Individuals with depleted self-control may be particularly prone to engage in negative appraisals of media use. These appraisals may lessen the potentially restorative effects of media. Results from an online survey support this relationship, suggesting that “guilty couch potatoes” are least likely to experience restorative benefits of entertaining media use

1. The guilty couch potato
Leonard Reinecke, U. Mainz; Tilo Hartmann & Allison Eden, VU University Amsterdam
Media and well-being: A mixed relationship
 Positive
 Stress recovery (Reinecke, 2009a, 2009b, Reinecke, Klatt, & Kramer, 2011)
 Satisfaction of intrinsic needs (Tamborini et al., 2010, 2011; Reinecke et al. 2012)
 Negative
 General TV use on happiness (Robinson & Martin, 2008)
 Relaxing during use, not after (Kubey &Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
 Goal conflict
• The volitional state of media user may affect the appraisal of media use
• In ego-depleted individuals, feelings of guilt regarding media use may reduce the
recovery effect of entertaining media
• Media use interpreted as procrastination (Kubey &Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
• Feeling guilty for using media to recover
• Less likely to benefit from positive factors of media use

2. Participants
 471 respondents who had
1. worked and
2. played video games (n = 262)or watched TV (n = 209) the day before
 Recruited at a German video games website, two universities in Germany and one
university in Switzerland
 61.8 percent male, Mage= 25.1 years
Measures
 Ego depletion scale (Ciarocco, Twenge, Muraven, & Tice, 2007; α = .941)
 Procrastination (Tuckman, 1991; α = .910)
 Guilt (Marschall, Saftner & Tangney, 1994; α = .927)
 Recovery (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007; α = .818)
 Vitality (ADACL, Thayer, 1989, α = .912)
 Enjoyment (2 items, α = .893)
The guilty couch potato
Leonard Reinecke, U. Mainz, Tilo Hartmann & Allison Eden, VU University Amsterdam

3. Results: Two-Group Path Model
TV (n = 209)
Ego-Depletion
Procrastination
Guilt
Recovery
Experience
Enjoyment
Vitality
.20
.56
-.22-.19
.36
.13.25
Ego-Depletion
Procrastination
Guilt
Recovery
Experience
Enjoyment
Vitality
.26
.58
-.21-.11 (ns)
.29
.15.15
Video Games (n = 262)
χ²(14) = 28.95, p < .05; CMIN/df = 2.07, CFI = .965, RMSEA = .048, SRMR = .053

4. The results demonstrate a paradoxical situation:
 Ego-depleted individuals have high need for recovery
 Are less able to benefit from entertaining media to provide that recovery
 Due to negative appraisal of their own behavior
Limitations:
 Sample structure
 Retrospective responses
 Cross-sectional data
Current studies:
 Ego depletion and the selection of emotionally and cognitively challenging media
 Long term self-regulation and media selection in new environments
 Media use and well-being: An experience sampling method
The guilty couch potato
Leonard Reinecke, U. Mainz, Tilo Hartmann & Allison Eden, VU University Amsterdam

5. Many thanks for your attention!
Leonard Reinecke
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany
Tilo Hartmann & Allison Eden
VU University Amsterdam
Contact: a.l.eden@vu.nl