Americans replaced social evenings with home-centered solitary leisure
Evidence
The top half of figure 18 is based on DDB Needham Life Style data; the bottom half is based on Roper Social and Political Trends data. Because sampling and wording differ between these two archives, the two halves of figure 18 are not directly comparable, but the fact that two such different archives show similar declines in social visiting is all the more significant. … Finally, eight times between 1938 and 1990 Gallup pollsters asked about one’s “favorite way of spending an evening.” Over the whole period “dancing” and “playing cards and games” dropped sharply, and after the 1970s “visiting with friends” and “dining out” also dropped. “Watching TV” and “home with family” rose over this period, suggesting a cocooning pattern consistent with the Roper and DDB Needham data. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1874
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Americans increasingly consume culture while abandoning participatory social forms — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 376; Decline of the family’s countersocial role made individuals more directly socialized by mass culture — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 416; Television privaatizes leisure even in group settings meant for sociability — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 849 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Television privaatizes leisure even in group settings meant for sociability
#exemplifies(0.85) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 849 - Television privatizes leisure and thereby erodes community social capital
#expands(0.84) — Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, 67 - Decline of the family’s countersocial role made individuals more directly socialized by mass culture
#expands(0.82) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 416 - Massive socialization at home arrests consciousness and blocks autonomy’s hidden roots
#expands(0.78) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 851