Journal of Health Communication, 20:1382–1390, 2015 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018608 ‘‘Let’s Get This Party Started!’’: An Analysis of Health Risk Behavior on MTV Reality Television Shows
MARK A. FLYNN1, DAVID MORIN2, SUNG-YEON PARK3, and ALEXANDRU STANA4 1Department of Communication, Languages, & Cultures, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina, USA 2Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah, USA 3Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA 4Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Past research has examined portrayals of risk behavior in various media, including television, advertising, and film. To address an underexplored area, this study analyzed drinking, smoking, and sexual activities in MTV reality programming popular among ado- lescent viewers from 2004 to 2011. Cast members’ demographic attributes were also examined in relation to their risk behaviors. Results demonstrated that drinking and casual sexual behaviors were pervasive among cast members. Smoking and more intense sexual behaviors were also present, but to a smaller degree. Men and young adult cast members were more likely to engage in risk behaviors than women and teenage cast members. Also, ethnic=racial minority characters were shown drinking more often than were White cast members. Interpretations of these findings are discussed based in social cognitive theory and the concept of super peers. Implications for future research are provided.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- have been made for systematic research of reality television tion (2012c), underage alcohol use is related to later-stage programs in terms of their depiction of the health risk beha- alcohol abuse, alcohol-related injuries, failing grades, and viors and the consequences, in response to outlandish health other risk behaviors, and is responsible for 4,700 deaths in risk acts shown on some reality shows that also tend to be the United States annually. Smoking is also associated with very popular among the youth population (Christenson & an extensive range of short-term health problems such as res- Ivancin, 2006; Viacom, 2010). piratory effects, addiction to nicotine, and the associated To address this escalating concern, we analyzed a sample risk of other drugs, and long-term health problems including of MTV reality shows particularly popular among the young various lung, throat and mouth cancers, emphysema, stroke, viewers. For example, two of the shows that we examined, and coronary diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Pre- MTV’s The Jersey Shore and The Real World, achieved vention, 2012b). In addition, increased sexual activity among top ratings in prime-time reality shows among 12–17- teenagers is related to higher teenage pregnancy rates and year-olds in 2011 (Parents Television Council, 2011). Alco- the number of sexually transmitted infections in the youth hol consumption, tobacco use, and sexual activities featured population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the shows were counted and linked to the demographic 2012a). In 2009, more than 400,000 teenagers ages 15–19 attributes of characters who engage in them. In addition, years gave birth and nearly half of the 19 million new STDs the rate of co-occurrences among alcohol consumption, each year occur among 15–24-year-olds (Centers for Disease smoking, and sexual activities were assessed to provide a Control and Prevention, 2012a). more comprehensive picture of the risk behaviors featured At the same time, these risk behaviors are commonly in the reality programs. observable in various media content, including prime time television, film, and advertising. The media depictions also Health Risk Behaviors in Reality Television exert substantial influence on young people’s attitudes and behaviors, exacerbating the problems (e.g., Engels, Her- Research has shown that, for decades, consumption of alco- mans, van Baaren, Hollenstein, & Bot, 2009; Gutschoven hol and tobacco and sexual behavior have been depicted & Van den Bulck, 2005; Ward, 2003). In recent years, calls extensively in various media (e.g., Bahk, 2001; Cin, Worth, Dalton, & Sargent, 2008; Dalton et al., 2002; Kunkel, Eyal, Finnerty, Biely, & Donnerstein, 2005; Kunkel et al., 2007; Address correspondence to Mark A. Flynn, Department of Paek, Reid, Choi, & Jeong, 2010; Russell & Russell, 2009; Communication, Languages, & Cultures, Coastal Carolina Sargent, Wills, Stoolmiller, Gibson, & Gibbons, 2006). University, 311 Brittain Hall, Conway, SC 29528, USA. E-mail: Researchers also noted the ubiquitous portrayal of risk beha- mfl[email protected] viors as highly problematic because it is often unrealistic and Risk Behavior on MTV Reality TV 1383 rarely entails negative consequences (Pinkelton, Austin, with others are primary reasons for teens to watch reality Cohen, Chen, & Fitzgerald, 2008). Effect studies demon- television (Godlewski & Perse, 2010; Nabi, Stitt, Halford, strated that exposure to the rather glamorized representation & Finnerty, 2006; Reiss & Wiltz, 2004). Thus, a systematic of risk behaviors in media affects adolescents’ perception of investigation of the potentially negative health behaviors drinking, smoking, and sex and increases the propensity to depicted, and perhaps glamorized on reality television will partake in the activities at a younger age (Bleakley, Hennessy, help to not only contextualize the existing findings on teens’ Fishbein, & Jordan, 