Romantically Themed Reality Television and Its Impact on Young Female Adults Ideas About Relationships, Marriage and Love

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of romantically themed reality television shows on young female adults ideas, beliefs, behaviors and attitudes towards relationships and marriage. This is a relevant topic to study and investigate because of the popularity of romantically themed reality television shows amongst young female adults. Previous studies have looked at the effect of romantically themed television shows and movies on adolescent and young female ideas, beliefs and attitudes about relationships and marriage, but seldom have investigated the phenomenon of romantically themed reality television. In this study, I interviewed five female Master of Counselling Psychology students at City University of Seattle between the ages of 26-30. The interview consisted of 16 questions based on participant values, attitudes, and beliefs about relationships, marriage, and love, and the possible impact of romantically themed reality television on these values. The questions were also designed to gain an understanding about the participants‟ current relationship/marital satisfaction, which romantically themed reality television shows they watched, how many hours on average a week they watched, and whether romantically themed reality television had an influence on subjects behaviors.