Dr. Janet McMullen  Fall 2002  MWF 9:00

Updated: 11/22/02 

The concept of television addiction has been around for a while, but there was not a lot of social scientific evidence to support it. In the late 1980's research began to be done and one study found that when compared to the characteristics of psychiatric addition, those with "tv addiction" exhibited the following common characteristics:

• They spent a large percentage of their time with television
• They watched much more than they intended to watch
• They made repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop watching or cut back their viewing
• They chose television over activities with family, friends, or occupational activities, sometimes withdrawing from these activities almost completely
• They experienced "withdrawal" type symptoms when they were unable to watch. (Kuby, 1990).

A group of researchers who had studied the phenomenon established a definition of television addiction in 1990.

Television Addiction: (def) Heavy television watching that is subjectively experience as being to some extent involuntary, displacing more productive activities, and difficult to stop or curtail. ( McIlwraith, Smith Jacovitz, Kubey, and Alexander, 1991)

The theoretical support for the concept of TV Addiction ranges from those which attribute it to the structural/communicative aspects of the medium (McLuhan 1964, 1978)to the nature of program which discourage cognitive involvement and encourage passivity in its audience. The later explanation suggest that the fact that TV discourages our use of imagination and cognitive skills leads to the lack of developement of those abilities and the increased of dependency on TV because we're bored without it....(Do YOU know someone like that?) (Singer, 1993; Valkenberg & Van de Voort, 1994). Others have suggested individual differences in cognitive style, personality and circumstances can contribute (Eysenck, 1978). Research found that those who labeled themselves TV addicts were more unhappy, anxious, and more withdrawn than other viewers. They also reported that they used television as a distraction from boredom, bad moods, worries, and even fears. (McIlwraith, 1990) A later study demonstrated that they were more easily bored, more neurotic, and introverted, using TV as a distraction from the unpleasant things in life, a mood regulator or just to fill time. (McIlwraith, 1998)

Names:

On a lighter note, research has demonstrated that television seems to have a significant impact on the naming of children. It began in the 1950s when the name Ricky got a boost in popularity from Ozzie and Harriet and I Love Lucy. Kayla became really popular during the eighties when Kayla Brady was a popular character on Days of Our Lives. From being rarely used, Kayla became one of the top ten names for girls in few years. The same thing happened to Michaela, which was a result of the popularity of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1993. An interesting TV GUIDE article charted the popularity of baby names and TV names....

• 1960s: Bret (Maverick), Corey (Julia), Matt (Gunsmoke), Jarrod (The Big Valley), Samantha (Bewitched), Allison (Peyton Place).
• 1970s: Adam (Bonanza, Adam-12, Edge of Night), Gage (Emergency), Nicholas (Eight is Enough), Emily (Bob Newhart Show), Jaime (The Bionic Woman), Jill (Charlie's Angels)
• 1980s: Alex (Family Ties), Hunter (Hunter), Kayla (Days of Our Lives), Krystle (Dynasty), Mallory (Families Ties)
• 1990s: Baley (Party of Five), Hayden (Coach), Chandler (Friends), Jalessa (A Different World)

(Evans, 1997)

Sleep Deprivation and Obesity:

A study from the National Sleep Foundation indicates that both men and women lose sleep because of television. The study was the National Sleep Foundation's "1998 Omnibus Sleep in America Poll". According to the data 51% of men and 42% of women reported that they would go to bed earlier if they didn't have watch television or use the internet. These two factors were considered significant contributors to sleep deprivation among the sample. (Trigoboff, 1998)

Resources:

Evans, Cleveland. "From Lisa to Jaleesa." TV GUIDE, 6/21/97 p. 30

Kubey, R. "Pyschological Dependence on Television: Application DSM-III-R Criteria and Experience Sampling Method Findings. " In R. McIlwraith, Television Addiction: Theories and Data behind the Ubiquitous Metaphor. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Pyschological Association, Boston, MA, 1990.

McIlwraith, Robert D. "Theories of Television Addiction." In R. McIlwraith, Television Addiction: Theories and Data behind the Ubiquitous Metaphor. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Pyschological Association, Boston, MA, 1990.

McIlwraith, R., Jacobvitz, R., Kubey, R., & Alexander, A. Television Addicition: Theories and Data Behind the Ubiquitous Metaphor. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Pyschological Association, Boston, MA, 1990.

McIlwraith, Robert D. "I'm Addicted to Television": The Personality, Imagination and TV Watching Patterns of Self-Identified TV Addicts." Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 42 (3) 1998, pp371-386.

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.

McLuhan, Marshall. "A Last Look at the Tube." New York Magazine. April, 1978, p. 45.

Singer, D. "Creativity of Children in a Television World." In G. Berry & J.Asamen (Eds.) Children and Television: Images in a Changing Sociological World. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993.

Singer J. and Singer, D. "Implications of Childhood TelevisionVIewing for Cognition, Imagination and Emotion" in J. Byrant and D. Zillman (eds), Children's Understanding of Television: Research on Attention and Comprehension. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983.

Trigoboff, Dan. "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?: TV Cited for Promoting Sleep Deprivation, Overweight Kids." Broadcasting and Cable. 3/30/98 p. 41

Copyright, 2002

Dr. Janet McMullen

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