2008; Grube, 1993; Mastro & Atkin, motivations to watch reality programming, but also to 2002; Nunez-Smith et al., 2010; Smith & Foxcroft, 2009; inform future media uses and effects research that addresses Stacy, Zogg, Unger, & Dent, 2004). teen audiences and reality television. As the first step in In light of this, the phenomenal success of reality exploring the content of reality programs popular among television programming in recent decades adds urgency to the young audiences, the following research questions are the need for systematic understanding of its content. posed: Although it has become extremely popular among the younger American population subset in the past two decades Research Question 1–1. How frequently do characters use (Wright, 2006), only a few academic studies have attempted alcohol or tobacco on screen in reality television pro- to examine portrayals of risk behaviors in this format in gen- grams popular among adolescents? eral (e.g., Ferris, Smith, Greenberg, & Smith, 2007) and Research Question 1–2. What are the demographic attri- reality content consumed largely by adolescents in particular butes of those using alcohol and tobacco on screen? Research Question 2–1. How frequently do characters (e.g., Blair, Yue, Singh, & Bernhardt, 2005). The studies engage in sexual activities on screen in reality television available found similar results to the research exploring programs popular among adolescents? scripted television content: alcohol and tobacco use occurred Research Question 2–2. What are the demographic attri- frequently in one reality program, The Osbournes (Blair et al., butes of those engaging in sexual activities on screen? 2005), and up to 28% of reality television programming contained sexual talk and=or actions (Kunkel et al., 2005). However, researchers have yet to fully explore reality TV content geared toward adolescent viewers. For example, The Relation Between Drinking, Smoking, and Sexual despite the enormous popularity of MTV reality program- Behavior ming with teen audiences (Parents Television Council, While most media research focuses on the portrayal or the 2011; Viacom, 2010), previous research has not yet analyzed effect of a single category of risk behavior (e.g., substance this content for drinking, smoking, and sexual behavior. In use or sexual behavior), public health research has shown addition, prior studies have relied on either one specific various risk behaviors occur concurrently (Anderson & program (Blair et al., 2005), one type of reality TV such as Mueller, 2008; Bleakley, Romer, & Jamieson, 2014; Leigh a dating show (Ferris et al., 2007), or one form of risk beha- & Stall, 1993; Poulin & Graham, 2001). In other words, vior such as sexual activity (Kunkel et al., 2005, 2007), none adolescents who participate in one type of risk activity are of which were selected because of their popularity with likely to engage in other types of risk activity as well. young audiences. Therefore, an analysis is needed that Research has shown that alcohol consumption is positively specifically addresses content popular with adolescent audi- associated with sexual activity among young adults (Cho ences as well as accounts for multiple forms of risk behavior. & Span, 2010; Goldstein, Barnett, Pedlow, & Murphy, Social cognitive theory suggests individuals who regularly 2007; Wells, Kelly, Golub, Grov, & Parson, 2010). Similarly, watch reality programming may be particularly vulnerable previous scholarship has found a positive relation between to the effects of such content. Social cognitive theory posits not only alcohol consumption and sexual activity, but that individuals learn appropriate attitudes and behaviors alcohol consumption, sexual activity, and smoking as well not only through direct experience, but through observa- (DuRant, Smith, Kreiter, & Krowchuk, 1999; Whitbeck, tional learning as well, and television serves as a common Conger, Simons, & Kao, 1993). One recent study addressed conduit for the observational learning, especially among the connection between media exposure and concurrent risk young viewers (Bandura, 2009). Reality television featuring behavior. The authors found exposure to alcohol consump- mostly young adults and adolescents may be uniquely apt tion and sexual behavior in films may predict similar for the social learning effect. Not only do the programs fea- behaviors in young audience members (O’Hara, Gibbons, ture people who are similar to the audiences in terms of age Li, Gerrard, & Sargent, 2013). Therefore, three research and life stage, but the plots are also supposedly unscripted questions are posited to explore this potential connection and comprised of impromptu interactions between cast in reality television. members who are not professional actors. The enhanced per- ceived reality (Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007), in turn, Research Question 3–1. Is there a significant relation may further reduce the psychological distance between the between cast members’ substance use (alcohol and characters and viewers, leading to more effective social mod- tobacco) and sexual activities? eling and vicarious learning (Christenson & Ivancin, 2006). Research Question 3–2. Are there differences based on It is interesting that studies have shown that the drive to demographic attributes in the relation between cast learn about the self and others, and engaging in comparisons members’ substance use and sexual activities? 1384 M. A. Flynn et al.
