Modeling Meanness: Associations Between Reality TV Consumption, Perceived Realism, and Adolescents' Social Aggression

Although research documents connections between adolescents' television exposure and both their physical and social aggression, less is known about contributions of reality television. Might this genre be even more influential than other media formats because it features real-life people and may be perceived as more realistic? To examine this question, we surveyed 174 adolescents who indicated their regular exposure to five media formats or genres, their consumption of 23 socially aggressive reality TV programs, their perceptions of the realism of reality TV content, and their engagement in each of 22 socially aggressive acts. As expected, frequent consumption of socially aggressive reality programming was associated with higher levels of social aggression, contributing above and beyond other media. Moreover, findings were particularly strong among adolescents attributing higher levels of realism to this content. Gender, however, did not moderate these associations. Implications for future analyses of adolescent media use are discussed.