Sex, Booze & Promiscuity Reality TV’s Effect on Mass Audiences Erika Austin Courtney Bonoyer Michael Falco Amanda Frontiero

Because reality shows are targeted at college and high school students, are such shows popular among Castleton students? An interesting issue to explore is whether the values displayed on these shows are imitated by students.

Research Questions Are young men and women becoming more self-centered and promiscuous because of media representations that they see on reality shows?

Research Questions Does the gender of a student impact the values he/she displays? Are these values affected by social institutions like the mass media?

Rationale Bandura’s Observational Learning theory states that people imitate those they see on the media, especially if those portrayed are seen as socially successful. Young women on reality TV shows who dress and act provocatively seem to get the guys. Young men who are belligerent and irresponsible tend to be the popular ones.

Men are portrayed in these shows as in charge and women as frivolous and childish. Individuals who betray other people tend to win the contests. Intoxication has no negative consequences on these shows.

Sleeping with random people one has just met is depicted as being cool. Condoms and birth control are never mentioned on these shows. Cheating on one’s partner is normalized and seen as socially acceptable.

Hypothesis Based on our rationales, we hypothesize that people who watch reality TV are more likely to be promiscuous, self-centered and display risky behavior than those who don’t watch such shows.

Method of Study We surveyed 100 students at Castleton State College at random. The surveys asked about respondents’ demographics. We also asked several questions to measure their competitiveness, acceptance of promiscuity and the riskiness of their sexual and partying behaviors.

It is okay to cheat on a partner if it is only once Results It is okay to cheat on a partner if it is only once

It is okay to tell on a friend given that we live in a cut throat world

It is okay to have sex with people who you are not dating

It is okay to be drunk and sleep with someone not your partner

It is okay to have sex without protection with casual partners

It is okay to appear naked on TV if it can win you big money

It is okay to betray a friend to win big money

Flaws in the Study Our question to determine whether participants watched reality television was misleading and participants seemed confused. Many said they did not watch reality TV but were able to identify their content. We finally determined that respondents watched reality television if they answered the questions regarding the content of the shows.

Conclusion We found that more people who didn’t watch reality television strongly disagreed with promiscuity and competitive values than those why did watch these shows. On the issue of sexual promiscuity there was a difference of at least 30% between people who watched Reality TV and those who did not.

Conclusion Our study concluded that people who watch reality shows are more likely to accept values and sexual behaviors depicted on reality shows than students who don’t watch these shows. However, our results were not statistically significant.