Method for that character. This rule enabled an accurate analysis of each character’s progression through the episode, from one Selection of Shows environment to the next (e.g., at home, out to eat, at the This study analyzed the content of MTV reality programs bar=club). The mean score per episode was then calculated popular among young audiences (Levine & Weisman, for each character who engaged risk behavior. 2010; Parents Television Council, 2011). MTV has been the most watched cable network among 12–24-year-old Coding Variables viewers over the past 18 years (Viacom, 2010) and has defined what is young and hip in society today (Marks & Drinking Tannenbaum, 2011). Shows were selected based on whether This was coded for each instance of explicit drinking or not they used the docusoap format, which combines the behavior (e.g., drink in hand), explicit drinking comments drama of traditional soap operas with a documentary style (e.g., mention of consuming alcohol), implicit drinking that follows the seemingly unscripted lives of the cast mem- behavior (e.g., at a bar=club and the character has a drink bers. Unlike reality television programming that focuses on in front of them), and implicit drinking comments (e.g., competition between individuals and groups (e.g., Survivor) character mentions ‘‘getting wasted last night’’). or those focused on specific topics (e.g., Cops, Teen Mom), Smoking the docusoap records the lives of a cast of individuals from An act of smoking comprised actual smoking (e.g., seen with a fly-on-the-wall perspective for dramatic purposes. Docu- a cigarette between lips or fingers, or exhales of smoke) as soaps may be designed to appear unscripted; however, well as talking about smoking cigarettes (e.g., a character researchers have drawn comparisons to traditional soap asking for a cigarette from someone else). operas because what is portrayed is more of a constructed reality rather than true reality (Beck, Hellmueller, & Sexual Behavior Aeschbacher, 2012; Kilborn, 1994). Researchers have specu- Sexual behavior was broken down into four non-exclusive lated that this format may be especially influence young categories: flirting; causal kissing=touching; intimate kissing= audiences’ behavior (Baruh, 2009; Stefanone et al., 2010). touching; and intercourse. Because an intense sexual act (e.g., After an exhaustive search of all MTV=MTV2 docusoaps, intercourse) sometimes accompanied a less intense act (e.g., all programs with two or more seasons were selected for intimate kissing=touching), characters were coded at times analysis. In total, five shows were analyzed: The Real World, for more than one of these four categories during a given scene. Newport Harbor, Laguna Beach, The Hills, and Jersey Shore. First, flirting was defined as playful banter or nonverbal To obtain episodes of the selected shows, a search was signs of attraction (e.g., lingering eye contact, close distance performed via MTV.com, hulu.com, and Netflix.com. There between individuals) between two characters. Second, char- were 299 total episodes available from 2004 to 2011. All acters were coded as engaging in casual kissing=touching seasons were available for each show with the exception of when they began to kiss or touch each other in a manner one season of The Real World. On the basis of the total typically appropriate for display in public (e.g., holding number of shows available, a stratified random sample of hands, rubbing each other’s back, among others). Third, 91 episodes was selected, or approximately 30% of those intimate kissing=touching behavior was coded when charac- available for each show. The sample totaled 47 hr or ters began to engage in highly sexualized kissing and touch- 2,820 min of MTV content, including 30 episodes from The ing. This behavior would most likely be considered Hills, 27 from The Real World, 15 from Jersey Shore,15 inappropriate when displayed in public. Fourth, characters from Laguna Beach, and 4 from Newport Harbor. were coded as having intercourse when explicitly mentioning having sex or when sex was implied by having a scene end as two characters get into bed together after casual or intimate Unit of Analysis kissing=touching. Typically, the next scene would depict the Cast members served as the unit of analysis. Decisions for two characters lying in bed together the next morning. whom to include as cast members were based upon each pro- Gender gram’s cast listing on MTV.com. The programs contained between 4 and 10 cast members, resulting in a total of 622 Each character was coded as either man or woman on the characters analyzed. Some characters appeared in multiple basis of descriptions on the programs’ websites. episodes of the same programs