Glorifying the Simple Life: Analyses of Socio-Psychological Constructs in the Context of Reality TV

249 Pages·2016·1.64 MB·English

by  Eva Katharina Hammes (auth.)

Eva Katharina Hammes
Glorifying the
Simple Life
Analyses of Socio-Psychological
Constructs in the Context of Reality TV
Glorifying the Simple Life
Eva Katharina Hammes
Glorifying the Simple Life
Analyses of Socio-Psychological
Constructs in the Context of Reality TV
Eva Katharina Hammes
Jena, Deutschland
Dissertation Universität Koblenz-Landau, 2015
ISBN 978-3-658-14363-3 ISBN 978-3-658-14364-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-14364-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016940882
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Abstract
Reality TV is a rather new television genre whose fast dissemination attracted at-
tention in the last decades. Comprising numerous subgenres that revolve around
ordinary people, it differs from traditional television genres, and thus is assumed
to elicit also different responses in viewers. Despite its excellent viewing figures, to
date no research has examined the reasons why so many people watch reality TV.
Therefore,thisworkexploresrealityTVviewingmotivations,concentratingonsocial
motives.
Thisthesisisbasedontheusesandgratificationsapproachthatconcentrateson
audiencemembers’needsandgratificationstoexplainwhypeopleusecertainmedia.
However, the approach had to face some criticism as prior research on mass media
motivationsdidnotthoroughlyinvestigatethereasonsbehindviewers’motivations.
By examining the relationship between media gratifications and their social and
psychological origins on the one hand and consequences on the other hand, this
workapproachestheseweaknessesoftheusesandgratificationsapproach.
To answer the question why people watch reality TV, different methods were
applied. A qualitative study was carried out to find out more about viewers’ social
motivesbycontent-analyzingqualitativeinterviewsandonlinediscussionsonvarious
reality TV programs. The results of this study were further explored in four exper-
imental studies. These experiments concentrated on socio-psychological constructs
andtheirdeterminantsandconsequences.Twooftheexperimentsappliedvignettes
to manipulate the independent variables, while the other two experiments applied
actualrealityTVvideoclips.
Theanalysesidentifiedthefoursocio-psychologicalconstructsidentificationwith
a media character, schadenfreude, social comparison, and vicarious embarrassment
as important responses in the context of reality TV. The qualitative study revealed
numerous determinants of those responses and identified schadenfreude and vicari-
VI Abstract
ousembarrassmentasmotivestowatchrealityTV.Whilemostofthedeterminants
were verified in the experimental studies, the constructs were also linked to conse-
quences. In particular, schadenfreude and identification were identified as positive
responsesfortheviewer.Vicariousembarrassmentwasfoundtobearathercomplex
response that elicits diverse consequences. Social comparison with its upward and
downward forms was found to be very important during the consumption of real-
ity TV programs and also serves as a moderator for the relationship between the
identifieddeterminantsandassociatedsocio-psychologicalconstructs.
Zusammenfassung
Reality TV stellt ein besonderes Fernsehgenre dar, das in den letzten Jahren vor
allem durch seine schnelle Verbreitung Aufmerksamkeit erregte. Indem es normale,
einfache Leute zeigt, unterscheidet es sich von traditionellen Fernsehprogrammen
und ruft dadurch auch andere Reaktionen in den Zuschauern hervor. Trotz seiner
hervorragenden Einschaltquoten hat die bisherige Forschung noch nicht untersucht,
warum so viele Menschen Reality TV schauen. Die vorliegende Arbeit versucht de-
shalb,dieseFragezubeantwortenundkonzentriertsichdabeiaufsozialeMotivedes
Rezipienten.
Der Uses and Gratifications Ansatz, der mit den Bedu¨rfnissen und Gratifika-
tionen des Zuschauers erkla¨rt, warum Menschen bestimmte Medien nutzen, stellt
die Grundlage dieser Arbeit dar. Da die Mediennutzungsforschung bisher lediglich
vorgefertigte Motivkataloge eingesetzt, jedoch nicht die Gru¨nde fu¨r bestimmte Mo-
tivationen untersucht hat, wurde der Ansatz auch kritisiert. Indem die Beziehung
zwischen Mediengratifikationen und deren sozialen und psychologischen Herkunft
auf der einen Seite und mo¨glichen Konsequenzen auf der anderen Seite untersucht
wird, versucht die vorliegende Arbeit die Schwa¨chen des Uses und Gratifications
Ansatzesauszugleichen.
UmdieFrage,warumMenschenRealityTVansehenzubeantworten,wurdenver-
schiedeneMethodeneingesetzt.Zuna¨chstwurdeeinequalitativeStudiedurchgefu¨hrt,
umdiesozialenMotivederZuschauerexplorativzuuntersuchen.Dabeiwurdenqual-
itative Interviews und Onlinediskussionen zu verschiedenen Reality TV Formaten
inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie wurden dann in vier
Experimenten weiter untersucht, wobei vier sozial-psychologische Konstrukte und
