Interpersonal Relationships in Adolescent Television and in Real-Life: It’s Complicated
Lance C. Garmon, Haley L. Miller, & Samantha E. Cummins
Salisbury University
March 5th, 2010
Poster Presented at the Eastern Psychological Association, New York
ABSTRACT
While adolescent media research typically examines the behaviors of media characters and adolescent, the current study compares representations of real-life attachment relationships and the type of televised relationships viewed. Online questionnaires (N = 278) assessed representations of attachment and overall exposure to televised interactions for mothers, fathers, peers, and romantic partners. Analyses suggest that viewing preferences are positively related to an individual’s relationship with their mothers, peers, and/or romantic partners, but not with their fathers.
PURPOSE
The current study compares an older adolescent’s representations of real-life attachment relationships and the type of televised interpersonal interactions portrayed on the shows they preferred to view. Adolescents watch a significant amount of television (Marshall, et al., 2006; Jordan, et al., 2007), spending almost an equal amount of time per week watching television as they do going to school (O’Laughlin, Lambert, Gauvin, Kestens, Daniel, 2008). It has been proposed a connection exists between what an adolescent sees on television and how they think and/or behave in real-life (Wilkinson, 2007; Hust, et al., 2008). Previous research involving adolescent media has most often examined behaviors of media characters and adolescent behaviors in real-life, particularly sexual/dating behaviors, drug and/or alcohol use, and body image issues, (Bersamin, et al., 2008; Chandra, et al., 2008; Manganello, et al., 2008; Rivadeneyra & Lebo, 2008; Schooler & Ward, 2006; Van Den Bulck, et al., 2008). Social learning theory suggests that behavior and beliefs can be acquired and modified through observing characters on television (Van Den Bulck et al, 2008).
In contrast to research focused on adolescent behaviors, the current study focuses solely on the empirical interrelationship between an individual’s real-life relationships and the types of fictional relationships they prefer to watch on television. Previous research has also been done on parasocial relationships, “one- sided interpersonal relationships that television viewers establish with media characters” (Rubin & McHugh, 1987, p. 280), indicating that peoples’ attachment style does not only reflect their relationships with others in their lives but to parasocial relationships as well (Cohen, 2004; Cole & Leets, 1999; Greenwood & Pietromonaco, 2004).Giles and Maltby (2003) suggest that adolescents detach from their parents and show more idealization, and therefore increasing attachments, to peers and television celebrities. Since adolescence is also a time that autonomy increases, research suggests that celebrities provide a secondary group of pseudo-friends during this time (Giles & Maltby, 2003). Adolescents also are found to be more vulnerable than any other age group to media messages about romantic relationships because of their inexperience with dating, relationships and sex (Potter, 1986; Van Evra, 1998). Their inexperience makes them more likely to model their real- life relationships after romantic relationships they see on television.
To our knowledge no one has ever looked at the attachment representations individuals have in relation to the types of relationships that appear in the television shows they watch.
METHOD
Participants
Online questionnaires were completed by 278 undergraduates from a Mid-Atlantic, medium- sized college who received course credit for their confidential participation in this project. The students ranged in age from 18 to 25 years (m= 18.85), but were mostly 18 or 19 years of age (118; 84.2%). A majority participants there were females (169; 60.8%), compared to 109 (39.2%) males. Most were also Caucasion 235 (84.5%). More than half of the participants (144; 54.3%) watched 5 hours or less television per week, whereas only 15 (5.4%) of the participants watched 21 hours or more of television a week (See Figure 1).
A wide range of interpersonal relationships was evident in the sample. Most of the participants (206; 74.1%) biological mother and father were still married to one another, with the remaining 72 (27.4%) participants biological parents were either never married, divorced but not remarried, divorced with only one parent remarried, divorced and both parents remarried or none of the above (an example would be adoption) (SeeFigure 2).Approximately halfof the participants (137; 49.3%) reported they were not currently in a romantic relationship (See Figure 3). While almost all the participants reported having had romantic relationships in their past (259; 93.2%), the vast majority of participants (212; 76.2%) reported having had either 1-2 or 3-5 previous partners(SeeFigure 4). When asked about their current living arrangment, the majority reported living with peers (168; 60.4%), although a significant percentage (62; 22.3%) live with their parents (See Figure 5).
