Romantic Media
One researcher examined the popular Disney film Beauty and the Beast and argued that violence and abuse are justified within the movie (Olson, 2013). By analyzing the central romance, Olson asserts that the film romanticizes unhealthy relationship behaviors—specifically that the beast’s episodes of anger could be detrimental to Belle’s life, and closely resemble repeated patterns of abuse. This is significant because, as Olson later explains, the classic film has affected many generations, and could potentially shape poor expectations and perceptions of what should be tolerated in healthy, loving relationships.
Another study narrows its focus to romantic media’s effect on the fear of being single (Timmermans et al., 2019). Results showed that viewing media of this sort did not influence everyone the same, but correlations with intensified concern about being single was most prominent within young women viewers who were already single.
In order to properly trace unhealthy depictions of relationships back to specific beliefs or agendas that are portrayed, many studies rely on a psychological structure called the Romantic Beliefs Scale (RBS) (Sprecher & Metts, 1999), which identifies set themes that most romantic beliefs (commonly found in media) fall into. These include: soulmate, idealization of partner, love conquers all, and love at first sight. Recent research helped to further define the categories in the RBS by watching, rating, and sorting romantic aspects of films into pre-determined themes (Hefner & Wilson, 2013) (Moore & Ophir, 2021). To demonstrate that these beliefs are relevant, it should be clearly noted that this same scale was also used in a longitudinal study of individuals’ changes of romantic experiences over time (Sprecher & Metts, 1999). Essentially, researchers followed real relationships, and related positive or negative outcomes according to beliefs held. Results found that beliefs do serve as predictors of behavior, ultimately influencing success of relationships. This being said, it is logical that society would hope to have the most common romantic beliefs depicted in film correlate with positive behavior and success regarding relationships.
Several pieces of research have used the Romantic Beliefs Scale to identify how viewers are influenced by ideals represented in film and television. For example, one study by Lippman et al. (2014) included an analysis of certain genres, finding that comedies are more likely to have lower correlations with idealization or “soulmate” themed tropes, and wedding reality television shows are more likely to have higher correlations with the “love conquers all” category. These findings are consistent with others, especially that wedding reality television (and those who view it) correlates highly with the ideal from the RBS that “love conquers all” (Hefner, 2016). These results suggests that certain genres are more likely to include certain types of romantic themes. Lastly, another study used the RBS and concluded that the influence of romantic portrayals is more prominent in film rather than television (Kretz, 2019). This might be due to the fact that films have a longer amount of time to develop more complex plots that reflect certain beliefs or ideals.
A collection of notable studies involving the Romantic Beliefs Scale and film share an author. In one previously mentioned study with undergraduates watching, sorting, and rating films, there was a follow-up component where participants also completed surveys about their romantic beliefs (Hefner & Wilson, 2013). Results showed that there was significant endorsement of the beliefs in the RBS, which was linked directly to viewing romantic comedies. There is some debate about whether or not endorsement in the ideals leads to negative outcomes. Another study contradicts the assumed hypothesis that content in romantic comedies negatively impacts audiences (Hefner, 2019). Instead, findings from this research suggest that content in this genre does not actually create unhealthy expectations for real life. There was actually a positive relationship found between idealist content, beliefs held, and life satisfaction. While holding unrealistic believes about marriage and romantic relationships might have some benefits, some would argue that there are negative consequences. Driesmans et al. (2016) found that these unrealistic beliefs do bring about marked disappointment in relationships, leading to higher levels of negative emotionality and behavior in reaction to unmet expectations (Baucom et al., 1996). More research needs to be conducted to determine which perspective is more accurate.
Relationship Abuse:
Researchers Maldonado and Murphy (2020) explored a cognitive coping mechanism termed power and control, linking it to trauma and intimate partner violence. According to social cognitive approaches to PTSD, power and control is thought to derive as a trauma response that operates as an individual’s desire for control. Power and control has been correlated positively with emotional abuse in particular, which makes it a potential explanation for why relationship abuse occurs.
Another portion of research has given needed attention to the prevalence of domestic violence and abuse in teenage relationships. Findings by Griffiths (2019) pointed to two major reasons for why abuse in this demographic occurs: lack of understanding about healthy relationship behavior and lack of a trusted person to talk to. These findings reflect a need for better education about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as finding these individuals professional outlets that can aid them in processing relationship issues. Since much of our understanding about relationships comes from childhood, personal experience, and media, there is great confusion about what types of behaviors are healthy.
Consistent to the research about power and control, some situations involve individuals endorsing unhealthy or unrealistic beliefs about relationships for deeper reasons like trauma responses and emotional coping. The research about teen relationships adds that lack of knowledge and education about how to maintain a healthy relationship is also relevant. These explanations for abuse and tolerance of abuse are also of use when considering why people hold idealistic views about romance and marriage. In some cases, idealizing marriage or relationships to this extent might serve as protection, inflating levels of partner satisfaction, commitment, and feelings of love in the beginning of a relationship (Sprecher & Metts, 1999).
From an evolutionary psychological perspective, the pressure of romance and marriage might be stronger for women due to the traditional ideas about women needing to reproduce and be mothers. This means that women would be more attuned to the romantic messaging in film, which would explain why they might stay in unhealthy relationship patterns. To follow this thought, male abusers should be considered next. From a biological standpoint, men have more testosterone that women. Since higher levels of testosterone elicit higher levels of violence and aggression (Cohen et al., 1996), aggression in film might make men more likely to act in violence against their partners. While this perspective provides important insight into why men physically abuse women and why women might stay with their abusers in romantic relationships, it fails to give an inclusive explanation for the opposite occurrence. This is important to consider because men are also victims of abuse by females. Perhaps unhealthy/unrealistic romantic film content is also explained by desensitization, and both men and women don’t recognize the abusive patterns or behaviors they see on the screen after seeing it all the time.
Table of Contents
- How are we affected by media?
- Why are we affected by media?
- Who is most affected by media?
- Romantic Media
- Conclusion
- References