Unhappy people watch TV, happy people read-socialize

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/unhappy-people-watch-tv-happy-people-readsocialize-17794.html

A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes
that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves
as very happy spend more time reading and socializing. The study
appears in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research.

Analyzing 30-years worth of national data from time-use studies and
a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the Maryland
researchers report that spending time watching television may
contribute to viewers' happiness in the moment, with less positive
effects in the long run.

"TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way
that social involvement or reading a newspaper does," says University
of Maryland sociologist John P. Robinson, the study co-author and a
pioneer in time-use studies. "It's more passive and may provide escape
- especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The
data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at
the expense of long-term malaise."