and each appearance was Age coded as a distinct unit. Because the selected shows featured young people almost exclusively, all characters were classified into one of these Unit of Observation for Health Risk Behavior two categories: high school age, or college-age=young adults. Age was determined by each character’s description on the Health risk behaviors were coded for characters during each programs’ websites. scene. A scene was defined individually for each character by their outfit change: whenever a character changed outfits, Race he=she was coded for health risk behaviors. An outfit change Characters’ appearance (e.g., skin color, facial features, hair occurred when a character was observed in an entirely new texture) served as the primary clue when identifying their outfit. Each character’s outfit change constituted a new scene race or ethnicity from the following five categories: White, Risk Behavior on MTV Reality TV 1385
Black, Latino, Asian, and mixed. In addition, other infor- However, only 10.3% of cast members were observed mation revealed during the episode or on the programs’ web- smoking. sites was also considered in the decision. Research Question 1–2. Demographic Attributes of Coding Procedure Characters Who Drink or Smoke Three graduate students served as the coders. First, coders Gender went through an extensive training process by viewing, cod- Results from a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) ing, and discussing episodes of each program not included in showed the gender difference in mean drinking behavior the sample. They then viewed and coded 12 episodes per episode to be significant, F(1, 621) 3.868, p < .05. (approximately 10% of the sample). Intercoder reliability ¼ Men were shown drinking on screen significantly more often scores were obtained for all variables (Krippendorff’s than women were. The mean gender difference between men a ¼ .91 to 1.0). The remaining sample was divided into three and women in smoking was not statistically significant, F(1, equal parts to be coded independently. 621) ¼ 0.042, p > .05 (see Table 2). Results Age One-way ANOVA results demonstrated a significant differ- Demographics ence in mean drinking behavior per episode based upon Out of 622 total characters, there were more women (n ¼ 376, characters’ age, F(1, 621) ¼ 108.279, p < .001. High school 60%) than men (n ¼ 246, 40%). The majority were young age cast members drank alcohol significantly less often than adults (n ¼ 491, 79%), followed by higher school aged charac- young adults. Age was also a significant factor in smoking ters (n ¼ 131, 21%). The gender distributions between groups behavior, F(1, 621) ¼ 16.042, p < .001. No high school age were fairly similar. The characters were predominantly White cast member was portrayed smoking, while young adults (n ¼ 544, 88%), followed by Black (n ¼ 45, 7%), mixed race were depicted smoking on screen. (n ¼ 20, 3%), and Hispanic=Latino (n ¼ 13, 2%). No cast member was coded as Asian. While mean scores were used Race to answer the research questions, frequencies and percentages One-way ANOVA results showed significant differences in of risk behaviors engaged in at least once per episode are mean drinking behavior per episode on the basis of race, featured in Table 1 for the demographic variables. F(3, 621) ¼ 7.802, p < .001. Least significant difference post hoc analysis revealed that White characters (M ¼ 0.99, SD ¼ 1.17) drank significantly less often than did Blacks Research Question 1–1. Frequency of Drinking and Smoking (M ¼ 1.39, SD ¼ 1.54, p < .05), Hispanics=Latinos on Screen (M ¼ 2.01, SD ¼ 1.71, p < .01), and characters of mixed race More cast members were shown while drinking at least once (M ¼ 1.90), SD ¼ 1.52, p < .001). No other significant rela- (n ¼ 396, 64%) than not at all (n ¼ 266, 43%) (See Table 1). tions emerged in the post hoc analysis.
Table 1. Health risk and sexual behaviors, by demographic attribute (N ¼ 622)
Demographic attribute Drinking Smoking Flirting Casual kiss=touch Intimate kiss=touch Intercourse
Gender Men (n ¼ 246) 146 26 84 118 51 19 59.3% 10.6% 34.1% 48.0% 20.7% 7.7% Women (n ¼ 376) 210 38 107 152 49 17 55.9% 10.1% 29.5% 40.4% 13.0% 4.5% Age High school (n ¼ 131) 16 — 48 60 13 — 12.2% 36.7% 45.8% 9.9% College=young adult (n ¼ 491) 340 64 143 210 87 36 69.2% 13.0% 29.1% 42.8% 17.7% 7.3% Race White (n ¼ 544) 303 49 173 244 91 31 55.7% 9.0% 31.8% 44.9% 16.7% 5.7% Black (n ¼ 45) 28 6 9 13 4 2 62.2% 13.3% 20.0% 29.9% 8.9% 4.4% Hispanic=Latino (n ¼ 13) 10 3 3 3 — 1 76.9% 23.1% 23.1% 23.1% 7.7% Mixed race (n ¼ 20) 15 6 6 10 5 2 75% 30% 30% 50% 25% 10% Note. Values shown are instances where each behavior was engaged in at least once per episode. 1386 M. A. Flynn et al.
