Does Watching TV Make Us Happy?

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Does Watching TV Make Us Happy?

Author Info

Bruno S. Frey
Christine Benesch
Alois Stutzer

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Abstract

The paper studies a major human activity – that of watching TV - where many individuals have incomplete control over, and foresight into, their own behavior. As a consequence, they watch more TV than they consider optimal for themselves and their well-being is lower than what could be achieved. Mainly people with significant opportunity costs of time regret the amount of time spent watching TV. They report lower subjective well-being when watching TV for many hours. For others, there is no negative effect on life satisfaction from watching TV. Long hours spent in front of a TV are linked to higher material aspirations and anxiety and therewith lower life satisfaction.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA) in its series CREMA Working Paper Series with number 2005-15.

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Date of creation: May 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cra:wpaper:2005-15

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Article
- Frey, Bruno S. & Benesch, Christine & Stutzer, Alois, 2007. "Does watching TV make us happy?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 283-313, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2005-07-03 (All new papers)
NEP-CBE-2005-07-03 (Cognitive & Behavioural Economics)
NEP-CUL-2005-07-03 (Cultural Economics)
NEP-LTV-2005-07-03 (Unemployment, Inequality & Poverty)
NEP-MIC-2005-07-03 (Microeconomics)

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Luigino Bruni & Luca Stanca, 2005. "Watching alone: Relational Goods, Television and Happiness," Working Papers 90, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2005. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Bruni, Luigino & Stanca, Luca, 2008. "Watching alone: Relational goods, television and happiness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(3-4), pages 506-528, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Fehr, Ernst & Singer, Tania, 2005. "The Neuroconomics of Mind Reading and Empathy," CEPR Discussion Papers 5128, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Tania Singer & Ernst Fehr, 2005. "The Neuroeconomics of Mind Reading and Empathy," IZA Discussion Papers 1647, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
- Tania Singer & Ernst Fehr, 2005. "The Neuroeconomics of Mind Reading and Empathy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 340-345, May. [Downloadable!]
Simon Luechinger & Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Bureaucratic Rents and Life Satisfaction," IEW - Working Papers iewwp269, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Simon Luechinger & Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Bureaucratic Rents and Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 1964, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
- Alois Stutzer, 2008. "Bureaucratic Rents and Life Satisfaction," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 476-488, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Luigino Bruni & Luca Stanca, 2005. "Income Aspirations, Television and Happiness: Evidence from the World Value Surveys," Working Papers 89, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2005. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Luigino Bruni & Luca Stanca, 2006. "Income Aspirations, Television and Happiness: Evidence from the World Values Survey," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 59(2), pages 209-225, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher & University of Zurich, 2005. "Neuroeconomic Foundations of Trust and Social Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 1641, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Fehr, Ernst & Fischbacher, Urs & Kosfeld, Michael, 2005. "Neuroeconomic Foundation of Trust and Social Preferences," CEPR Discussion Papers 5127, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Marco Gui & Luca Stanca, 2009. "Television Viewing, Satisfaction and Happiness: Facts and Fiction," Working Papers 167, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2009. [Downloadable!]
Falk, Armin & Fehr, Ernst & Zehnder, Christian, 2005. "The Behavioural Effects of Minimum Wages," CEPR Discussion Papers 5115, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Armin Falk & Ernst Fehr & Christian Zehnder, . "The Behavioral Effects of Minimum Wages," IEW - Working Papers iewwp247, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
- Armin Falk & Ernst Fehr & Christian Zehnder, 2005. "The Behavioral Effects of Minimum Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 1625, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Funk, Matt, 2007. "On the Problem of Dependent People: hyperbolic discounting in Atlantic Canadian island jurisdictions," MPRA Paper 14522, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Georgios Kavetsos & Stefan Szymanski, 2008. "National Wellbeing and International Sports Events," Working Papers 0804, International Association of Sports Economists. [Downloadable!]
Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "The 60s Turnaround as a Test on the Causal Relationship between Sociability and Happiness," SOEPpapers 209, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "The 60es turnaround as a test on the causal relationship between sociability and happiness," Econometica Working Papers wp07, Econometica. [Downloadable!]
Funk, Matt, 2008. "On the Problem of the Island of Earth: Introducing a Universal Theory of Value in an Open Letter to The President of the United States," MPRA Paper 14489, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Shaun Hargreaves Heap, 2008. "Social capital and snake oil," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 199-207, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Cardoso, Ana Rute & Fontainha, Elsa & Monfardini, Chiara, 2008. "Children and Parents Time Use: Empirical Evidence on Investment in Human Capital in France, Italy and Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3815, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Ana Rute Cardoso & Elsa Fontainha & Chiara Monfardini, 2008. "Children and parents time use: Empirical evidence on investment in human capital in France, Italy and Germany," CHILD Working Papers wp17_08, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY. [Downloadable!]

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