues about it; but if you spent the evening watching MTV, you are not really likely to ta
What I want to know is... (Score:4, Funny)
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.
Re:What I want to know is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
So what explains the dearth of quality new shows for the last 25 years or so?
Re: (Score:2)
What dearth in the past 25 years? We've had The Simpsons, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, South Park, Firefly, Doctor Who, Scrubs... and that's just the stuff I watch sometimes.
Re: (Score:2)
No, I'm just aware enough to realize that there were a lot more good shows in the 60s and 70s than now. Sure, there are some good shows now, but nowhere near as many as there used to be.
Re: (Score:2)
Fox News of course (Score:1, Funny)
That's an easy one! Recently Fox News viewers are a VERY unhappy lot.
Related Studies (Score:4, Informative)
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 [nytimes.com] about background TV causing abnormal development in attention spans.
Re: (Score:2)
Just wait until early 2009 when HDTV really fucks with your head.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
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 [nytimes.com] about background TV causing abnormal development in attention spans.
This doesn't surprise me. I grew up constantly bombarded by TV and I hated it.
I also found it mesmerizing and addictive. Which only made me hate it more. And even if it was a show I hated, I often couldn't get away from it, because I could hear it from my bedroom-- or, when visiting my dad's house, my "bedroom" was the livingroom with the TV in it, so there was nowhere I could go to escape when the damn thing was on. And I couldn't even go to bed until everyone else in the house was done watching TV for the
Can understand (Score:4, Insightful)
When I watch TV I usually become unhappy. There's almost never anything of interest on.
Opiate? (Score:1)
TV can become a kind of opiate in a way.
What does that make Slashdot?
Re: (Score:1, Funny)
Hey, so long as it is open source and every hit is free.....
Re: (Score:2)
LSD?
Cause and effect reversed? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That was my first thought when I read the summary. I'm happy, and I watch a good amount of TV right now... But it's all shows I actively want to see, and I watch them when I want to. (And without commercials.) In fact, I generally end up fitting TV in around everything else in my life. If there came a time when TV was what I had to fit things around, I just wouldn't watch TV. (I know, because I was there a few years ago... I actually didn't watch TV for about a year, and then I got cable with a DVR a
Re: (Score:2)
"May be people who don't socialize much and waste their time watching the idiots box are unhappy."
My guess is the correlation arises in several ways. People who don't have much to do tend to both watch more TV and be more depressed. Watching a lot of TV can leave one in a "blah" mood. When someone is not feeling in a great mood, he may distract himself with TV.
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. I'm quite happy to accept the statistical data, but it does not in and of itself support the conclusions made by the sociologists, who are (unsurprisingly to anyone who knows some sociologists) spouting a load of rubbish that the statistical data in and of itself doesn't support. Here are some other possible explanations for the data:
1) Loneliness is a factor in how much TV a person watches, and lonely people are less happy than non-lonely ones. This is not a function of marital status, income, or a
"Cause and effect" are usually misnomers (Score:2)
Factors to Consider (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
The other day I smoked myself some good Dutch Skunk, and it knocked me flat on my ass because I'm not used to it.
I wanted to get laid but couldn't because of the drug's effect, and I can tell you that my mind was:
- Fully aware of it
- Hardly pacified
- Scarcely happy
Luckily I got my own back after zoning out for a couple of hours.
Point is that your theory is not necessarily correct.
Lolcat! (Score:1, Offtopic)
49 20 61 6d 20 69 6e 20 75 72 20 54 56 20 77 61 74 63 68 69 6e 20 79 6f 75 20 73 75 6c 6b
Re: (Score:2)
haha.
20 percent difference? That's it? (Score:3, Insightful)
"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.
You think 20% is small? (Score:4, Informative)
The average American watches an average of 4.5 hours of television every day, according to Nielsen. [tvb.org] 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.)
To Paraphrase Nick Hornby (Score:1)
Do people watch TV because they are unhappy, or are they unhappy because they watch TV?
Re: (Score:2)
Probably both.
Re: (Score:2)
"Do people listen to pop music because they are unhappy, or are they unhappy because they listen to pop music"
The TV is habit forming and is like a drug (Score:2)
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.
Look. We don't *want* to watch, but... (Score:2)
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 hour
And what about those of us who ... (Score:2)
... watch our friends on TV using the tiny cameras we've planted in their houses? I think we're very happy.
I've replaced TV with Internet (Score:2)
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.
Correlation does not imply causation (Score:2, Redundant)
Re: (Score:2)
I think this may be a case where correlation does not imply causation. [...] 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.
Huh. Funny how you start off this entire post about how "correlation does not imply causation," and yet you provide good arguments for causation flowing in both directions:
1) That people who are depressed are more likely to seek out television.
2) That television itself causes a depressive state.
So... What was the point in hauling out the beaten-to-death line about causation and correlation again?
I "watch" a lot of TV... (Score:5, Interesting)
Do I consider myself "unhappy?" I suppose a little lonely at times, but who isn't?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I guess the opposite is also true.
I live with my girlfriend, and have a rather active social life - and I have no TV. Never found the need for one, either.
I do travel a lot, and when I travel, there is almost no time between work and socializing with the clients and the team. When I'm home, all I want to do is either spend time with the woman, read, go climbing or work on something personal (e.g. my portfolio).
I consider myself neither lonely nor unhappy in any sense. If anything, I am extremely satisfied a
Re: (Score:2)
See, that stuff is called "a healthy separation between one's personal and professional life". As in: telling the boss you're not working 60 hour weeks more than once every 2 months gives you enough time in each day to develop some people skills, find a hobby, and use those two factors to find a girlfriend.
Guy might have the nerdiest profession on Earth, but if he keeps it in the office he doesn't need to develop the Stigmata of the Slashdotter.
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, when I do work, I do 80-100 hours a week. However, there are also weeks when I get off (and weeks when I do 10 hours). And when I do get off, I make sure that I do things that I enjoy. Balance and all that.
Re: (Score:2)
It's constantly in flux like fashion and there are only so many ways to stay "current."
TV is also something of a "dream medium" in that you might not always kn
Re: (Score:2)
Worked for me! (Score:5, Interesting)
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!
Too Unhappy to Watch TV (Score:2)
So I hang out here where I can vent my spleen :-)
Television essential to mental well-being (Score:5, Funny)
New findings printed today in all papers [today.com] 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.
works exactly the other way around for me (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)
TV vs books in long term (Score:2)
Racing Away (Score:2)
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
Seriously, does this guy seem happy? (Score:5, Funny)
Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television [theonion.com]
Sorry, couldn't resist.
--
Toro
how do they define happy? (Score:2)
It's a marketing strategy (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
To paraphrase Scott Adams, happy people don't need to buy stuff. The advertiser's first job is to make you unhappy with at least some aspect of your life.
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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. [wikipedia.org] 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.
Re: (Score:2)
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.
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a correlation statement.
A causation statement would be:
or
Re:I don't have a tv.. (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't have one either. I like more control of my media experience than TV provides. I watch very occasionally at a neighbor's place.
It's interesting, though: my experience of TV is different when I do watch it. I get angrier at villains, more repulsed by violence. Part of that is obviously just not exposing myself to it as much. I wonder, though: how much it is about my general immersion in more interactive media? Usually when something happens in the spaces I spend my time in (mailing lists, facebook) I can say something about it, and change the action.
Which does change my response to things like TV, too, but in a way that's hard to sort out.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, hey, time travel didn't ruin "Heroes". Shit writing ruined "Heroes". Time travel has given us the greatness of "Doctor Who".
1 person's experience is not a valid dataset. (Score:3, Insightful)
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