Table 2. Analysis of variance results for health risk and sexual behaviors, by demographic attribute (N ¼ 622)
Casual Intimate Drinking Smoking Flirting kiss=touch kiss=touch Intercourse Demographic attributes M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Gender Men (n ¼ 246) 1.19 (1.38) 0.15 (0.51) 0.59 (0.98) 0.87 (1.16) 0.33 (0.75) 0.09 (0.34) Women (n ¼ 376) 0.99 (1.14) 0.15 (0.47) 0.45 (0.82) 0.65 (0.96) 0.18 (0.56) 0.05 (0.24) Age High school (n ¼ 131) 0.14 (0.39) 0.00 (0.00) 0.60 (0.93) 0.82 (1.15) 0.11 (0.33) 0.00 (0.00) College=young adult (n ¼ 491) 1.31 (1.24) 0.19 (0.54) 0.48 (0.88) 0.71 (1.02) 0.27 (0.70) 0.09 (0.32) Race White (n ¼ 544) 0.96 (1.17) 0.14 (0.49) 0.51 (0.87) 0.75 (1.03) 0.24 (0.62) 0.07 (0.29) Black (n ¼ 45) 1.38 (1.54) 0.16 (0.42) 0.42 (1.14) 0.49 (1.08) 0.11 (0.38) 0.04 (0.21) Hispanic=Latino (n ¼ 13) 2.08 (1.71) 0.23 (0.44) 0.31 (0.63) 0.46 (0.96) 0.00 (0.00) 0.08 (0.28) Mixed race (n ¼ 20) 1.90 (1.52) 0.35 (0.59) 0.60 (1.05) 1.15 (1.42) 0.60 (1.31) 0.10 (0.31) p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.
There were no significant differences in mean smoking having intercourse at all. Age was not a significant factor behavior per episode by characters’ race, F(3, 621) ¼ 1.330, for flirting, F(1, 621) ¼ 2.027, p > .05, or causal kissing= p > .05 (mixed race: M ¼ 0.35, SD ¼ 0.59; Latino: touching, F(1, 621) ¼ 1.214, p > .05. M ¼ 0.23, SD ¼ 0.44; Black: M ¼ 0.16, SD ¼ 0.42; White: M ¼ 0.14, SD ¼ 0.49). Race One-way ANOVAs were conducted for race and the mean Research Question 2–1. Frequency of Sexual Activities on sexual activities per episode. Significant race=ethnicity-based Screen differences emerged for intimate kissing=touching, F(3, 621) ¼ 3.356, p < .05. Least significant difference post hoc tests Casual kissing=touching was the most common sexual revealed that mixed-race characters (M ¼ 0.60, SD ¼ 1.31) activity with 270 (43.4%) characters participating at least engaged in intimate kissing=touching significantly more often once on screen, followed by flirting (N ¼ 191, 30.7%), inti- than did Whites (M ¼ 0.24, SD ¼ 0.62, p < .05), Blacks mate kissing=touching (N ¼ 100, 16.1%), and intercourse (M ¼ 0.11, SD ¼ 0.38, p < .01), and Hispanics=Latinos (N ¼ 36, 5.7%). (M ¼ 0.0, SD ¼ 0.0, p < .01). There were no significant differ- ences for race and flirting, F(1, 621) ¼ .432, p > .05, causal Research Question 2–2. Demographic Attributes of kissing=touching, F(3, 621) ¼ 2.198, p > .05, or intercourse, Characters Who Engaged in Sexual Activities F(1, 621) ¼ .187, p > .05. Gender Results from a one-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant Research Question 3–1. Smoking, Drinking, and Sexual gender difference in mean flirting per episode, F(1, Activities 621) ¼ 4.063, p < .05. Men flirted significantly more than To answer Research Question 3–1, Pearson’s women. Mean causal kissing=touching also differed by gen- product-moment correlations were conducted between der, F(1, 621) ¼ 6.824, p < .01. Men engaged in causal smoking, drinking, and sexual activities. Drinking behavior kissing=touching significantly more than women. A signifi- was positively related to all forms of sexual activity, which cant gender difference emerged for intimate kissing=touch- included flirting (r ¼ 0.23, p < .001), casual kissing=touching ing as well, F(1, 621) 7.336, p < .01. Once again, men ¼ (r ¼ 0.22, p < .001), intimate kissing=touching (r ¼ 0.31, were shown engaging in intimate kissing=touching more p < .001), and intercourse (r ¼ 0.16, p < .001). Smoking was frequently than women were. The occurrence of intercourse significantly linked to intimate kissing=touching (r ¼ 0.22, was not statistically different between men and women, p < .001). Smoking and drinking were also positively however, F(1, 621) 3.334, p > .05. ¼ correlated (r ¼ 0.30, p < .001). Age One-way ANOVA results demonstrated significant differ- Research Question 3–2. Demographic Differences in the ences in intimate kissing=touching on the basis of cast mem- Relation Between Smoking, Drinking, and Sexual Activities bers’ age group, F(1, 621) ¼ 7.177, p < .01. Young adult cast members engaged in intimate kissing=touching more often To answer Research Question 3–2, a series of factorial than high school age cast members. Age was also a signifi- ANOVAs were conducted. Both drinking and smoking were cant factor for intercourse, F(1, 621) ¼ 9.307, p < .01. Young converted into dichotomous variables with ‘‘0’’ representing adult cast members had more sexual intercourse than did no instances of the behavior and ‘‘1’’ representing one or cast members of high school age, who were not observed more instances of the behavior. Risk Behavior on MTV Reality TV 1387
