Does watching TV make us happy?

Watching TV is a major human activity. Because of its immediate benefits at negligible immediatemarginal costs it is for many people tempting to view TV rather than to pursue more engaging activities.As a consequence, individuals with incomplete control over, and foresight into, their ownbehavior watch more TV than they consider optimal for themselves and their well-being is lowerthan what could be achieved. We find that heavy TV viewers, and in particular those with significantopportunity cost of time, report lower life satisfaction. Long TV hours are also linked to highermaterial aspirations and anxiety.