Measures
In addition to general demographic questions, research participants completed 3 primary questionnaires.
Knowledge of 21 television shows:The 21 shows were chosen based on their popularity and their demonstration of a wide range of relationships. The shows were categorized as exhibiting high, moderate, or low presence of relationship interactions for mother, father, peers, and romantic partners (See Table 1). Familiarity with the 21 television shows chosen was assessed on a 9-point scale (See Table 2).
Four overall Media Interpersonal Relationship Exposure (MIRE) scores for each participant were created based on how often participants had viewed each of these 4 relationship dyads involving an adolescent character by combining the amount each relationship was portrayed in the 21 different television programs (low = 1, moderate = 2, and high = 3) and the participant’s self-report of their familiarity with each shows (on a 9-point likert scale). MIRE scores varied substantially across the programs (See Table 3) suggesting both that 1) different participants had been exposed to differing amounts of interpersonal relationship interactions in the media they had viewed and 2) most reported the most exposure to Peer interactions
Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden and Greenberg, 1987). The IPPA has three 25-item sections, one for each parent and a third for peers. Attachment to parents and peers in the IPPA is based on three dimensions: Trust (My mother/father respects my feelings), Communication (My mother/father can tell when I’m upset about something), and Alienation (I get upset a lot more than my mother/father knows about).
Experiences in Close Relationship Inventory (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998). The ECR is a 36 item self report measure where items were derived from a factor analyses of most of the existing self-report measures of adult romantic attachment. The measure can be used to create two subscales, avoidance (or discomfort with closeness and discomfort depending on others) and anxiety (or fear of rejection and abandonment).
RESULTS
Subsequent analyses suggest that participants were more likely to have watched the 21 shows selected for this study, and therefore more likely to have been exposed to the interpersonal interactions embedded in these programs, if they were female and/or Caucasian (See Figure 6)
Correlational analyses support the existence of significant interactions among the four overall exposure variables, as well as between these overall exposure variables and representation of attachment to mothers, peers, and romantic partners, but not to fathers (See Table 4). These findings suggest that individuals prefer to watch programs with adolescent interpersonal interactions if they have a positive relationship with their mothers, peers, and/or romantic partners, but that their interpersonal relationship with their fathers is not related to the programs they prefer to watch.
DISCUSSION
This project focuses on how emerging adults may exhibit relationships between past television viewing preferences and current interpersonal variables, particularly current representations of attachment to mothers and fathers. While other research has focused on how adolescents may be affected by the shows they watch, this project focuses more on how previous viewing preferences may be related to factors beyond adolescence and into emerging adulthood. Strong relationships were revealed, although it is as yet unclear what implications these findings may provide.
The previous research that was examined had shown that adolescents watch about 23 hours of television per week. This conflicted with our data collected. The conflict may be due in part to the fact that the previous research focused on a younger age group than the emerging adults utilized in this study (O’Laughlin, et al., 2008). Trends in television viewing often are high during childhood then they slope off and our participants may be in the age group where the downward slope occurs (Robers et al., 2005) A majority of our participants watched 10 hours of television or less, causing us to experience a restriction of range and limiting our statistics, since participants were less likely to have seen the selected programs than we expected. Future research in this area should attempt to include more participants and programs that were viewed by a higher percentage of emerging adults.
As many parents wonder if they have an impact on the types of media their adolescents are exposed to, these results suggest that at least mothers do exert some type of influence. It is also interesting that only Mother Communication was correlated to MIRE scores, and no Father attachment scores were significant. It is clear that, at least in terms of televised parent-adolescent interactions, variations in attachment representations of emerging adults should be considered in future research projects.
In general, these research participants had been exposed to more Peer media interactions than any other interpersonal relationship interactions, and the representations of attachment to peers were the attachment scores most strongly correlated to MIRE scores. The significant Peer attachment scores were mainly for Communication, but Trust was also significant for Peer and Romantic Partner exposure scores. It is worth noting that the representation of attachment to Peers was significantly related to Mother and Father MIRE scores, even when representation of attachment to Father was not.
Finally, when the possible relationship between an individual’s viewing preferences while in adolescence and their representations of romantic partner attachment in emerging adulthood was examined, strong evidence for such a relationship was found. It is particularly interesting though that the more “negative” of the two attachment scores, Anxiety, was the one related to the MIRE scores. Since all of these relationships involved positive correlations, this may suggest that those with the least satisfying personal romantic relationships are the ones most likely to focus on television programs with portrayals of romantic relationships.