Gender and dichotomized drinking were entered as inde- First, men were depicted drinking and, contrary to pendent variables and the four sexual behaviors were entered previous analyses, engaging in three out of four sexual activi- individually as dependent variables for a total of four fac- ties significantly more than woman. These results stand in torial ANOVAs. Additional factorial ANOVAs were con- stark contrast to previous research finding that women tend ducted for sexual behavior with different sets of to be portrayed as the more sexual gender in terms of objec- independent variables: gender and smoking, age and drink- tification and sexual activities in other media (Ferguson, ing, age and smoking, race and drinking, and race and Kreshel, & Tinkham, 1990; Lin, 1997; 1998; Stankiewicz & smoking. In each model, an interaction term was introduced Rosselli, 2008; Vincent, Davis, & Boruszkowski, 1987). How- to detect any potential interaction effect. Of the 20 tests con- ever, the previous research has largely focused on advertise- ducted, only one significant interaction effect emerged. Men ments or scripted content. MTV docusoaps, then, may who smoked (M ¼ 0.92, SD ¼ 1.16) were significantly more present an alternative image of women and men in relation likely to engage in intimate kissing=touching than men to sexuality and the prevalence of sexual activity, with men who did not smoke (M ¼ 0.25, SD ¼ 0.65); no such diver- being portrayed as more sexualized than women. However, gence was found between women who smoked (M ¼ 0.47, the gender disparity in sexual behavior revealed an interesting SD ¼ 0.83) and who did not (M ¼ 0.15, SD ¼ 0.51), F(1, nuance. The gender differences were possible because the sex- 621) ¼ 4.29, p < .05. No other significant interactions ual encounters often involved a male regular cast member emerged for demographic attributes and sexual activities and a woman non–cast member. In other words, many of when accounting for gender. the sexual acts depicted in the reality shows were carried out in male-focused relationships in which the woman was Discussion easily replaceable. The male cast members would then often- times discuss their sexual exploits during personal confes- This study attempted to fill a gap in the literature by exam- sionals and=or with other cast members. So, even though ining risk behaviors in reality television especially popular men may have been coded more often for sexual behavior, among adolescent viewers. With close to two thirds of cast scenarios such as these may actually support previous members drinking at least once per episode, many smoking research that found women are more often represented as sex- cigarettes, and their frequent engagement in sexual activities, ual objects than men (Lin, 1998). However, a more rigorous risk behaviors were commonly depicted on MTV docusoaps. look into the gender disparity of sexual behavior would be While the overall prominence of risk behaviors echoed past necessary to fully support this interpretation. research of traditional television content (Diener, 1993; Second, the inclusion of age in this study addressed a Kunkel et al., 2005), connections between risk behaviors shortcoming of previous research. Prior health risk behavior found here also mirrored past research of behavior off studies have analyzed comparable content (e.g., sexual screen. American adolescents who engage in one type of risk depictions) on primetime reality television, but they seldom behavior are more likely to engage in other risk behaviors as address the age of cast members (Vandenbosch & well (Guo et al., 2002; Khan, Berger, Wells, & Cleland, Eggermont, 2011). The findings here demonstrated a pro- 2012). Moreover, as previous research has suggested, the gression of drinking, smoking, and sexual activity on the direction of influence may be such that greater exposure to basis of cast members’ age. Although perhaps unlikely, if risk behaviors on television enhance the potential combi- teens are exclusively identifying with their same-age peers nation of behaviors by decreasing perceptions of negative on screen, young MTV reality show cast members represent health-related consequences (Fischer, Guter, & Frey, 2008). relatively innocuous models as they are portrayed as less In addition, the