10 Reasons Why Reality Television Is Degrading The Public Positively

Reality television is everywhere.“Since 2001, reality television programs topped the U.S. television ratings in 6 of the last 7 years” (Hischorn, 2007). There are many different types of reality television like game shows, job hunts, makeovers, dating shows, social experiments, adventure and fear-based shows. Even though there are some positive attributes to watching reality television like educational value, job skills, and communication value; the downfalls of reality television still cannot be ignored. The negative attributes of reality television actually make society’s lives easier. People can learn from others mistakes. Watching reality television makes it possible for the public take a step back and reflect on the actions of characters on television, relax from their daily lives, and prepare for the future.

1. Displays "Fake" Friends

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Reality television shows are packed with drama, lies, and deceitfulness. Dunbar (2004) argued that "gossip may have been selected for because it strengthens the intimacy of social bonds." Many people have that person who they will say hi to in the hallway or super market and then as soon as the person passes they get on their phone and text their best friends how they saw the so call horrendous person and continue to bash about how they are the lowest on the low. This relationship with the fake "friend" actually brings the guanine friends closer together. Seeing this on reality television is directly the same as in real life. The characters on the television shows are building stronger bonds with people that they care about by criticizing the ones that they don't. Now, society should still treat everyone with the same level of respect and in a perfect world, everyone would be best friends. The "fake friends" in reality television, however, teaches the public that perhaps gossiping isn't so bad if it leads to closer relationships between actual friends.

2. Promotes Violence in Public Places

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One of the main reasons why reality television is degrading in the public eye is the way that it shows violence in public. A study by Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, and Eron (2003) found that TV violence viewed during childhood predicted aggressive and criminal behavior in adulthood. Reality television the only factor that can lead to criminal behavior, genetics, where a person grew up, and other circumstances can lead to this kind of life. Another study by Smith, Nathanson, and Wilson (2002) also revealed that reality television programs contained less physical violence than most other genres. For example, only 46% of reality programs contained violence, compared to 82% of dramas (Smith, Nathanson, and Wilson, 2002). Even other forms of television can lead to this type of behavior. If the public does happen to see this kind of violence, hopefully they see how ridiculous the characters look on television and how displaying violence usually doesn't solve the conflict that arose in the first place. Even though it may get the shows ratings up, the characters on television don't learn how to deal with their problems in a civil and respectful way. There no reason why emotions have to lead to physical violence. This simply just causes a scene and gets people kicked out of their favorite breakfast diner. Some things should simply stay at home. This way there (hopefully) won't be a need for police involvement.

3. Helps Serve Society's Need to Feel Better than Other People

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Reiss and Wiltz (2004) found that “viewers motivated by status and vengeance are most likely to watch reality television programs.” Whether people say it or not, most people want to feel as it they are better than someone else. They want to make it at least seem as if they have their life together and aren't complete messes. For example, everyone has those kind of days in which they basically want to dig a hole and bury themselves in it. Usually these problems include having a bad hair day and spilling spaghetti sauce on their favorite blouse. But after watching an episode of "16 and Pregnant" the spaghetti sauce seems pretty wonderful over baby puke. Watching reality television satisfies the need to feel better than others. Even though it seems juvenile and naive, most people still do it, except maybe Pope Francis.

4. Encourages the Judgement of People

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Judging actors on television who are acting absurd will most likely put in perspective the way things should be done normally. Seeing how people can make complete fools of themselves and make horrible decisions, will let society feel as if they have the upper hand and made the right decisions somewhere along the line. Watching people who necessarily don't have their lives together also makes others feel as if they are more put together and accomplished. Also, sometimes reality television stars should be judged because perhaps they will want to change their ways and improve. The insane actions of characters on television might cause society to look down on reality television stars and this may be used as a wake up call for stars to get their act together. The judgment of these characters is actually a positive aspect because this could change reality television stars for the better and then perhaps change what people view on television.

5. Reflects an Unmet Need

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Most people want to have the feeling that they belong to something. Kennedy (1995) identified “three value groups relevant to preteens and teens: popularity (belonging), defined as the desire to feel secure and to be respected, achievement (accomplishment), aspiring for accomplishments, self-fulfillment and self-respect excitement, striving for enjoyment of life.” Reality television gives people an escape from reality once in a while and way to get away from it all. For example, viewers can pretend that they are on "The Bachelor" with Juan Pablo and they just received the final rose. Even though it is simply outrageous that 25 girls all compete for the chance to live happily ever after with some guy, the small chance of being the girl who he falls in love with out weighs the costs of not getting the rose. Because of this, both the contestants and the viewers stick around. Television shows give society hope and a feeling of belonging to something that is more than just them. Reality television shows make people feel connected. Connectedness is defined as the “level of intensity of the relationship(s) that a viewer develops with the characters and contextual settings of a program in the para-social television environment;” the higher the connectedness, the more involved the viewer is with the program and characters (Russell et al., 2004). Reality television can give its viewers a world that they never dreamed of, a fantasy.

