Unhappy People Watch Lots More TV

Unhappy People Watch Lots More TV

news.yahoo.com

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)

And who isnt occasionally unhappy/depressed at times?
I dont know about the rest of the world but I would be willing to bet that a great percentage of Americans are in a funk because of the state of our country (whether real, manufactured or fear mongered)
And with our economic issues watching TV is probably one of the overall "luxuries" that we Americans will keep around.
So we have this twisted cycle of unhappy individuals watching more TV, watching more commercials, becoming more unhappy, living in an alternate world, trusting what their talking tubes are telling them, sticking their heads further in the ground and becoming the "perfect" American, numb and compliant.


news.yahoo.com (visit the link for the full news article)

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.

Well there you go...either the TV will get you or the church will get you, either way you will conform.

I would say both, I think (because I have been there) when you are depressed the TV is a good friend but once you start that friendship it is hard to break it off, it is much easier just to stay friends and put your feet up, relax. It turns into a vicious cycle, that unless you are a very strong individual or have very strong supporters around you can turn into a full blown nightmare pretty fast.
TV to some is like coc aine to others and the side effects of TV: laziness, overeating, disinterest in family,friends, hobbies and activities.

I've been watching a hell a lot of TV of late, but I don't think I have become more unhappy, I can put it down to 3 reasons.

1) I have moved my computer - now my TV and monitor are almost next to each other man I should be more concerned about getting fat and then getting depressed

2) Not got a great deal of money at the moment - don't have a full time girlfriend so I got to go out to pull, that takes cash, I don't (can't) spend what I don't have... So watch loads of telly.

3) Work odd and random hours, so sleep odd hours - so I watch a lot of telly.

Damn, now I typed that I'm depressed Where is that chocolate and the whiskey

Edit: actually I'm moving to a new flat in the new year, I might not get a TV licence for a while, see what thats like. (oh yhea - do you lot in the rest of the world know we in the UK have to buy a blinking LICENCE to watch telly?? It's not a right you know! - and the money only actually goes to the BBC)

[edit on 15/11/2008 by Now_Then]

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.

Of course they enjoy it, for the most part it is cheap, easy and comforting.
TV is an alternative universe where you can flip the channel if you dont like what is happening, you cant do that in reality.

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

See, even the author writes as if it is a high inducing drug.

"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.

See that vicious cycle yet? See why Americans are overweight, lazy and indifferent?

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."

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=AprkZBKa0JeOWsZTGrO5CgKs0NUE

The TV is your best friend, it is easy and will love you no matter what.

What would our world be like today if the great television had never been invented? Can we even imagine? A world without commercials, a world without reality idiot shows, a world without soaps, a world without MTV, a World without MSM or the Home Shopping Network?


[edit on 15-11-2008 by SEEWHATUDO]

LOL at now_then...........u just described my life!!!!!!!!!!!
#e aint it!!!

See, this is why ATS is a "win-win" for all of us...it's entertaining, informative AND social. I'm so happy.

Hi Kosmic...........Im just glad Im not watching da TV!!!!

reply to post by Now_Then


Turn the TV off and go to the park
I understand the reasons for watching TV, believe Ive been there and continue to be there.
IT is like a monkey on your back man, hard to kick the habit.

What is up with the license?
Is that in addition to cable costs or is that like our junk/crap fees at the bottom of the bill?

Cable is expensive but it is cheap compared to other addictions and in an explosive global meltdown I dont think many will cut off their "connections"
We should all buy stock in Comcast, they will do just fine, thank you very much!

despite it all I do find ways to still live!!!!!
TV is so so tempting but sex and girls still take top priority!!!!!

reply to post by kosmicjack


Hey!!!!

Yes BUT the internet/forums has the side effect of extremely short attention span, lack of exercise/unhealthy lifestyle (cheetos and a diet coke because its easier to type and is faster to grab), lack of interaction with real live human beings that you can touch, justification for isolation (look at all these friends I have on this forum), lack of reality (All these people think just like I do!...Well if everything works out he will understand when I tell him I dint really look like that)
etc. etc. etc.