significant results between demographic prone to drink, smoke, and participate in sexual activity characteristics and risk behaviors add another dimension than older cast members. However, teens desiring to be like to the analysis from the social cognitive theory perspective. older cast members, most of whom routinely engaged in risk Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2009) suggests that tele- behaviors, may be more susceptible to the negative influ- vision viewers tend to model the behavior of similar and ences of the media exposure found in previous research desired others. By providing analysis of the gender, age, (O’Hara et al., 2013). and race of characters who engaged in risk behaviors, this The high percentage of high school–age characters who analysis also helped to identify characters who may serve were shown to engage in flirting and casual kiss=touch as super peers for adolescent viewers. Super peers, also may normalize such behaviors for young viewers. Also, the labeled substitute peers (Brown et al., 2005) can be described rapid progression in the intensity of sexual activities from as media peers with the ability to influence behavior in teen to young adult cast members may raise adolescent view- younger viewers, especially when viewers or their off screen ers’ expectations regarding their own sexual behaviors as peers have yet to experience the behavior (Strasburger, they grow older. This finding is in line with the U.S. trends Wilson, & Jordan, 2013). Research has suggested that ado- for sexual behavior. For example, 42% of younger (15– lescents are especially vulnerable to the effects of risk beha- 17-year-old) teens in the United States have had intercourse, vior programming, because their real-life knowledge is compared with about 84% of older (18–19-year-old) teens rather inadequate (Fisher et al., 2004). Thus, the findings (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). related to demographic characteristics and risk behaviors Third, race was found to be an important factor. provide further insight into the behaviors teen audiences Although White cast members were the overwhelming are likely to see, and potentially model off screen. majority of regular characters, they were found to drink 1388 M. A. Flynn et al. alcohol significantly less frequently than other cast members. prototype=willingness model (Gerrard, Gibbons, Houlihan, The small minority of Black, Hispanic=Latino, and mixed Stock, & Pomery, 2008; Gibbons & Gerrard, 1995), found race cast members were shown drinking alcohol dispropor- that adolescents’ participation in risk behaviors were greater tionately more often than were Whites. However, recent in those who commonly engaged in social comparison. research of American teens between the ages of 12–17 show Reality television cast members may serve as potential proto- that Black teens consume alcohol significantly less than do types of young viewers’ perceived in groups, thus increasing White, mixed race, and Hispanic=Latino teens (Wu, Woody, the potential for social comparison. Quantitative examination Yang, Pan, & Blazer, 2011). Previous research found that from this complementary theoretical perspective may provide the perception of peers’ risk behavior is a strong predictor additional insight into the research topic. Future research of engaging in risk behavior and suggested that media con- should consider additional survey and experimental tribute to defining these perceptions (Brown et al, 2006). approaches to study this issue. Such research will help to Therefore, it is possible that regular viewers who identify assess the effect of reality television portrayals of risk behavior with minority cast members on MTV reality television, on teen viewers’ perceptions and behaviors. especially Black cast members, may develop skewed percep- tions of their peers’ risk behavior norms. Additional research would be needed to support this assertion. References Although the results are noteworthy, this study has sev- Anderson, J. E., & Mueller, T. E. (2008). Trends in sexual risk behavior eral limitations. First, this analysis targeted programming and unprotected sex among high school students, 1991–2005: The on one cable channel: MTV. MTV docusoap programming role of substance use. Journal of School Health, 78, 575–580. may be different from other reality content that appeals to Bahk, C. (2001). Perceived realism and role attractiveness in movie youth. 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