A Study on Binge-Watching in Relation with Loneliness & Psychological Well-Being

The advent of digital technology has led to the emergence of various video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar etc. These popular on-demand services provide the audience with easy access to popular movies, television series and web documentaries. Convenient access to these services, wherein, has led to an increase in the practice of viewing multiple episodes, movies, documentaries, or series in rapid succession, for long periods of time in a single sitting, known as ‘Binge-Watching’. This ‘overindulgence’ in viewing online content can induce loneliness and impact the psychological well-being of viewers. However, this concept has been the subject of limited research. For this purpose, the current investigation attempts to evaluate the relationship of Binge-Watching with Loneliness and Psychological Well-Being. The sample consisted of 100 Indian college students in the age range of 18-21 years. Problematic Series Watching Scale (Orosz et al., 2016), The 18 item Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff & Keyes, 1995) and The UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1978) were administered. Data was analyzed using Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and t-ratio. Subsequent analysis yielded a significant positive association between binge-watching and loneliness, while a negative association emerged between binge-watching and psychological well-being. Results of the current study, therefore, may be utilized heuristically with other studies to prevent an increase in negative consequences of binge-watching.