Glued to the Sofa

In order to better understand the various aspects of television binge-watching behaviors and determine how guilt coincides with binge viewership, researchers administered a survey to 530 adults. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses suggested that viewers who watch less TV overall feel guiltier about binge-watching. Comedies and dramas were the most often binged genres, though viewers who binge-watched teen dramas felt guiltiest. Streaming services and digital video recorders (DVRs) were the most common platforms used for binge-watching television; those who used streaming services felt high levels of guilt afterwards, while those who used DVRs felt very little. Results indicated that the social context for viewership and the medium through which television was binged were not associated with guiltiness. In responses to open-ended questions, participants mentioned binge-watching motivations such as background noise for multitasking, avoiding spoilers, maximizing social currency, and escapism.