Running Head: CULTIVATION THEORY MEETS MATERIALISM 1

Cultivation Theory Meets Materialism

Lydia Paglierani
Bryant University

Media Effects 472-A

Professor Baran
December 7, 2018
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“Reality TV, materialism, and associated consequences: An exploration of the influences

of enjoyment and social comparison on reality TV’s cultivation effects” written by Shu-Yueh

Lee, yen-Shen Chen, and Mark Harmon aims to dissect and explore the effects of reality TV on

materialistic values and the consequences of it—such as life dissatisfaction and compulsive

buying behavior of the viewer. While many subgenres of reality TV exist, there was a consistent

theme that communicated the importance of wealth. According to cultivation theory, repeated

TV messages aid in the construction of the audience’s view of social reality while also affecting

audience’s personal values or beliefs. Though an abundance of research exists where researchers

study the impact of reality TV on people’s values and beliefs, there is no study that discloses

(precisely) the relationship between reality TV and materialism.

In the literature review, discussion is based on how cultivation is paired with multiple

different variables that could help explain reality TV’s impact on the viewer’s values and

behaviors. These include materialism, reality TV, mediators, enjoyment and social comparison.

On the topic of materialism, it is known that Americans are portrayed as an affluent society who

places a high importance on goods consumed. These portrayals have the media to thank—as they

are a skewed version of reality. It only increases the strength of viewer’s materialistic values and

in turn may lower satisfaction in their own lives.

This relationship was first examined in 1979 when Churchill and Moschis proposed a

model that looked at young adult’s socialization. It turns out that TV, family, and peers were a

prominent source of consumer information—but television viewing was positively correlated

with their materialistic values. Almost two decades later, O’guinn and Shrum conducted a study

looking at the TV viewing and the construction of consumer reality. From the surveys they

conducted, it was found that those who watch television often (compared to those who don’t)
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assumed others to be rich. Going off that, those who often watched TV reported to behave

similar to having a wealthy lifestyle. Overall—as the amount of TV viewing increased, so did

young adult’s materialistic values.

Transitioning to how cultivation and reality TV interconnect, perceived realism is a

significant factor in determining the extent of cultivation effects. In a previous study it was found

that when viewing non-fiction programming (like the news), viewers supported the criminal

justice system and watching reality crime shows yielded defensive behaviors (owning a gun).

Not only do these true-life programs enforce cultivation’s effects but they also might cause

behavioral reactions (like purchasing a gun). Much like patterns seen in previous studies, the

reality TV show “The Bachelor” was pinned as being filled with gender stereotypes—and the

more viewers watched this show that unrealistically depicts dating, the more their attitudes and

ideas about dating were shaped. This then translates to the viewer acting on those attitudes and

actions as seen on the show. A very heavily viewed genre of reality TV is competition-based

programs. Many times, the competition is dramatized, calling for excessive aggression and

conflict between participants. Viewers of these programs have a higher perception of a “mean

world” in which they expect more lying and manipulation within society. Based on the above

research, five hypotheses were formulated that focused on reality TV being positively/negatively

associated with viewers’ materialism, life satisfaction, and compulsive buying behavior.

Enjoyment and social comparison play a significant role in the mediating effects of

cultivation. The enjoyment viewers get from entertainment translates into an experience which

helps uncover their identity in the message. This led to the hypothecation that when people watch

and enjoy programs that include materialism, they are more likely to be cultivated by it.

Hypothesis six and seven touch upon the amount of reality TV viewing and its positive
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association with the level of enjoyment, and the level of enjoyment is positively associated with

viewer’s materialism. An abundance of media studies suggest that audiences engage in social

comparison while consuming media. As most of society is aware, this results in many negative

consequences when viewing one’s own appearance such as low self-esteem, going through

extremes to enhance one’s appearance and even further; eating disorders. The big reason for this

comparison is caused by reality TV containing ordinary looking people that become the center of

the story being told, which then constructs a comparison group that is more relevant and

seemingly relatable to viewers compared to celebrities or actors. Hypothesis eight and nine

suggest that the levels of social comparison is positively associated with the viewing of reality

TV and viewers’ materialism.

Lee, Shen and Harmon gathered a total of 202 responses from college students at a

midwestern United States university. The responses were made up of 84 (42%) men and 118

(58%) women. The age ranged from 18-48 with 21.9% being the median. 90.7% of respondents

were white, and the second most respondents were made up of Asian individuals (3.3%). They

used a quantitative research approach with this study, distributing surveys using paper and pencil

to collect data in order to examine the relationship between reality TV viewing, materialism, and

the accompanying consequences such as compulsive buying behaviors and life dissatisfaction. A

questionnaire aimed to measure the amount of TV viewing, informative TV viewing,

entertainment TV viewing, reality TV viewing, and demographic information among the subjects

in the samples. 5-point Likert scales were utilized in order to gauge the levels of materialism,

enjoyment, social comparison, life satisfaction and compulsive buying behavior.

