Media Influences on Relationships

Theoretical Background

Media's power to influence conceptions of romantic relationships lies firmly in people's consumption of media content and the nature of that content. Nancy Signorelli wrote that television may be the single most common and pervasive influence on perceptions and behaviors related to marriage and romantic relationships. According to Cultivation Theory, television shapes viewers' beliefs about reality. Early cultivation researchers argued that frequency of viewing was more important than the viewing of specific program content because television programs present a uniform message. Though a substantial amount of research has documented the association between heavy viewers' beliefs and predominant television messages, this frequency orientation has been largely replaced by a content-specific approach (i.e., analyzing the frequency of viewing specific genres). Researchers have also investigated media beyond television, such as films, novels, music, and magazines, for their effects on romantic relationships.

Romantic Relationship Expectations

A growing body of work examines how media affect viewers' ideas about romantic relationships. A recent study found that as television viewing increased, never-married viewers' idealistic notions about marriage decreased. Idealistic beliefs included such ideas as expecting one's partner to read one's mind, seeing disagreement as destructive to the relationship, and perceiving [Page 1084]destiny to be a major causal force in relationship development or deterioration. Perhaps television content directly contradicts such idealistic beliefs, but it is more likely the case that messages about marriage and romantic relationships vary by genre. For instance, watching a great deal of romantic movies and television programs, reading appearance-focused magazines, and consuming gender-stereotypic and reality-dating television pro gram ming have all been associated with viewers' greater support of idealistic relationship beliefs. Other media-related behaviors that extend beyond viewing frequency may matter as well. The degree of depen dency on television for information about relationships, the presence of alternative sources of information, and the belief that television presents accurate information have been important factors identified in past media effects studies. For example, late adolescents who rated themselves as highly influenced by media in early adolescence reported more unrealistic beliefs about romantic relationships.

Another argument is that these associations arise because people with idealistic notions of romance select more idealistic romantic programming. In partial support of that argument, participants who used more romantic media also reported ruminating and fantasizing more about romance. When asked to view a romantic comedy in an experiment, the attitudes of these already romantically minded individuals did not become more accessible (i.e., easily recalled and retrieved). However, another experimental study concluded that viewing a film that emphasized relational destiny (e.g., “fate brought the couple together”) strengthened participants' beliefs in relational destiny. Hence, evidence indicates that viewers who take in a great deal of romantic media have more idealistic expectations for romantic relationships. This outcome is attributable partly to media influence and partly to viewer selectivity.

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