It is no question that romance is a very hot genre of just about any form of media including films, novels, and even in the news. In the year 2013, romance novels accounted for 1.03 billion in sales revenue. That number outranked other fictional genres such as science fiction and mystery novels (“Book-Publishings Naughty Secret,” 2016). Though, what is little understood about romance media is the effects they have on their consumers, specifically how they effect their satisfaction with their own romantic relationships. While becoming more widespread and gender fluent, romantic media in the past has targeted the female consumers and seems to be continuing this trend. For example, most little girls growing up read and watched fairytale books and movies where Prince Charming saved the damsel in distress, who eventually became the princess. Romance movies also go along with this same plot line in one way or another. With the genre becoming more widespread and effecting people of all ages, it is important to understand the effects that these novels and movies have on us.
First, it is important to start from the very beginning of the trend: fairytales. These fairy tales, including Prince Charming and a damsel in distress, form some of the first fundamental views we have on the world and relationships. Kate Paterson (2014) conducted a studying looking at the influence of fairy tales on children's views of gender. It was clear from her study that even elementary school-aged children have a clear understanding of gender. Even when just being shown pictures of a bear family from Goldilocks and the Three Bears, children were able to pick out the mom from the dad based on the size and the apron that the smaller bear was wearing. When exposed to more fairytale-like stories, they expressed similar beliefs saying the prince is the only one who can slay the dragon because he is bigger and stronger. These results go to show how fairy tales and childhood stories build a fundamental understanding of gender and expectations (Paterson, K., 2014).
They also play a part in building the foundation for relationship ideals. In a study done by Hefner et al. (2017), they looked at the relationship ideals that are developed by watching Disney princess movies. Specifically, they focused on five key components to the relationships portrayed in Disney movies: Idealization of the other, soul mates, love at first sight, love conquers all and facing challenges. The most prominent component in the movies researched was an idealization of one another or thinking the other person is perfect. Another common component found is the notion that love conquers all, or that despite challenges, love will prevail in the end. While it is a common misconception that films like this lack the prevalence of real-world challenges in relationships, the study also found that this is not true. Todays Disney princess movies are actually putting an importance on portraying real-life relationship challenges. This study shows that Disney princess movies, which are highly advertised, have many of the fundamental components that go into forming relationship ideals, and they are doing a pretty good job at making them realistic (Hefner et al., 2017).
How do these fairytales and stories leave such a mark on us? The answer could be in the way the story ends. Anne Hamby and David Brinberg (2016) conducted a study that looked into how “happily ever after” could effect the way we view the content of the story. While we know that a story being told in different ways can influence the way we understand it, the same goes for happily ever after. They found that with ending the story in a positive way, readers were more often left with positive emotions about the story itself and what took part in it. This is a key component to the puzzle because if it’s not left with a cliffhanger, romance novels are almost always ended with a happily ever after, causing us to view the story and what happened in it in a positive manner. This could be one reason these love stories tend to stick with us and possibly influence our own love stories (Hamby and Brinberg, 2016).
Another important component to consider is the amount to which the reader gets into their books. For example, Burnett and Beto (2000) conducted a study examining the parasocial relationships that readers form with the characters in their favorite books. If you think about it, you could probably describe your “relationship” with your favorite character, whether it be on tv or in a book, as emotionally invested. As the storyline progresses, you find yourself wanting the best for your favorite character and maybe even relating to them in one way or another. This is an example of a parasocial relationship. The stronger this relationship, the more you compare your life to theirs. Specifically, the more you may compare your partner to the “hero” in the books that you read, picking out qualities that they may share or lack. For example, one participant pointed out how patient the men were in her books, and stated that her husband is like that. While it is okay to make comparisons to someone you admire and like, it could be damaging for relationships if compared to unrealistic fantasies (Burnett and Beto, 2000).
Possibly one of the most interesting findings in research in this area is the effects on sexuality. In a study done by Wu (2007), they examined the effects of reading romance novels on both heterosexual and lesbian college students. In their findings, they stated that the differences in effects were significant between the two populations. Heterosexual females who read romance novels were more sexually conservative and had fewer partners than female non-readers and even lesbian readers. Heterosexual readers also tend to wait longer to have their first sexual encounter than any others, and reported higher levels of sex addiction, sex drive, and even require more orgasms for sexual satisfaction. In short, although romance readers tend to have more conservative views on sex, when the action actually takes place, they tend to be more promiscuous than the non-readers (Wu, H., 2007). Also on the topic of sexuality, Cabrera and Ménard (2012) looked at the inaccurate portrayals of orgasms in romance novels. If you read romance novels, chances are you've heard the exaggerated phrase “she exploded into a million pieces” to describe an orgasm. This phrase was the start of their analysis. They broke it down into three categories: what causes the orgasm, qualities of the orgasm, and effects of the orgasm. In romance novels, most of the time the females just play a passive role and the males do all of the work, causing the orgasm. Also in romance novels, the orgasms themselves are oftentimes described as “earth-shattering” or “life-altering,” significantly exaggerating the orgasm. In response to the orgasm and sexual experience, often times they describe emotional feelings or being speechless as a result (Cabrera and Ménard, 2012). These depictions are significantly different from real-world experiences, leading to possible dissatisfaction with their own sexual encounters.
