Subjects in one study who felt down from remembering unhappy moments of social rejection soon perked up upon writing about their favorite TV shows and characters. This supports the "social surrogacy hypothesis," where technology provides a sense of social belonging when real social connections are lacking.
"Normally rejection has a horrible effect on us, because we're a very social species," said Shira Gabriel, a psychologist at the University of Buffalo in New York who conducted four studies on the issue. "But with our favorite TV shows, we're no longer sad."
However, if George Costanza is the television character that you draw the most comfort from, you may be in trouble. These social scientists may someday discover that lonely people tend to fantasize a lot, and that lonely females like to read romance novels.
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