How does TV Viewing Influence the Happiness? Direct Effect and Mediating Roles of Social Interaction and Materialism

SU Linsen

PDF(1592 KB)

Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2023, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (11) : 41-60.

Specific Topic / Television Studies in the Era of Social Media

How does TV Viewing Influence the Happiness? Direct Effect and Mediating Roles of Social Interaction and Materialism

SU Linsen

Author information +

History +

Abstract

Watching TV has become an important form of leisure in Chinese people’s daily lives, and television as a family medium has also long been the number one medium in China. As a social cell, the family is the source of happiness, and watching TV affects people’s quality of life and happiness. Television viewing has both direct and indirect effects on subjective well-being. Based on the 2013 and 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS) data, this paper finds that both daily TV viewing and free time TV viewing (or DVD watching) directly enhance people's subjective happiness, but only “frequent” or “daily” TV viewing can significantly enhance people's happiness, indicating that TV use has a certain threshold for enhancing happiness. This paper analyzes the indirect effect of TV viewing on subjective well-being through two competing mediation mechanisms, and the mediation analysis reveals that TV watching indirectly enhances people’s subjective well-being through promoting social interaction, but TV watching does not reduce well-being because of enhanced materialistic tendencies.

Key words

TV viewing / subjective happiness / social interaction / materialism

Cite this article

EndNote

Ris (Procite)

Bibtex

Download Citations

SU Linsen. How does TV Viewing Influence the Happiness? Direct Effect and Mediating Roles of Social Interaction and Materialism[J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2023, 45(11): 41-60

References

List( Publishing order | Descend order by publishing year | Descend order by cited within ) Chart analysis

[1]	2021年中国电视收视数据 (2022). 载崔保国,赵梅,丁迈,杭敏(主编),《传媒蓝皮书:中国传媒产业发展报告(2022)》(第394-407页). 北京: 社会科学文献出版社. Cited in this article [2]

[2]	李路路, 王宇(2009). 当代中国中间阶层的社会存在:社会生活状况. 《江苏社会科学》,(1),34-40. Cited in this article [2]

[3]	刘军强, 熊谋林, 苏阳(2012). 经济增长时期的国民幸福感——基于CGSS数据的追踪研究. 《中国社会科学》,(12),82-102,207-208. Cited in this article [1]

[4]	娜布琪(2019). 2018年电视收视市场回顾.检索于 http://www.csm.com.cn/Content/2019/04-30/1455371166.html. http://www.csm.com.cn/Content/2019/04-30/1455371166.html Cited in this article [1]

[5]	尼古拉斯·阿波克龙比(1996/2007).等译: 《电视与社会》(张永喜,鲍贵,陈光明译)(第2版). 南京: 南京大学出版社. Cited in this article [2]

[6]	苏林森(2023). 从新闻选择到新闻回避:数字环境下受众新闻消费的现状和特征. 《青年记者》,(5),16-20. Cited in this article [1]

[7]	王钦(2018). 2018年电视市场十大发展趋势.检索于 http://www.csm.com.cn/Content/2018/06-25/1443301123.html. http://www.csm.com.cn/Content/2018/06-25/1443301123.html Cited in this article [1]

[8]	韦路(2010). 媒介能使我们感到更幸福吗——媒介与主观幸福感研究述评. 《当代传播》,(4),16-18. Cited in this article [1]

[9]	闫岩(2010). 媒介形式与受众认知:门槛效应及其中观理论综览. 《国际新闻界》,(12),23-29. Cited in this article [1]

[10]	郑维东(2023). 年中国电视产业发展报告. 2022《收视中国》,(4),19-24. Cited in this article [3]

[11]	周倩, 卜晓珊(2021). 家国情怀:电视使用如何增强了幸福感. 《阴山学刊》,(2),60-68. Cited in this article [1]

[12]	周勇, 何天平(2020). 作为一种社会语境的中国电视:历史演进与现实抉择. 《当代传播》,(5),15-21. Cited in this article [4]

[13]	Bayraktaroglu D., Gunaydin G., Selcuk E., & Ong A. D. (2019). A Daily Diary Investigation of the Link Between Television Watching and Positive Affect. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(4), 1089-1101. Cited in this article [1]

[14]	Benesch C., Frey B. S., & Stutzer A. (2010). TV channels, self-control and happiness. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 10(1). Cited in this article [1]

[15]	Brown J. D. (2011). Likert items and scales of measurement. Statistics, 15(1), 10-14. Cited in this article [1]

[16]	Bruni L., & Stanca L. (2008). Watching alone: relational goods, television and happiness. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 65(3), 506-528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2005.12.005 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167268106002095 Cited in this article [1]

[17]	Courtois C., & Nelissen S. (2018). Family Television Viewing and Its Alternatives: Associations with Closeness within and between Generations. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 62(4), 673-691. Cited in this article [1]

