Unhappy people watch 30% more TV
 

Unhappy people glue themselves to the television 30 percent more than happy people.

The finding, announced on Thursday, comes from a survey of nearly 30,000 American adults conducted between 1975 and 2006 as part of the General Social Survey.


While happy people reported watching an average of 19 hours of television per week, unhappy people reported 25 hours a week. The results held even after taking into account education, income, age and marital status.

In addition, happy individuals were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more and read a newspaper more often than their less-chipper counterparts.

The researchers are not sure, though, whether unhappiness leads to more television-watching or more viewing leads to unhappiness.

In fact, people say they like watching television: Past research has shown that when people watch television they enjoy it. In these studies, participants reported that on a scale from 0 (dislike) to 10 (greatly enjoy), TV-watching was nearly an 8.

But perhaps the high from watching television doesn't last.

"These conflicting data suggest that TV may provide viewers with short-run pleasure, but at the expense of long-term malaise," said researcher John Robinson, a sociologist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In this scenario, even the happiest campers could turn into Debbie-downers if they continue to stare at the boob-tube. The researchers suggest that over time, television-viewing could push out other activities that do have more lasting benefits. Exercise and sex come to mind, as do parties and other forms of socialization known to have psychological benefits.

Or, maybe television is simply a refuge for people who are already unhappy.

"TV is not judgmental nor difficult, so people with few social skills or resources for other activities can engage in it," Robinson and UM colleague Steven Martin write in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research.

They add, "Furthermore, chronic unhappiness can be socially and personally debilitating and can interfere with work and most social and personal activities, but even the unhappiest people can click a remote and be passively entertained by a TV."

The researchers say follow-up studies are needed to tease out the relationship between television and happiness.

I must be really depressed. I love watching the box!

Yeah dude, I've got the TV going all day. I really am a miserable bastard. :1orglaugh

Maybe it's the TV that makes you unhappy

Interesting, TV is the main cause of stupidity in the world today.

They should switch away from the financial news channel :winkwink:

i dont even have cable does that make me super happy? :D

So surfing GFY proves...

I'm unhappy but I don't have cable. How do you like THEM apples?

I must be borderline suicidal.

Can you believe, not even 100 years ago, we had neither television or radio. Damn, I wonder what people did back then?

A 31 year survey only included 30,000 adults? That's a good sized sample of the USA population. :1orglaugh About a hundredth of one percent. :Graucho

neat survey, I wonder what the percentage of cheese-puff consumption was among unhappy tv viewers

I must be real happy!
I watch tv once, twice a week at the most and even then its a movie.
Not in to all this drama/soap shit they put on the tv

Fucking all day and night

In fact my family banned TV more than 3 years ago. We are fucking happy. Unlike these guys:

http://static.oper.ru/data/gallery/l1048751566.jpg

they did't heard for net :)

Reading the newspaper does not make me more happy.

This actually sounds like truth.
Right now I cannot call myself a happy man in every aspect. There are a few things in my life than make me very unhappy right now and guess what I'm hooked on certain TV shows like Terminator, Supernatural, and few more older ones.
I don't have a lot of time to watch them unfortunately, but I think I'm close to 25 hours a week.

My tv has died lately so I am very unhappy.

I watch Tv all day long and that doesnt mean that Im unhappy perosn!!

kill your television

I watch VERY little tv!

I must be very happy then, because I hardly ever watch TV.. Only time I do is when I rent a movie..

the shows on tv now are crap

Well, I am depressed but I find the internet a great substitute for the tv as a great way to escape from life. Being online 15 hours a day (not work related but just surfing) or watching tv 7 hours a day, it's the same thing....

I noticed people who are depressed sleep more too. When I feel down I will sleep over 12 hours a day sometimes...

Tv is a great way to escape from life, you can travel out of your own miserable life and immerse yourself in someone else's much more exciting, glamorous, happy life!

I don't watch TV:winkwink: