SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration
No 2006:6:
A favorite waste of time: The experience of watching TV
Lennart Sjöberg ()
and Rutger Magneberg ()
Abstract: TV watching is one of the most important ways of spending
leisure time, the average daily watching time in the Swedish population is
about 141 minutes – about 15 % of non-sleep time. Yet, there is little
research on the psychological processes taking place while watching TV. In
the present study using still-relevant data from a 1985-86 data base, the
cognitive and emotional functions of TV watching in everyday life were
investigated by means of a random action sampling procedure. TV watching
was characterized by a high level of happiness and relaxation, own
initiative, a long time span, closeness to goal, commonness, and easiness.
It was characterized by a low level of negative emotions, concentration,
expected value of outcome, activation, level of intention and presence of
others. TV watching thus emerges as an activity, which mainly provides some
pleasant relaxation. It is common, easy to do and done in relative
solitude. It is a somewhat interesting activity, but it stimulates little
concentration and involvement. It is regarded as an obstacle to the pursuit
of other goals. The relevance of the results for the present situation with
regard to TV is discussed.
Keywords: experience sampling method; action sampling; television; emotions; interest; involvement; (follow links to similar papers)
29 pages, July 8, 2006, Revised September 1, 2008
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/A%20Favorite%20waste%20of%20Time.htm
Download Statistics
- This paper is published as:
-
Sjöberg, Lennart and Rutger Magneberg, (2007), 'Action sampling of TV viewing: A favorite waste of time', Journal of Media Psychology, Vol. 12, No. 2
Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Helena Lundin ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ()
or Helena Lundin ().
Programing by
Design by Joakim Ekebom