While most of the previous research has primarily focused on novels and book, some have even ventured into analyzing these effects from movies. Hefner (2018) studied romantic comedy movies and the effects that these movies had on romantic beliefs and life satisfaction. Their belief was that romantic comedies, or romcoms, leave a different effect on the viewers than other genres such as horror and science fictions. To test this, they had people view romcoms with either ideal conditions, or more realistic conditions, which they called the challenge condition. They found that those who had viewed romcoms with more ideal conditions had stronger romantic beliefs, such as soul mates and love at first sight, compared to the challenge condition. They also found that those who viewed the ideal condition rom coms “temporarily” felt greater life satisfaction than those who viewed the challenge condition romcoms (Hefner, V., 2018). This temporary happiness and more optimistic romantic views could be the reason why women watch romcoms after a breakup.
Romantic media is all about new beginnings and happy endings, so it is easier to desire more from your life after reading or watching romantic media. In one study done by Crane (1994), they looked at what aspect of their lives people who read romantic novels wanted to change. The biggest and most common desire for change that participants possessed what a desire for more intimacy with their current partners. Participants reported wanting the emotional ties with their partner, for their partners to be more sexually active, and simply for their partners to look at them in a more romantic way. Much like the study done by Cabrera and Ménard, women in this study reported desiring sexual lives like the women in the romance novels (Crane, L., 1994). In short, romance novel readers desire more change in their intimate relationships and lives in general.
It is obvious from the large amounts of previous research that those who view and read romantic media desire some change in their lives and have different expectations than those who don't read or view romantic media, just to name a couple of effects. Previous research has looked into several aspects of romantic media including how they affect our view on gender, our foundation for romantic ideals, how we perceive the stories, how invested we get, how it effects our sexuality, how it affects us even temporarily, and what kind of change we desire afterward. With all of this desire for change, comparisons, and unrealistic expectations, how could we possibly be satisfied in our real-life romantic relationships? This is what research is lacking. I am interested in looking at the relationship between romantic media and relationship satisfaction. I believe that if a person has a history of viewing or reading romantic media, then they will have less satisfaction in their romantic relationships.
Methods
Participants
As it is typically women who read and view the most romantic media, I would like to compose my sample of all women. These women should also be in relationships. To get my sample, I would like to recruit these women from a chosen university via email. In the email, I will state that it is a voluntary study looking for college women in relationships, with no benefits to the participant, but also no anticipated risks, what I will be looking at, why it is important, and the process they will go through (i.e., how many questions and how long it will take). If they choose to proceed and click the provided link, they will give their consent via an electronic signature and the date to begin the online survey.
Measures
Participants will first take a brief, demographic questionnaire. In this questionnaire, they will give some background information such as their age, race, religion, sexual preferences, grade level, major, and relationship status, including the length. In case they didn't read the requirements thoroughly, anybody who is single will be eliminated. While in most studies homosexuals would be eliminated, due to previous research showing that the effects of reading do not differ much between heterosexual readers and homosexual readers, they will still be included. Next, they will be given a very short self-report to fill out about their history with romantic media. This will include the following items measured using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” with a neutral option:
1. I enjoy reading romance novels.
2. I enjoy watching romance movies (including romantic comedies).
3. I enjoyed fairytales as a child.
It will also include the following items using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from “not at all” to “very often” with a neutral option:
4. How often do you read romance novels?
5. How often do you watch romance movies (including romantic comedies)?
After the participants finish the history survey, they will then move on to another self-report survey about their relationships satisfaction. For this survey, I will use the Relationship Assessment Scale, developed by S. Hendrick (1988), to measure the persons' satisfaction with their relationship. This scale includes the following questions:
How well has your partner met your needs?
In general, how satisfied are you with your relationship?
How good is your relationship compared to most?
How often do you wish you hadn't gotten into this relationship?
To what extent has your relationship met your original expectations?
How much do you love your partner?
How many problems are there in your relationship?
The good thing about this scale is that does not only analyze a person's overall satisfaction, but can also be broken down into other aspects such as revealing them possibly questioning their current relationship and their expectations to see what aspects specifically are could be effected by romance media.
Expected Analysis
I will then gather the mean scores in both scales to represent their history with romantic media and their satisfaction in their current relationship. I will use a one way ANOVA to compare these means and see if there is a relationship between the two measures. After running my analysis, I believe my hypothesis, that those with a history involving romantic media will have lower satisfaction levels in their romantic relationships than those with no romantic media history, will be confirmed.
Limitations
Unfortunately, I do perceive some possible limitations to my research design. One possible limitation is where I’m getting my sample from. As college students, this eliminates the possibility of having a large portion of older participants who also read. College students also are less likely to be in relationships than older women. Another limitation is the fact that its college students who are not particularly benefitting from doing the study. With no benefits to them, they may simply ignore the email and go on about their day. Possibly coordinating with specific professors or classes to offer class credit may improve the outcome. Another limitation is that the results may not be significant enough due to the satisfaction scale being so broad. While there are many components that make up satisfaction, the scale I'm using is just a general, universal scale. A participant could have higher expectations for their relationships and desire more from their partner like previous research shows, but this may not show up when using a general satisfaction scale.