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Writer's pictureMelissa Hughes

The Scientific Reality of Reality TV

Updated: Jun 13

There is no better way to escape the drama of our lives than by tuning into someone else’s drama. As it turns out, there is a billion dollar industry ready to help… 24/7/365. We’ve had a cultural obsession with reality television programming since The Real World which ran for 32 seasons on MTV from 1992 to 2017.


Candid Camera (which first aired in 1948) was the first prototype of reality television. But, the

millennium brought powerhouses like Survivor, American Idol and Big Brother – all of which became global franchises. To state the obvious, reality TV also catalyzed the political rise of the 45th President of the United States.


So what's the fascination with reality TV?


Reality television gives us an opportunity to escape the monotony, problems and burdens of our own lives. Some of the the reality TV challenges are filled with danger while others are focused on the human nature of relationships, change or self-improvement. But one of the most common themes of these shows are real people experiencing and reacting to conflict. We get to experience that conflict vicariously through them and see flashes of ourselves.




More people in the US are watching reality TV than not, and nearly half of all TV series are unscripted. Media research has long shown that what we see on TV impacts our beliefs, values, and attitudes and how we move and act in the world.






How the Kardashians are Keeping us Nasty


In one 2016 study, researchers found that reality TV affected viewer aggression. Participants who viewed aggressive reality tv shows were more aggressive than those watching either a supportive family reality program or a violent crime drama. Viewers of the violent crime drama were also more aggressive than those watching the family themed surveillance reality program.


 

Another study found that exposure to narcissistic reality TV characters can increase narcissism in viewers. Heavy reality TV viewers report feeling an inflated sense of self-importance and greater dissatisfaction with their own lives compared to those around them.



 

Other research has explored how reality television programs that purport to show celebrities’ everyday lives impact viewers’ beliefs about human relationships. In the "docu-soaps"genre, programs such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, and Housewives tend to include significant amounts of relational aggression and portray drama and tension within the context of romantic relationships.


Viewers of these programs believe women in the real world engage in bad behaviors (e.g., spreading rumors and verbal aggression) more often than do men. Furthermore, heavy viewers of these shows overestimate the prevalence of discord (e.g., affairs and divorces) and an emphasis on sex (e.g., sex on the first date, having multiple sex partners) in romantic relationships.


 

A study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute reported that the vast majority of the girls surveyed said that these shows “often pit girls against each other to make the shows more exciting” (86%), “make people think that fighting is a normal part of a romantic relationship” (73%), and “make people think it’s okay to treat others badly (70%).” Moreover, they are considerably more likely to accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives.








One Human Need and One Human Fear They All Exploit


Another aspect that all of the reality TV shows have in common is the deeply rooted human need for acceptance and belonging – and the deeply rooted human fear of social rejection and ostracism. The Survivor formula of challenges and eliminations, for example, presents a competition where contestants outwit, outplay, and outlast, by both building alliances and betraying allies. This competitiveness intensifies the need for status and desire for revenge when that status is threatened.


In addition, because our relationships have radically changed over the last decade thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, we experience a form of “detached connection.” We can find out what our friends are doing, eating, wearing or driving without ever having to speak to them. This mirrors the kind of detached connection one can feel with the Kardashians or the Duck Dynasty boys through the screen without leaving the couch or the risk of emotional hurt.


Research shows that we are lonelier and feeling more disconnected than ever before with the social media generation feeling the loneliest. While loneliness is a global issue, it's also important to understand its prevalence within specific countries. In the United States, recent studies indicate that around 22% of adults often or always feel lonely or socially isolated. This means that over one-fifth of the U.S. population experiences loneliness to some degree.

Generation Z (ages 18-22) is the loneliest generation, with 79% reporting feelings of loneliness.


Isn't it sad that at a time when we’re more connected than ever, we’ve never been more lonely.







And Now This Special Report

The importance of social connections are so strong, that when we are rejected, ostracized or experience other types of social “pain,” the brain “hurts” just as if we were feeling physical pain. Even more interesting is the fact that one’s “pain matrix” (a network of brain areas involved in the experience of pain) that is triggered when we observe someone in physical pain is also triggered when we see someone experience social pain.


Recent research indicates that merely watching other people connect, disconnect, and reject one another on television has a significant impact on our socio-emotional states.


 



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