Like adolescents in East Asia, Indian middle-class adolescents face a highly
competitive examination system. This study examines the influence of school demands
on the daily time use and subjective states of Indian young people. One hundred
urban, middle-class, 8th-grade students carried alarm watches for 1 week and
provided 4764 reports on their activities and subjective states at random times,
following the procedures of the Experience Sampling Method. These adolescents were
found to spend one third of their waking time in school-related activities, with
girls spending more time than boys. Schoolwork generated negative subjective states
as reflected in low affect state, below-average activation levels, lower feeling of
choice, and higher social anxiety. These negative states were most frequent during
homework. The trade-off faced by Indian adolescents were evident in the findings
that those who spent more time doing homework experienced lower average emotional
states and more internalising problems, while those who spent more time in leisure
experienced more favourable states but also reported higher academic anxiety and
lower scholastic achievement.
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