damit verbundene Determinanten und Konsequenzen analysiert wurden. Zwei der
ExperimentesetztenVignettenein,umdieunabha¨ngigenVariablenzumanipulieren,
w¨ahrenddieanderenbeidenExperimenteechteRealityTVClipsnutzten.
VIII Zusammenfassung
AlsErgebniswurdendieviersozial-psychologischeKonstrukteIdentifikationmit
dem Mediencharakter, Schadenfreude, Sozialer Vergleich und Fremdscham im Kon-
text von Reality TV identifiziert. Die qualitative Studie fand außerdem eine Reihe
von Determinanten und bestimmte Schadenfreude und Fremdscham als Motive der
Rezeption im Reality TV. Die meisten der Determinanten wurden in den experi-
mentellenStudienverifiziert.ZudemkonntendenKonstruktenKonsequenzenzuge-
ordnetwerden.InsbesondereSchadenfreudeundIdentifikationstellenpositiveReak-
tionen fu¨r den Zuschauer dar. Fremdscham scheint eine eher komplexe Reaktion zu
sein,dieunterschiedlicheKonsequenzenhervorruft.DerSozialeVergleichmitseinen
beiden Formen (nach oben und nach unten gerichtet) wurde als wichtige Reaktion
des Rezipienten identifiziert und moderiert gleichzeitig die Beziehung zwischen den
Determinantenunddenu¨brigensozial-psychologischenKonstrukten.
Contents
1 Introduction..................................................... 1
1.1 ResearchMotivation............................................ 1
1.2 TheStateofResearchandResearchGaps......................... 4
1.3 ResearchAims................................................. 6
1.4 OutlineofChapters ............................................ 9
2 Theoretical Foundations ......................................... 13
2.1 TheoreticalFoundationsofMassMediaMotivations ................ 13
2.1.1 MotivationstoUseMedia.................................. 13
2.1.2 TelevisionViewingMotivations ............................. 29
2.1.3 TheoriesofMassMediaMotivations......................... 36
2.2 RealityTV.................................................... 41
2.2.1 DefinitionandCharacteristicsofRealityTV.................. 41
2.2.2 SubgenresofRealityTV................................... 44
2.2.3 RealityTVViewingMotivations............................ 47
2.3 SummarizedImplicationsforThesis .............................. 53
3 Qualitative Study on Reality TV Motivations ................... 63
3.1 QualitativeResearchMethodology ............................... 64
3.2 DataCollection................................................ 67
3.2.1 Dataset1:QualitativeInterviews........................... 67
3.2.2 Dataset2:OnlineDiscussions.............................. 69
3.3 Findings...................................................... 71
3.3.1 Identification............................................. 72
3.3.2 Schadenfreude............................................ 76
3.3.3 SocialComparison ........................................ 80
X Contents
3.3.4 VicariousEmbarrassment .................................. 86
3.4 DiscussionofFindingsDrawingonExistingLiterature .............. 90
3.4.1 IdentificationwithRealityTVCharacters.................... 90
3.4.2 SchadenfreudeinRealityTV ............................... 92
3.4.3 SocialComparisontoMediaCharacters...................... 94
3.4.4 VicariousEmbarrassmentinRealityTV ..................... 97
3.4.5 InterplayofConstructs .................................... 99
4 Experimental Studies on Social Motives of Reality TV...........103
4.1 MethodologyofExperimentalResearch ...........................104
4.2 GeneralProcedureoftheExperiments ............................105
4.3 Experiment1:IdentificationandVicariousEmbarrassmentinReality
TVBasedonVignettes .........................................108
4.3.1 Hypotheses ..............................................108
4.3.2 Method .................................................112
4.3.3 DescriptiveResults........................................117
4.3.4 FindingsandDiscussion ...................................124
4.4 Experiment2:SchadenfreudeinRealityTVBasedonVignettes......129
4.4.1 Hypotheses ..............................................130
4.4.2 Method .................................................131
4.4.3 DescriptiveResults........................................135
4.4.4 FindingsandDiscussion ...................................137
4.5 Experiment3:VicariousEmbarrassmentBasedonRealityTVClips ..139
4.5.1 Hypotheses ..............................................140
4.5.2 Method .................................................143
4.5.3 DescriptiveResults........................................148
4.5.4 FindingsandDiscussion ...................................151
4.6 Experiment4:SchadenfreudeBasedonRealityTVClips............154
4.6.1 Hypotheses ..............................................154
4.6.2 Method .................................................157
4.6.3 DescriptiveResults........................................162
4.6.4 FindingsandDiscussion ...................................170
5 Summary, Conclusions and Outlook .............................175
5.1 SummaryandContributions.....................................176
5.2 ImplicationsforResearchandMediaManagement..................184