From Admiration to Devotion? The Longitudinal Relation between Adolescents’ Involvement with and Viewing Frequency of Reality TV

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that reality TV viewing frequency and involvement with reality TV are linked. However, previous studies employed cross-sectional designs and were carried out among college students and general adult population, but not among the most frequent consumers of reality TV: adolescents. To better understand the causal link between this demographic segment’s reality TV viewing and involvement, we conducted a longitudinal study among 392 adolescents (ages 15 to 17). Frequency of reality TV viewing increased narrative engagement, parasocial interaction, emotional empathy, merging with the characters, wishful identification, perceived realism, and enjoyment of reality TV six months later. No reverse effects on viewing existed.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) and the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR); Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC).

Notes on contributors

Rinaldo Kühne

Rinaldo Kühne (Ph.D. University of Zürich) is an assistant professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam. His research interests include media psychology, human-machine communication, and research methods.

Suzanna J. Opree

Suzanna J. Opree, MA PhD is a Senior Assistant Professor of Quantitative Research Methods in the Department of Media & Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research line, “The good(s) life,” focuses on the effects of advertising and commercial media on youth’s materialism and well-being.