REFERENCES
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Bersamin, Melina, Todd, Michael, Fisher, Deborah A., Hill, Douglas L., Grube, Joel W., & Walker, Samantha. (2008). Parenting practices and adolescent sexual behavior: A longitudinal study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 97-112.
Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult romantic attachment: an integrative overview. In J.A. Simpson & W.S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press.
Chandra, A., Martino, S.C., Collins, R.L., Elliott, M.N., Berry, S.H., & Kanouse, D.E., et al. (2008). Does watching sex on television predict teen pregnancy? Findings from a national longitudinal survey of youth. Pediatrics, 122, 1047-1054.
Collins, R.L., Elliot, M.N., Berry, S.H., Kanouse, D.E., Kunkel, D., Hunter, S.B., et al. (2004). Watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior. Pediatrics, 114, 280-289.
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Table 1: Relationship Interactions in the 21 Television Programs Utilized in this StudyHigh Involvement = 3 / Moderate Involvement = 2 / Low Involvement = 1
Mother / Father / Peer / Romantic
Partner / Mother / Father / Peer / Romantic
Partner / Mother / Father / Peer / Romantic
Partner
The Big Bang Theory / / / /
The Secret Life of an
American Teenager / / / /
Blossom / / / /
GREEK / / / /
Grounded for Life / / / /
Gilmore Girls / / / /
7th Heaven / / / /
Still Standing / / / /
What I Like About You / / / /
Buffy the Vampire Slayer / / / /
Boy Meets World / / / /
Saved by the Bell / / / /
The Hills / / / /
The Wonder Years / / / /
Laguna Beach / / / /
Gossip Girl / / / /
That 70’s Show / / / /
The OC / / / /
One Tree Hill / / / /
Dawson’s Creek / / / /
The New 90210 / / / /
Table 2. Measure of Previous Exposure to the Program the OC
1 = I have never even heard of this show before today
2 = I have heard of this show before, but I have not seen an episode before today.
3 = I have seen part of an episode, but never an entire episode before today.
4 = I have seen one or two episodes of this show at some point in my life before today.
5 = I have seen several episodes of this show at some point in my life before today.
6 = I have seen an entire season of this show, but I have not seen every episode of the series.
7 = I have seen more than an entire season of this show, but I have not seen every episode.
8 = I have seen every episode of the series at least once before today.
9 = I have seen every episode of the series more than once before today.
Table 3. Summary of Overall Exposure to Media Interpersonal Relationship Exposure (MIRE) Scores
N = 276 / M / SD / Mode / Min / Max / Range
Mother / 174.83 / 51.07 / 137 / 69 / 325 / 256
Father / 170.96 / 49.00 / 146 / 69 / 311 / 242
Peer / 209.30 / 59.16 / 171 / 80 / 378 / 298
Romantic Partner / 182.87 / 52.93 / 187 / 71 / 335 / 264
Table 4: Correlations Involving MIRE scores in Reel Life and Representations of Attachment in Real Life
MIREScores
Mothers / Fathers / Peers / Romantic Partners
Overall Exposure to Media Interpersonal Relationship Exposure (MIRE) Scores (N = 276)
Mother / --
Father / .995*** / --
Peer / .980*** / .983*** / --
Romantic Partner / .987*** / .988*** / .992*** / --
Representation of Attachment Variables
Mother (N = 275)a
Trust / .069 / .071 / .083 / .079
Communication / .199** / .195** / .205** / .206**
Alienation / -.080 / -.081 / -.095 / -.097
Father (N = 266)a
Trust / .007 / .004 / -.006 / -.001
Communication / -.004 / -.010 / -.007 / -.011
Alienation / .023 / .023 / .024 / .024
Peer (N = 273)a
Trust / .112 / .115 / .130* / .133*
Communication / .258*** / .251*** / .283*** / .284***
Alienation / .111 / .105 / .084 / .084
Romantic Partner (N = 271)b
Avoidance / .069 / .074 / .071 / .071
Anxiety / .226*** / .221*** / .204*** / .210***
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
a Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden and Greenberg, 1987)
b Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR: Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998)