A FAVORITE WASTE OF TIME:

TV watching is one of the most important ways of spending leisure time, the average daily watching time being, in 2006, 141 minutes in the Swedish population – about 15 % of non-sleep time. Yet, there is little research on the psychological processes taking place while watching TV. In the present study, the cognitive and emotional functions of TV watching in everyday life are investigated by means of a random action sampling procedure. TV watching was characterized by a high level of happiness and relaxation, own initiative, a long time span, closeness to goal, commonness, and easiness. It was characterized by a low level of negative emotions, concentration, expected value of outcome, activation, level of intention and presence of others. TV watching thus emerges as an activity, which mainly provides some pleasant relaxation. It is common, easy to do and done in relative solitude. It is a somewhat interesting activity, but it stimulates little concentration and involvement. It is regarded as an obstacle to the pursuit of other goals. Key words: experience sampling method, action sampling, television, emotions, interest, involvemen