So do you really believe that all of that trash that you are watching on TV has no long term effects on you or your relationships? I mean seriously. How can you be ingesting so much negativity and it have no effect whatsoever on you.?
Well a study was released in the journal Mass Communincation and Society that found the more that people believe in the unrealistic portrayals of romance on television, the less likely they were committed to their own relationships.
They surveyed 392 people for this study, asking them about a range of things from if they are satisfied in their current relationships, to what are their views on commitment and expectations, how often do they watch tv, and if they believe in tv’s depiction of romantic relationships. The study found that the more an individual believed in tv’s portrayal of romance, the higher they rated the “relationship costs” of their own relationships, with relationship costs meaning things like loss of your personal time and freedom and the unattractive qualities of your partner.
Dr. Jeremy Osborn, Ph.D and author of the article states:
“In this study I found that people who believe the unrealistic portrayals on TV are actually less committed to their spouses and think their alternatives to their spouse are relatively attractive”
“My hope would be that people would read this article and take a look at their own relationships and the relationships of those around them. How realistic are your expectations for your partner and where did those expectations come from?
Now on this site, we have been talking about negative portrayals of African Americans and their relationships in these wildly popular reality TV shows. And we get a lot of feedback from folks like: “I’m grown and I will watch what I want to watch.” “It’s just entertainment.”
And yes, grown folks should be able to watch what they want to watch on television. But please let this study serve as a warning. Because, you never know how something is affecting your psyche until it’s too late. And if you are going to watch so much negativity on TV, then please make sure that you have or are getting a strong dose of the positive. So, at least you have some real options out there for healthy relationships and for people that work through their problems.
This last season of reality TV showed some really really really really dysfunctional relationships. After watching a few episodes of VH1’s Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, I truly felt like I took in something that was detrimental to my spirit.
If it is too much for me, then what about the young children that are taking all of this stuff in. I have seen with my own eyes girls as young as 10 and 13 years old watching Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. And their parents don’t seem to think that these shows will have any lasting impacts on their kids. Well, if they don’t listen to me..then perhaps they will pay attention to a study that shows that TV romances can have an impact on your relationships.
With all that our kids are facing in today’s society, we don’t need to be giving them one more obstacle against having lasting healthy relationships.
BMWK – what do you think about this study? Do you think that TV romances can impact your real relationships? Do you think it is harmful for our kids to be watching reality tv shows like Love and Hip Hop? Do you let your kids watch those shows? If you do, share with us why?