Critical Review of 'Addictive Potential of Binge Watching' Research

This report presents a critical review of a research article that investigates the addictive potential of binge-watching among young adults, comparing intentional and unintentional viewing habits. The study explores two hypotheses: the correlation between impulsivity and binge-watching frequency, and the mediating role of binge-watching in increasing addiction symptoms. The researchers define intentional binge-watching as planned viewing and unintentional binge-watching as unplanned prolonged viewing. The study, conducted on undergraduate students, utilized online questionnaires and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale to gather data. The findings suggest that impulsivity levels fluctuate, being less pronounced during the semester and increasing during breaks. The review highlights the study's strengths, such as collecting first-hand experiences, but also notes limitations like the lack of adult binge-watching data and measurement issues. The conclusion emphasizes the study's value in understanding the link between binge-watching, impulsivity, and the behavior of the new generation.

Running Head: CRITICAL REVIEW
CRITICAL REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

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Introduction
The main aim of the research article is to demonstrate the concept of addictive
potential of the young adults towards television binge watching. It also presents the
comparison between two types of viewers – intentional and unintentional (Riddle et al.,
2018). This is quite relevant to the contemporary study because it provides the evidence with
the proper rate of affected people from binge watch. The study provides the exact percentage
of impulsivity observed within both the intentional and unintentional binge watcher.
Extracted facts from the study can provide various scope for researching about the causes of
impulsivity.
Summary
The study demonstrates two hypothesis and the first one is – relating the concept of
impulsivity with the frequent binge viewers and moderate binge viewers. The hypothesis was
the presence of higher positivity in the unintentional binge viewers rather than the intentional.
Describing this hypothesis, the study also demonstrates the possible consequences of
continuous TV binge watching. The experts mentioned the important role of the media to
conceptualize the personality traits of the binge viewers. On the other hand, the second
hypothesis was the activity of binge watching could mediate the concept of impulsivity and
could be able to increase the symptoms of addiction.
The main argument of this article is whether the activity of binge watching is able to
increase or decrease the rate of impulsivity among the intentional and unintentional binge
viewers. In this regard, the researcher defines both the terms intentional and unintentional
binge viewers. According to the study, the planning for binge watch is termed as intentional
binge watch. The unplanned viewing of the television for a longer period is termed as
unintentional binge watch. Along with this, the researchers proposed that the symptoms of

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addiction and other indirect effects of the activity of continuous television watching is termed
as impulsivity. The H1 is supported by a conceptual model in the figure 1 mentioned in this
article. The final hypothesis or the H2 makes the prediction about the binge watching and its
ability to mediate the effect of impulsivity. As the reason the researchers mentioned the
increased level of binge among the impulsive person will usually increase the rate of
impulsivity. It is supporting the likelihood of the symptoms of addiction. Moreover, the base
line of the research is the influence of unintentional binging and the consequences of
impulsivity along with their direct and indirect connection. In this regard, the researchers also
skillfully highlighted the theory of gratification. The gratification theory is an integral part of
binging as supported by many other studies and research works. From the discussion, it can
be said that, behavioral trait of impulsivity is observed in both the intentional and
unintentional binge viewers.
Critical Evaluation
For the data collection the researchers selected the spring time and 218 students from
the under-graduation section from Midwestern University, United States. They were provided
with some extra credit for adopting the method of online questionnaire. During the initial
stage of the research the participants were provided with the definition of binge watching on
televisions. According to the research 213 of the participants had the experience of binge
watching previously. They were asked about various behavioral attribute of binge viewers.
This is one of the strengths of the research, as it is the way of collecting first-hand
experiences (Merikivi et al., 2016). The study successfully drew some addiction symptoms
from the research work. At the end of the survey, the participants were asked to fil the Barratt
Impulsivity Scale and there are thirty different behavioral attributes associated with the
activity of binge watching. A method of moderate analysis was selected by the researcher to
analyze the results of both the hypothesis. The final decision demonstrate that effect of

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impulsivity was less during the semester (Horeck, Jenner & Kendall, 2018). It tends to
become high during the semester breaks. In this regard, the study lacks the important fact
about the adult binge watching which is also a common fact in the contemporary society
(Mikos, 2016). Additionally, the measurement of the research work is also found as a
limitation for the entire study. Apart from this, the study decides that the activity of television
binge watching cannot be considered as monolithic activity.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it can be said that, the main focus of the study is the effect of
intentional and unintentional television binge watching on the concept of impulsivity. The
study is a useful one to develop knowledge about the term ‘binge’ and how it is connected
with the new generation.

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Reference
Ahmed, A. A. A. M. (2017). New era of TV-watching behavior: Binge watching and its
psychological effects. Media Watch, 8(2), 192-207.
Horeck, T., Jenner, M., & Kendall, T. (2018). On binge-watching: Nine critical
propositions. Critical Studies in Television, 13(4), 499-504.
Merikivi, J., Mäntymäki, M., Salovaara, A., & Zhang, L. (2016). Binge watching television
shows: Conceptualization and measurement.
Mikos, L. (2016). Digital media platforms and the use of TV content: Binge watching and
video-on-demand in Germany. Media and Communication, 4(3), 154-161.
Riddle, K., Peebles, A., Davis, C., Xu, F., & Schroeder, E. (2018). The addictive potential of
television binge watching: Comparing intentional and unintentional
binges. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 7(4), 589.
Walton-Pattison, E., Dombrowski, S. U., & Presseau, J. (2018). ‘Just one more episode’:
Frequency and theoretical correlates of television binge watching. Journal of health
psychology, 23(1), 17-24.