The Unhappy Viewer: Heavy Television Viewing, Happiness, Social Interaction and the Situation of the Sociology of the Media

In this paper the role of television in crowding out other social activities is considered in the context of a number of attitudes and feelings. Correlations based on European Social Survey data are presented that demonstrate that the more television people watch the less they participate in social interactions and the less happy etc. they are. It is also indicated that television is just one small part of the wider explanation of the degree of social interaction or happiness. Sociology, it is argued, still has a lot to offer us in coming to a more nuanced understanding for the phenomenon of television and its role in people’s lives.