Original Research
Frequency of Binge Watching and its Emotional Impact Katie Soudek, Shawn J. Latendresse, Ph.D.
Abstract This study examined whether there was an association between participants’ frequency of binge watching and the emotions they associate with it. An online survey was administered to 66 college students and assessed emotions commonly associated with binge watching, such as loss of control, dependency, and positive emotions. A correlation analysis and three simple regression analyses were conducted on the data. There was a significant association between frequency and all three subcategories of the questionnaire, with negative emotions having a higher association than positive emotions. These results suggest that higher frequencies of binge watching have predominantly negative effects on viewers, and implications for future research are discussed.
Introduction There are many activities available on the internet, and the amount of content accessible to users grows every day. Watching video content is the fourth most prominent activity that Americans engage in, following only email, text/instant messaging, and social networking (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2017). TV shows have doubled in number in the last seven years with 487 shows premiering in America in 2017 (Shaw, 2018). Historically, TV watching was on a schedule dictated by the network that premiered the content. New platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, however, began releasing entire seasons of TV shows at one time to allow viewers to decide their own viewing schedule, encouraging a new viewing method called binge watching, which allows consumers to watch concurrent episodes without interruption (Jenner, 2016). Netflix (2013) defines binge watching as viewing two to six episodes of a TV show in one sitting. For this study, watching the appropriate amount of episodes (as mentioned in Netflix’s definition) in a single sitting qualifies as a binge, no matter what device or content provider the subjects use. Binging video content is an individualized activity, and it is difficult to determine the point at which TV watching becomes problematic (Jenner, 2017). In some cases, binging can have positive effects on viewers. One study researched effects of uplifting content on viewers’ emotions and overall outlook on life, finding that viewing uplifting content more often than others caused viewers to be more benevolent in their everyday lives (Neubaum, Kramer, & Alt, 2019). Also, Rubenking and Campanella (2018) found that binge watching was used to aid in viewers’ emotion regulation, allowing viewers to indulge in whatever emotions they preferred depending on what content they decided to watch. The ability to choose from so many types of content escalates instant gratification for the viewer, and instant gratification has been identified as a motivating
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mechanism for binge watching. According to Roberts (2014), in an impulsive society, we are inclined to amplify gratification in any given moment and ignore future repercussions because we constantly progress from one plane of gratification to another. Because gratification is now at our fingertips, it is more difficult than ever to delay satisfaction. Vast amounts of content on different platforms and ease of gratification are likely to cause a decline in consumers’ self-control, which leads to negative effects of binging. Reinecke and Hofmann (2016) suggest that media consumption falls into two categories: recreational and procrastinatory. Those with less self-control are more likely to use media to procrastinate their responsibilities, while recreational users are more goal oriented and are able to delay gratification. Panek (2014) suggests that one’s self-control concerning amount of media usage for leisure is affected by how many options are available. Because there are so many platforms of content available, viewers are more likely to give in to temptation despite having more important tasks to complete (Reinecke & Hofmann, 2016). As a result of instant gratification and lack of self-control, those who binge watch were more likely to impede their own goals (Walton-Pattinson, Dombrowski, & Presseau, 2016). One study found that TV watching was negatively associated with academic performance, which could be because many viewers report watching video content while attempting to finish important tasks simultaneously (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). Procrastination and declines in productivity due to binge watching often result in the viewer experiencing guilt (Mehra & Gujral, 2018). In some cases, resulting guilt from binge watching causes the consumer to engage in more binging to postpone their responsibilities even longer (Panda & Pandey, 2017). Riddle, Peebles, Davis, and Xu (2018) suggest that at a certain point, binging could reveal characteristics of addiction
