Verbal Aggression, Race, and Sex on Reality TV: Is This Really the Way It Is?

Abstract

This content analysis examines verbal aggression, race, and gender presented in a composite week of popular reality TV programming on cable and broadcast television. Results show that African Americans were found to be overrepresented and depicted disproportionately as more verbally aggressive and more likely to be victims of verbal aggression than other races/ethnicities. African American women were more likely than men to be involved in verbal aggression, both as aggressor and victim. The results are discussed in terms of the potential effects of exposure to verbal aggression and the accompanying contextual factors found in reality TV programming.

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Notes on contributors

Jack Glascock

Jack Glascock (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an associate professor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. His research interests include media content and media effects.

Catherine Preston-Schreck

Catherine Preston-Schreck (M.Sc., University of Oxford, United Kingdom; M.A., Illinois State University) is an independent scholar. Her research interests include visual anthropology, visual communication, and conceptualizations of place.