What makes sane people do insane things? Why would people want to sit in a chair and watch videos of other people walking and talking in “unscripted” ways? That doesn’t sounds very appealing to me. I want to spend my evenings reading about practical things like new medical advances that can help me, my dad with Parkinson’s, and my brother with clinical depression. I’d also like to read more about all the alternative healing modalities I’ve yet to explore, learn more about quantum physics and parallel universes, and make time to organize my closets and drawers. But what do I do instead? Sometimes I turn on the Real Housewives. Why on earth would I do such a thing?
Most people in my family despise reality shows, some friends unabashedly own their addiction, and others like me watch consistently but don’t advertise it. Is it a guilty pleasure? What draws hundreds of millions of people all over the world into this swelling phenomenon? Does the appeal lie somewhere in our human nature or is it more specific to the current zeitgeist? The soaring popularity of reality television undoubtedly speaks to a collective fascination we have with one another. It’s both captivating and baffling that we seem to relish such a one-directional anonymous scrutiny of other people the way that scientists study animals in their natural environment. I wonder if it ties into a universal curiosity of the separateness or otherness we subconsciously feel. Or perhaps it’s our insecurities that lead us to social comparison where we are gratified to see everyone else’s flaws exposed, equalizing us. It could be that because we naturally pigeonhole people (as a cognitively efficient way of interacting with the world) as rich or fat or beautiful or old or spoiled or conniving or perfect, that it becomes incredibly refreshing to see that everyone else is as multi-dimensional and human as we are. But then, it’s the gossip and arguing that leads to good ratings, so does that mean we’re all secret sadists?
According to the recent literature, my conflicting emotions towards this new type of entertainment are consistent with the masses: research indicates that although many people claim to dislike reality shows, most people watch at least one on a regular basis. Studies show that people gravitate to the voyeuristic nature of reality television mainly for escapism and vicarious membership (Riddle & De Simone, 2013). This makes sense when many of the shows feature beautiful and wealthy characters living out extravagant, albeit often dysfunctional, lives. According to the social–cognitive theory, reality television audiences may model the self-disclosure behaviors that the characters display in their confessionals, since viewers are more likely to be very active on social media sites sharing intimate aspects of their own lives. Alternatively, the cultivation theory explains that heavy viewership of any entertainment genre makes viewers more inclined to overlap the TV world with the real world, often believing that the TV reality is real. For instance, people who watch shows with violent themes tend to view the world as more violent, those who watch romance-themed shows believe real life relationships should mimic the frequently unattainable levels of romance in the programs, etc. Pertaining to reality shows, the research suggests that viewers tend to believe that women in general behave more poorly than men with regard to verbal aggression and spreading rumors. In addition, the audience has a skewed perception of romantic relationships with the prevalence of both sex and dysfunction (affairs or divorce) being erroneously overestimated (Riddle & De Simone, 2013).
Many people are unaware of how powerful the media’s influence is on us. Studies suggest it’s the media who are often responsible for establishing the public agendas, and framing is a major tool they use. Story framing involves highlighting some dynamics while understating or eliminating others entirely to create a certain picture or send a message (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Reality television achieves this by taking hours and hours of boring footage and editing it down into eight-minute titillating segments that weave into interesting, hour-long storylines. The producers have the power to remove or include any second of filming they captured. Can you imagine if someone did that to our lives – edited it all down to portray us as angels or monsters? We all have our moments and the good reality shows like to reveal both good qualities and flaws when humanizing their characters in an effort to make them relatable.
The research is beginning to present patterns which suggest a causal effect of reality television on people’s attitudes and beliefs (Riddle & De Simone, 2013). This is a somewhat mindboggling notion: edited, often scripted movies about people presented to us as authentic snapshots of their lives are changing the way we think and feel about ourselves and the world? It almost too absurd to be true that these shows could be shifting social norms, but perhaps it’s simply a difficult truth to face. Much like everything else before it I believe the reality television market will eventually become saturated, interest will wane, and the pendulum will swing. But which novelty will it swing to next – back to a previous format or some new level of voyeurism? Reading some of the literature explaining the fascination of reality shows gives me pause to examine my own motives and gratification for watching, and consider whether it has reshaped any of my own cognitions.
References
Riddle, K., & De Simone, J. J. (2013). A snooki effect? An exploration of the surveillance subgenre of reality TV and viewers’ beliefs about the “real” real world. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(4), 237-250. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/ppm0000005
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Tags: cultivation theory, reality television, social cognitive theory
I was intrigued by your blog. It’s absolutely true. Everyone watches some form of realty TV. It comes in all forms, whether it be the drama of Housewives or Love It or List It on HGTV. It’s all reality TV. As I was reading your blog I thought about my own viewing habits ad my first thought, “OH, I hate reality TV,” because I think the first thing you think of are shows like Real housewives or Kardashians, Survivor, etc. However, my preferences are My 600 lb life, Intervention, the psychic who used to be on but isn’t any more (not that annoying woman from Long Island). So it depends on the person’s preference of reality TV. There’s a genre for everyone. Of course it’s an escape mechanism. The scary part is when people believe it’s actually reality. I fear there are people who believe that the Atlanta or NY, NJ Miami – housewives are truly opening up their lives to the public and now they’re your best friend. Or Kim and Chloe are actually going to friend you on Facebook. But, people do that with soaps too. They get so wrapped up in the characters that it becomes a part of their life.