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November 22, 2008
Study suggests happier people watch less television
The New York Times (11/20, Rabin) reports, "Happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to church, and reading newspapers -- but they don't spend a lot of time watching television," according to a study published in the journal Social Indicators Research. John Robinson, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, and colleagues, analyzed "the responses of 45,000 Americans collected over 35 years by the University of Chicago's General Social Survey," as well as "published 'time diary' studies recording the daily activities of participants." The researchers focused on "eight to 10 activities that hap py people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were" happier. Still, the authors "could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television, or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy."
Columnist criticizes study. In the San Francisco Chronicle (11/19) Notes & Errata column, Mark Morford criticized the study, saying that the authors did not say "what everyone already knows: that there's an entire universe of unhappy things that unhappy people also indulge in besides
John Robinson, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, and colleagues, analyzed "the responses of 45,000 Americans collected over 35 years by the University of Chicago's General Social Survey," as well as "published 'time diary' studies recording the daily activities of participants." The researchers focused on "eight to 10 activities that hap py people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were" happier. Still, the authors "could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television, or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy."
In the San Francisco Chronicle (11/19) Notes & Errata column, Mark Morford criticized the study, saying that the authors did not say "what everyone already knows: that there's an entire universe of unhappy things that unhappy people also indulge in besides."
Related Links:
- "What Happy People Don’t Do," Roni Caryn rabin, New York Times, November 19, 2008.
- "Misery loves TV," Mark Morford, San Francisco Chronicle, November 19, 2008.
Posted by admin at November 22, 2008 12:26 PM