Literature review
Reality Television has been a predominant source of media since the age of modern pop culture. Teenagers and young adults become fascinated with the fact that there are people in the world who get to live a stellar lifestyle with money, amenities, and an overall glamorous lifestyle. Sometimes, from those reality shows come fame and fortune, and it may be hard for most college students to deny that the celebrity lifestyle isn't something they would want to experience. What many do not know is that although people may be looking for an escape from their own reality, the truth of reality television is that it is not a truly reality. Because of this, my group and I have assembled a hypothesis that we will further pursue as a study in the following months: If college students are over exposed to reality television shows, then they have unrealistic expectations of their future.
Life satisfaction has become a key concept that will determine if college kids who watch reality television will have impractical expectations of their future. In a study done by Moller and Valerie (2016), Students are having a hard time accepting their life for what it is. Some wish their life was different or in a sense "better" because someone out in the world will always have more. Watching reality television is giving students the confirmation that their life could be better, but it is unattainable. A direct quote from their study states that: students are most likely to indicate that their life is ideal and that they would change things in their past lives if given the chance (Moller and Vallerie 1996). Instead of being taught how to make their lives progress instead of regress, young adults are taking to reality television to escape their own lives and indulge in someone else's. Reality TV is believed to glorify individualism and, by its content, promote a higher standard of living (Twenge 2006 in Opree and Kuhne, 2016). Casts are assumed to set a bad example for young people, teaching them to be materialistic and narcissistic and to feel entitled to possessions or money they have not "earned." Because adolescents tend to idolize celebrities more than emerging adults (Raviv et al., 1996 in Twenge and Kuhne 2016).
In a study done by Stiernstedt and Jakobsson (2016) the focus is on the social influence that reality television has on society. Essentially, the author explains how reality television has created populations and norms amongst a middle-class demographic. There is also a finding that perceptions of individual social status have the strongest effects on both life satisfaction and subjective happiness, which emphasizes the departure towards independence during emerging adulthood (Zorotovich, Johnson, and Linn 2016). Both studied analyze the kind of people that participate on reality shows, thus sparking further study that portrays how people can create trends by participating on reality television. A further study done by Franko and Krieger (2016) states that based on their research, women who are on reality television are referred to in a derogatory and sexual tone. Men are praised and glorified for their appearance on television. Reality television is telling men that sexualizing women is socially acceptable and that men are the dominant force over women in society. This study is specific to MTV reality shows such as The Real World, Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and 16 and Pregnant. The popularity of these shows is growing more in more as people grow out of their teens, and the deception of real and fake "reality" is becoming more and more blurred to viewers (Franko and Krieger 2016).
These studies are relevant to our hypothesis because it supports our claim that people who watch reality television are more likely to have skewed perceptions of what a true reality is. This negatively affects their decision making in the future. As presented in Stiernstedt and Jakobsson's (2016), everything humans absorb from media affects thinking, acting, and how people present themselves to the world. The authors state that reality television is not a true reality. People think it is, and are therefore more likely to act, pursue, and follow the trends that are being influenced from that specific social reality. Any outside influence can skew people values, way of thinking, and ultimately push them to make decisions in their future that they would not have made before (Stiernstedt and Jakobsson 2016).
In a study done by Dallesasse and Kluck (2013), it's focus is primarily on males. When it comes to body confidence, self-esteem, and reality television, women have been the predominant group that is studied. My group and I wanted to look at this data because it would help us further our own research by eliminating any bias amongst the population we are surveying. Dallesasse and Kluck (2013) state that most men casted on reality television are typically good looking, charming, and have nice bodies. College students are more strongly endorsed to the idea because people in the 18-22-year-old age group are the ones participating on reality television shows, therefore making them relatable and attainable. Because of this, men and women look for artificial ways to alter their body in order to attain this unrealistic body image. They pursue unhealthy body investment strategies that then affect their future and body confidence moving forward (Dallesasse and Kluck 2013).
Complimentary to the study of males, Vandenbosh, Muise, Eggermont, and Impett (2014) conducted a study based on sexualizing Women. They specifically studied the associations with trait and state self-objectification. They tested whether watching sexualized reality television can be associated with self-objectification. Their study is relevant to our hypothesis because it is exemplifying the method of research we are interested in pursuing. They collect data by publishing surveys with participants aged 18-26. They found that the more women who watch sexualizing reality television become more concerned with their appearance. As suggested by Morris and Mclnerney (2010), media representations of women and their bodies reflect power relations in society. Davis (in Morris and Mclnerney 2010) propose that the body is a text on which the cultural understandings of gender are expressed. Davis (in Morris and Mclnerney 2010) asserts that American women are embedded in cultural discourses that tend to devalue the female body and define it as inferior and "in need of constant surveillance" Thus, the discipline and control of the female body are exaggerated and normalized through media representations.
What Vandenbosh, Muise, Eggermont, and Impett's (2014) study concluded is that over time, sexuality and appearance will become the main focus of our values and people will be more interested in their own display rather than body competence. This related to our hypothesis because this study was conducted amongst a college student population and includes the same variables that we are working off of. It also closely confirms that college students do have a skewed perception of how they see themselves now and in the future.
Bourn, Prichard, Hutchinson, and Wilson (2015) show the effects on body satisfaction, mood, and snack food consumption. It presents the idea that people who watch weight loss reality shows are more likely to feel worse about themselves, therefore leading to worse eating habits. Although weight loss television is meant to be exciting and motivating, it has the tendency to broadcast an unrealistic perception of how to lose weight. What is shown in the study is that people who tried to follow the rigorous exercises on reality shows, showed rapid weight loss. More importantly, they were nervous for weight gain in the future because of the unrealistic workout regime to maintain their physiques. In turn, people's moods were negatively affected and that lead to worse eating habits.
For example, Revenge Body by Khloe Kardashian has been a top-rated weight loss television series that has shown the transformation of many out of shape people. Even though the people on the show are working towards becoming healthier, the steps they go through to get there are unrealistic. This reality show (like many others) provides participants with personal trainers, nutritionists, meal plans, and glam squads to do their hair and makeup as part of their reveal at the end of their episode. This way of portraying a healthy weight loss journey is flawed. No middle-class college student has the time or the money to hire personal trainers or get their hair and makeup done by Hollywood's top stylists. This relates back to the hypothesis because of the fact that it gives people a negative perception of what they are capable of. When people watch Revenge Body, it tells viewers that they cannot have an amazing full body transformation without the A-list celebrity treatment. Using a social comparison like Khloe Kardashian and a middle-class college student does not represent a realistic means of weight loss. In turn, people feel worse about themselves and turn to poorer eating habits than before.
Another study that shows the effects of appearance by watching reality television is by Fogel and Krausz (2013). They state directly that Based on the results of the analyses between the variables of watching reality television beauty shows and tanning behavior. Participants who did versus did not watch reality TV beauty shows used tanning lamps and tanned outdoors at significantly greater percentages. Prevalence of tanning lamp use was 7.3% and of outdoor tanning was 34.4% (Fogel and Krausz 2013). There are incredible repercussions that come along with artificial means of beautifying, one obviously being skin cancer. As this is related to the hypothesis, there is a consistent trend with college student's futures being negatively affected by poor decision making. Although they may not see it now, they can be harming their bodies and most importantly their values and morals. If people between the ages of 18-26 believe that reality television is a true "reality", then they start using unnatural ways to deal with their problems and inhibit themselves to molding into an authentic human being. This therefore influences the outcome of their development as an adult and gives them a false glimpse into their future.