Television “Addiction?” An Evaluation of Four Competing Media-Use Models

Abstract

Employing a uses and gratifications paradigm, four individual differences — sensation seeking, religiosity, hostility and family cohesion — were examined simultaneously as correlates of drug use and television viewing and used to test four corresponding models of addiction: medical/disease, moral, compensatory and enlightenment. Not only were alcohol and marijuana use inversely correlated with time spent and motives for watching television, but sensation seeking, which was positively correlated with drug use was negatively correlated with television viewing. Conversely, religiosity was positively correlated with television viewing and negatively with drug use. With these results, the author concluded that the medical/disease model of television addiction lacked empirical support, and other models emphasizing personal control and responsibility appeared more appropriate for developing strategies to regulate excessive or compulsive television viewing.