Suggests that those who hold the greatest affinity with the television news program, "60 Minutes," watch the program to be entertained while seeking information. (FL)

Describes patterns of exposure and motivation of adolescent sample group. Correlates findings with race, gender, involvement with peers, attitude toward school, and other personal circumstances. (MS)

The first phase of the Active Audience project in Great Britain has been designed to examine the nature of the television audience in terms of why people watch television and how they respond to what they are being offered, and presents life-style as the basis for defining audience groups. (Author/CMV)

Examines those at the margins of television viewing (self-defined heavy viewers and non-viewers who neither own nor watch television) in order to understand how these groups situate television in their lives. Finds that both populations address themes of motivation, consequences, and importance but choose different actions based on those…

Explores the psychological origins of media gratification by examining how pertinent psychological variables help explain television viewing motivation. Finds that parasocial interaction, anxiety, creativity, sensation seeking's disinhibition dimension, and television affinity and exposure, helped to predict viewing motivation. (PRA)

Shows that the biologically rooted individual difference behavior variable of temperament was consistent and moderately strong causal factor in forming television use motivations among undergraduate students. Finds distinct patterns of relationships between temperament and all television use gratifications supporting the uses and gratifications…

Compares television use among older adults in contexts of interpersonal communication, social interaction, and psychological confinement and nonconfinement. Findings indicate that environmental context is more influential than chronological age in determining viewing motivations, program preferences, and viewing behaviors. (Author/MER)

Examines patterns of television viewing and viewing motivations for the "PTL Club" in light of the recent PTL scandal. Extracts the ritualized user and a modified version (curious consumer) of the instrumental user only. Discusses implications for the future of religious television. (SR)

Reports on a study that suggested that those who watch television news primarily to gain information recall more than others, and that casual viewers recall more than those seeking diversion or both diversion and information. (GT)

Analyzes primetime commercial television content showing that heroes, villains, and secondary characters are almost always being rewarded or justified when commiting antisocial acts, frequently portrayed as being internally motivated. The context is also portrayed as very antisocial. (SD)

Examination of the relationship between viewing motivation and viewing patterns among young adult television viewers identifies nine motivational categories: relaxation, companionship, habit, time passing, entertainment, social interaction, information, arousal, and escape. Two basic types of television use are described as time consumption and…

Identifies nine motivations for television viewing and relates these to age, viewing levels, television attitudes of attachment and reality, and program preferences. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of uses and gratifications research perspectives. (JMF)

Describes a study of media deprivation which analyzed data on 215 adolescents collected during a Swedish television strike in 1980. Notions of dependency/affinity with the medium, functional alternatives to media consumption, and motives for using television were investigated. (MBR)

Explores relationships between motivations for television viewing, including shyness, loneliness, self-esteem, and three measures of social support. Suggests viewing motivations are related to needs arising from two distinct sources: social compensation and mood management. (MS)

Describes two studies that examined how chronic loneliness influenced local news and soap opera viewing by nontraditional and traditional college students. The relationships between loneliness, media use, and interpersonal interaction are discussed, and discriminant analyses are presented that examined viewers' motives, attitudes, and activities…