[18]	Frey B. S., Benesch C., & Stutzer A. (2007). Does watching TV make us happy? Journal of Economic Psychology, 28(3), 283-313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2007.02.001 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167487007000104 Cited in this article [1]

[19]	Gerbner G., Gross L., Morgan M., Signorielli N., & Shanahan J. (2002). Growing up with television: Cultivation processes. Media effects: Advances in theory and research, 2(1), 43-67. Cited in this article [2]

[20]	Harmon M. D. (2001). Affluenza: Television use and cultivation of materialism. Mass Communication & Society, 4(4), 405-418. Cited in this article [1]

[21]	Hinton P. R., McMurray I., & Brownlow C. (2004). SPSS explained. London, UK: Routledge. Cited in this article [1]

[22]

Keiligh

Baker

. (2015). The secrets to a happy family? Watch TV together, sit around the table for Sunday lunch and make sure you live near a pub. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3230251/The-secret-happy-family-Watch-TV-together.html.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3230251/The-secret-happy-family-Watch-TV-together.html

Cited in this article [1]

[23]	Kubey R. (1990). Television and the quality of family life. Communication Quarterly, 38(4), 312-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379009369769 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463379009369769 Cited in this article [2]

[24]	Kubey R., & Csikszentmihalyi M. (2013). Television and the quality of life: How viewing shapes everyday experience. London, UK: Routledge. Cited in this article [1]

[25]	Lee P. S., Leung L., Lo V., & Xiong C. (2008). The perceived role of ICTs in quality of life in three Chinese cities. Social Indicators Research, 88(3), 457-476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9214-3 http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-007-9214-3 Cited in this article [1]

[26]

Mitchell

, Lebow

, Uribe

, Grathouse

, & Shoger

(2011). Internet use, happiness, social support and introversion: A more fine grained analysis of person variables and internet activity. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5),1857-1861.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.04.008

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0747563211000744

Cited in this article [1]

[27]

Nabi

R. L.

, Prestin

, & So

(2013). Facebook friends with (health) benefits? Exploring social network site use and perceptions of social support, stress, and well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(10), 721-727.

https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0521

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1089/cyber.2012.0521

Cited in this article [1]

[28]	Papacharissi Z., & Mendelson A. L. (2007). An exploratory study of reality appeal: Uses and gratifications of reality TV shows. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51(2), 355-370. Cited in this article [1]

[29]	Ruggiero T. E. (2000). Uses and gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass communication & society, 3(1), 3-37. Cited in this article [2]

[30]	Segrin C., & Nabi R. L. (2002). Does television viewing cultivate unrealistic expectations about marriage? Journal of Communication, 52(2), 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02543.x https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/52/2/247-263/4110012 Cited in this article [1]

[31]	Shanahan J., & Morgan M. (1999). Television and its viewers: Cultivation theory and research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cited in this article [1]

[32]	Shrum L. J., Burroughs J. E., & Rindfleisch A. (2005). Television's Cultivation of Material Values. Journal of consumer research, 32(3), 473-479. https://doi.org/10.1086/jcr.2005.32.issue-3 http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jcr/32/3 Cited in this article [1]

[33]

Shrum

, Lee

, Burroughs

J. E.

, & Rindfleisch

(2011). An online process model of second-order cultivation effects: How television cultivates materialism and its consequences for life satisfaction. Human Communication Research, 37(1), 34-57.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01392.x

https://academic.oup.com/hcr/article/37/1/34-57/4107477

Cited in this article [3]

[34]	Sirgy M. J. (1998). Materialism and quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 43(3), 227-260. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006820429653 Cited in this article [1]

[35]

Sirgy

M. J.

, Lee

D.J.

, Kosenko

, Lee Meadow

, Rahtz

, Cicic

, … & Wright

(1998). Does television viewership play a role in the perception of quality of life?. Journal of Advertising, 27(1), 125-142.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1998.10673547

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1998.10673547

Cited in this article [1]

[36]

Wang

, Liu

, Jiang

, & Song

(2017). Will materialism lead to happiness? A longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction. Personality and individual differences, 105, 312-317.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.014

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S019188691631042X

Cited in this article [1]

[37]	Wei R., & Leung L. (1998). Owning and using new media technology as predictors of quality of life. Telematics and Informatics, 15(4), 237-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0736-5853(98)00008-2 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0736585398000082 Cited in this article [2]

[38]	Wei X., & Stodolska M. (2015). Leisure in Urban China. General Patterns Based on a Nationwide Survey. Journal of Leisure Research, 47(3), 373. Cited in this article [1]

Funding

National Emergency Management System Research Special Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China, “Research on the Mechanism of Knowledge Dissemination on Social Consensus in Major Emergencies”(20VYJ014)