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People's reactions to the strains and stresses induced by their environments take many forms. Watching television, or at least watching certain types of television programs, appears to be the latest mode of response to stress. Whether television viewing is in fact an escape from stressful reality may well be debated. Here is a modest study which supplies some of the facts needed for intelligent discussion and understanding of the question.
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Leonard I. Pearlin (1959) studied this question.
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