Results for TV consumption was broken down by hours watched per day (on average) of

entertainment programs, informative programs, and reality programs. It was reported that
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participants watched 2.4 hours of television, an average of 2.0 hours a day watching

entertainment programming (dramas, sitcoms, movies, reality TV, sports), average of 0.7 hours

watching informative programming (news, educational), and an average of 1.1 hours for reality

shows (American Idol, The Biggest Loser, Keeping Up with the Kardashians). It was found that

reality TV, enjoyment, social comparison, and materialism were highly correlated with each

other, however, reality TV did not directly affect viewers’ materialistic values or compulsive-

buying behaviors. Additionally, the effect of reality TV on materialism was not straightforward

but rather mediated by other factors.

Previous studies indicated that there was an indirect effect between reality TV viewing

and materialism—this is understood by the fact that media effects are not triggered like a magic

bullet but are instead weighed by different situations and characteristics of recipients. When on

the subject of materialism effects, it was only when reality TV viewers enjoy what they’re

watching do they suspend disbelief and increase their engagement and as a result, they are

cultivated by the materialistic values. In short, the more reality TV that was watched, the more

enjoyment viewers experienced, the more they ascribed to the life described in reality TV—this

forms a reciprocal relationship. This research also uncovered that reality TV might increase the

audience’s life satisfaction, contrary to their hypothesis, but consistent with uses and

gratifications research on reality television and social comparison theory. The reason for this can

be explained by reality TV providing a feeling of self-importance and superiority, as viewers

find themselves seeming similar to the stars of the show and getting the feeling of self-

improvement and attainability (a show like American Idol). Conversely, with shows like Judge

Judy and Cops, there is a sense of self-enhancement that exists because the viewer feels better

about their current situation compared to the troubled people featured.

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Some of the limitations that were mentioned included reality TV as having many zero

entries, and therefore there was a need for transformation in the statistical analysis. The sample

of this study was based on college students which does not represent that entire population, and

same goes for the diversity of the study. Over 90% of the population that the data was gathered

from was represented by white people, and only 3% were Asian. Because this was a college aged

study, there is also lack of age diversity. Like most studies, participants can be reluctant to report

the truth which then results in an underestimation of the media effects in this case.

This study was extremely interesting and relatable for the age group that it focused on. I

personally have an interest in materialism and why Americans are so materialistic compared to

many other societies and countries. I agreed with the hypotheses presented and thought that they

were valid based on the information gathered from previous studies in the literature review.

However, I think the results would have been much different if the data was based on a more

widely spread age group. For example, young adults watch lots of reality television, as it is

tailored towards them and they can draw similarities in age most of the time. Yet, my parents and

their age group (in my experience/exposure) do not watch reality television on a regular basis

compared to the younger generations, never mind my grandparents. This in turn might have

resulted in people, say above the age of 30, as not showing materialistic/compulsive buying

behaviors as they have bigger things to pay for such as children, taxes, and other big payments. I

also believe that if the survey was distributed to a more racially and culturally diverse group of

people, the results would have been much different, as a variety of values and beliefs would

come into play. But 90% of the population was white, therefore similar results were drawn.

I thought it was interesting that this study focused on reality TV and how it might impact

viewers being compulsive buyers and materialistic relative to cultivation theory. My roommate
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watches Jersey Shore, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The Challenge almost every day

or every other day while getting ready for class (for about 45 minutes or so). She often online

shops or compulsively buys things while out shopping somewhere compared to my buying

habits—and I very rarely watch reality TV. She is also one of the most insecure people I know

when it comes to her body, she most definitely is body dysmorphic because she exercises every

day yet calls herself fat, pointing out that her legs look “huge” and “weird”. I made this

connection to social comparison in the study when it discussed how audiences do engage in a

comparison process while consuming media—therefore resulting in negative consequences like

low self-esteem and eating disorders.

Though cultivation theory was originally based on television, I think there would be even

more significance if this study of the media encompassed social media. At least in my age group,

I see a huge influence of social media on social comparisons, impulsive buying habits, and the

emotional experience (enjoyment) as mediators of materialism. More specifically, I believe

Instagram would be the social media of choice, as it features just images being shared and not

text like Facebook and Twitter does. This study, like most cultivation studies, are crucial in

understanding what power the media holds, and I believe they should be more well-known and

taught in school systems. TV shows and social media don’t seem to be going anywhere in the

near future, therefore neither do their effects.