On The Bachelor and Reality TV... Are We Monsters?
Bachelor fans, rejoice! The new (24th) season of The Bachelor is about to start, with 28 year old pilot Peter Weber . Our man wades through 30 contestants (no fewer than 3 are flight attendants) looking for his ‘co-pilot’.
GUYS! He is looking for his CO-PILOT! Oh my days.
The 24th Bachelor is a pilot… the dad jokes practically write themselves.
Is Reality TV Just a Guilty Pleasure?
Reality TV seems to be polarizing. Some people love watching reality TV and some people hate it. Different camps explain the popularity of reality TV as giving a window into watching what would normally be a private part of the lives of ‘normal people’ (ex. Big Brother), or watching normal people do abnormal things (ex. living on a deserted island like in Survivor), or having fantasies about easily acquiring fame (ex. The Bachelor or The Bachelorette – where most contestants live in the limelight long after the show).
Either way, reality TV has been judged as a guilty pleasure.
With the participants safely on the other side of the TV screen, we are free to judge, criticize, and discuss. Without the same social niceties that might filter our comments (i.e., you likely wouldn’t say these things to the faces of these people), there is even a thriving discussion online about the merits of contestants. Nothing is off the table. Which is ironic since reality TV is highly produced, are we even sure what we are watching is real?
What is it about us as humans that we get joy from watching people lose out on a fortune on game shows or have missed opportunities at love? Are we monsters?
Why Do We Watch?
Luckily, a 2016 study by Michal Hershman Shitrit and Jonathan Cohen from the University of Haifa in Israel shows that our affinity for reality TV might actually be motivated by empathy and compassion.
“our affinity for reality TV might actually be motivated by empathy and compassion”
The study asked 163 participants to rate both how much they would want to participate, as well as what they would think if a family member wanted to take part, in 12 shows including Big Brother and American Idol. They also rated how much they liked each show and how often they watched the shows. The researchers thought that if people didn’t want to be humiliated (or their family members to be humiliated) but they enjoyed watching the humiliating show, they would find a negative correlation (a negative relationship) between enjoyment and willingness to participate.
Instead, they found the opposite – the more people liked a show, the more they were willing to participate, or support a family member’s participation. This means that people aren’t motivated to watch because of humiliation. They are instead watching because of empathy for the participants – otherwise, why would the respondents support their loved ones taking part?
So, relax, Bachelor Nation. The 8 million of you who tune in weekly are free to revel in the fantasy of the far-off places, the ball gowns, and the road to (hopefully) a fairytale ending. You’re not terrible people.
Yes, I will accept your final rose,