In some ways the internet is more addictive then the poor TV ever could possibly achieve but as of right now the internet is (supposedly) not completely controlled and programmed.
So I digress...

Yes the internet is as adictive!!!!....I know this cos I just had to stop for a few mins before replying to this!!!!!!!!!!!

so......... is it social?..................or needed??????

thats the question I think??

so is it safe to say that if you turn off or get rid of your tv, you would have a better chance at being happy more often if not all of the time?
I think it is. It might be detrimental when vicarious experiences out number actual experiences. There are so many factors to this, as in the types of programming utilized, and reason for implementation etc etc. It makes sense in a business aspect though, to keep people unhappy via the TV, because it is the TV that will advertise to them in their vulnerable state all sorts of ways to fill the void from prescriptions to plastic addictions to the group therapy of "reality" TV.
Which trips me out, the sheer number of reality TV shows there are, I look at it like drug addictions, meth addicts seek out other meth addicts, heroin addicts likewise, so this can similarly be applied to perception. Reality TV is obviously the crack house of Preconditioned Drama Oriented Operating System Perceptions, and honestly, the amount of drama on reality tv, worries me for my fellow humans and their earth based condition. As drama is the first thing that is easily avoided with the application of reason, reason that continual exposure to drama may inhibit. Go figure..chaching chaching bling bling bling as little birdies fly around the customers heads.

I don't see a problem with that. Gotta fill your time with something, might as well be the price is right.

reply to post by must be a way


Is it social?
I think some aspects of the internet are for social stimulation.
I think the internet provides so many with avenues they could never cross in real life.

I own a tv, but have no channels. I play video games. That is my only televised luxury.

Fack TV.

I don't miss it one bit.

TV can make you feel social and included without being judged.

Nobody cares what you look like or how you react, but you still get to be part of the action and see whats going on in the world.

I totally see the attraction. Same with the internet.
We crave interaction, yet fear being judged by others for what we are wearing, eating, doing etc.
I see it in people faces I encounter everyday.
Most people would rather hide behind a screen.
But they still want to feel like they are a part of 'it'.

Originally posted by SEEWHATUDO
What is up with the license?
Is that in addition to cable costs or is that like our junk/crap fees at the bottom of the bill?

Yep thats right... If fact it would be more accurate to say the cable costs and other junk is in addition to the licence fee. You see you can still recieve 5 channels (BBC1+2, ITV, C4 and 5) over the airwaves - well the transmitters are being switched off right now across the country to free up the airwaves - so that is pretty much ended. But essentually if you can get hold of a TV you can watch it, but you would be breaking the law unless you have a licence!!

Do I need a TV Licence?

You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.

It's all very British.

How much does it cost?

A colour TV Licence costs £139.50. A black and white TV Licence costs £47.00.

Heres the TV licencing page... Just incase anyone thinks I'm pulling their leg!

Works both ways...

TV makes you unhappy too.

All that "stuff" and you can't afford/have it.

I've not had a telly in about 8 years and I sure don't miss the fantastic choice of crap!

Soaps, bad news, game shows for idiots, how to be more superficial, crap, crap, and more crap!

Ain't nuthin I can't get on the internet and NO ADVERTS.

Try living without it if you can and FEEL THE DIFFERENCE.

Pleeeeeease. Be alert, the world needs lerts.

Or get fat, bored and always feel unhappy and wanting.

Get a friend to video you watching telly for a few hours and then watch that, you'll change your mind a lot quicker.

Originally posted by Now_Then

Do I need a TV Licence?

You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.

Heres the TV licencing page... Just incase anyone thinks I'm pulling their leg!

Yup, they even make you pay for the privilege of being dulled and brainwashed and lied to. The BBC have a lot to answer to....'kin parasites!