6. Not Representative of Reality

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In reality television shows like "Jersey Shore" and "Honey Boo Boo" there always seems to be some kind of drama happening whether someone is getting arrested or throwing plates at the wall. In some instances, this could lead to society copying these actions. “Actions in reality television programs are portrayed realistically, which increases the likelihood for subsequent imitation” (Donnerstein et al., 1994). This is very slim, however, because most people that watch these kinds of shows realize that people don't act this way in real life and watching reality television actually makes society more normal. This is because people are always coming up with the new and clever ways to get a lot "likes" on Facebook or Instagram but if people on reality television shows are coming up with all of the stupid and idiotic ideas there will less and less for society to try out. Reality television also makes people more aware of some of the negative consequences of doing reckless ideas. Also, not all of reality television is offensive and awful. The fact that reality television isn't real allows some amazing outcomes to happen. For example, on reality television a character could be having a terrible day but then could end up going to the gas station and winning the lottery. Situations and problems that normally wouldn't work out now can.

7. Exposes Too Much

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Television shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians" exposes the lives of people on television in order to make a quick buck. Many of the hardships that reality television stars face are considerably similar to some face by ordinary people like job loss, death, and divorce. Seeing how stars grieve and deal with these instances, can show society that people can and do move on. Reality television shows expose some awful circumstances that others can learn from and take into a factor when they are dealing with their own personal problems. “Research has shown that exposure to reality television is related to viewers’ use of conflict in their interpersonal relationships, their use of deception and manipulation, and a negative view of humanity” (Aubrey, et al., 2007). Reality television impacts viewers' lives. Society can learn from watching reality television and correlate the reality television stars actions into their own lives. This could also be the same circumstance for the ways that stars deal with their problems and move past the downfall. Society can learn from reality television stars in what should and shouldn't be done in a situation.

8. Wastes Time

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With finals and deadlines coming up, many students just want to take a twenty-minute little break to just relax and to not think about school work. People can take their minds off their tests and come back to studying with a more open mind that is refreshed and ready to go after watching some mindless show. Watching reality television refreshes people and they are more ready to learn and get their work done when they have a little break. “From a practical standpoint, our research suggests that, when faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task" (Navert, 2011). Everyone needs a little bit of a break here and there. Reality television can help people out and make them more determined and focused while studying. It is beneficial to "waste" a little bit of time watching reality television, to make the studying time more worth while.

9. Encourages the Celebrity Status

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“Youth often view celebrities and other participants in reality television shows as opinion leaders and role models” (Patino, 2011). Critics believe that reality television stars make their money the easy way and don't have to put much work into their lives. Reality television stars are actually pretty smart to figure out a way to simply live their lives and get paid for it. Also, most of the time, it takes a lot of time and rejection before someone is actually famous and gets paid to be on television. Celebrities put a lot of time, energy, and money into getting and staying famous. The work that celebrities put in should actually be more admired because it is really hard to stay above the crowd and be popular. There is two different kinds of people in the world, people who are street smart and people who are book smart. Celebrities just happen to be more street smart and work with and around people to get what they want. Celebrities are (most of the time) good role models because they have to do everything in the eye of the public which can be hard to deal with sometimes. It takes a lot of class and guts to have to deal with society and the press constantly trying to degrade them.

10. Influences Behavior of Children

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"Four of the ten most popular 2005–2006 television programs among viewers younger than 17 were reality programs (Nielsen Media Research, 2006), ranking as the most-viewed television programming genre among teens in several major local people meter markets" (Nielsen Media Research, 2005). Teens and children love to watch reality television shows, however, many reality television shows are deemed inappropriate for children and teens to watch. However, most things that are on television will eventually be witnessed by children so it really shouldn't matter that it is just a couple of years early. “Instrumental viewing motivations were positively associated with the selection of reality television viewing; and, as we have already argued, this might be because reality television teaches young reality viewers much about their lives by observing others” (Aubrey, 2012). Teens can learn about instances and circumstances that society thinks that they really shouldn't learn about for another couple of years. Watching reality television can make teens more capable to deals with problems that come up later in life.

What are the impacts?

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There is a reason why reality television is so popular among society. There is so many different aspects and genres of reality television there is something in it for everyone. Reality television can change the way that society acts towards one another and how people learn for generations to come. People just need to be aware of what they are watching and take the positive attributes like how to deal with personal problems, give others respect, and learn from the mistakes of reality television stars. There is good in everything, sometimes it's just buried a little deeper.