
Studies into the psychological effects of the ‘box’ show that when we watch too much, our mood and happiness levels drop.
While reading an article on wellness by Dr John Grohol recently, one sentence nearly made me spill my honey-sweetened cup of Irish Breakfast tea.
Citing research by Mihaly Csikszentmihali (the famed psychologist who coined the term ‘flow’), Grohol wrote that “watching TV is one of the most soul-sucking and depressing activities most of us engage in.”
Ouch. Talk about not mincing words.
Looking into Csikszentmihali’s writings a little deeper, I found that the issue is not the content of what we watch (surely nature documentaries do more good than harm?), but it’s television’s effect on our psychology – when we watch more than we think we should, that is.
“The difficulty arises,” he and colleague Robert Kubey write in the Scientific American, “when people strongly sense that they ought not to watch as much as they do and yet find themselves strangely unable to reduce their viewing.”
After all, the hours we spend in front of the box are significant.
Csikszentmihali and Kubey say that on average, individuals in the industrialised world devote three hours a day to watching TV. That equates to half of most people’s leisure time.
In their own research using beepers that prompted television watchers to indicate their mood periodically, the writers found that when viewers watched television they felt ‘relaxed’ and ‘passive’.
Nothing new there.
But when the TV was turned off, participants reported lower energy levels and concentration problems.
They felt depleted.
“After watching TV, people’s moods are about the same or worse than before,” say Csikszentmihali and Kubey.
Here they explain the effect:
“Within moments of sitting or lying down and pushing the ‘power’ button, viewers report feeling more relaxed. Because the relaxation occurs quickly, people are conditioned [trained] to associate viewing with rest and lack of tension.
The association is positively reinforced [it encourages you to watch more telly] because viewers remain relaxed throughout the viewing, and it is negatively reinforced [it discourages you from switching the telly off] via the stress and rumination that occurs once the screen goes blank… Viewing begets more viewing.”
So even though the more TV we watch the less satisfied we feel, perhaps we keep watching to avoid the ill feelings that arrive when the ‘off’ switch is pressed.
Instead, “goal-focused activities tend to increase our enjoyment levels of life,” says Grohol.
Masterchef and American Idol I do love you, but perhaps 2012 is the year of books, bikes and hikes.
References available upon request