FROM LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT TO SOUL MATE: ROMANTIC IDEALS IN POPULAR FILMS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH YOUNG PEOPLE‘S BELIEFS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS BY VERONICA HEFNER DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Speech Communication in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Barbara J. Wilson, Chair Associate Professor John P. Caughlin Associate Professor Kristen Harrison Associate Professor Travis L. Dixon ABSTRACT Romantic comedy films have been popular since motion pictures first entered the media world. Scholars have speculated why these movies remain appealing to viewers and have argued for several reasons. These movies might foster hope about real-life romance (Galician, 2004), or demonstrate that that there are no limits to how love may manifest itself (Harvey, 1998). Despite this speculation, few studies have systematically investigated the content of these movies or the effects they may have on viewers. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate that potential. In particular, I conducted two studies that explored the nature of romantic ideals in romantic comedy films and their influence on viewer endorsement of romantic beliefs. The first study was a content analysis of the themes or romantic ideals embedded in romantic comedies. The second study was a survey designed to explore whether exposure to such films encourages the learning of romantic ideals among young people. The theories of uses and gratifications, social cognitive, and cultivation served to inform this project. I first analyzed the content of over 50 top-grossing films from the romantic comedy genre. This process involved identifying the type, nature, and context of romantic ideal expressions that characters in these films make (i.e., idealization of other, soul mate/one & only, love at first sight, love conquers all), as well as the statements that contradict or challenge these ideal themes. In particular, I identified the nature of the source, the type of expression, the nature of the target, and how the expression was reinforced (e.g., rewarded, punished). In addition, the content analysis documented the overarching themes of the movies. The results showed that romantic ideals and challenges are prevalent in romantic comedy films, both as overarching themes and as relational expressions. Whereas ideals are overwhelmingly more common as the takeaway message, challenges were featured twice as ii often as ideals were at the expression level. The characters who expressed these ideals and challenges were predominantly White, adult, and heterosexual, and differed only by sex. In particular, male characters most often expressed ideals, whereas female characters most often expressed challenges. As for the context in which these ideals and challenges were expressed, ideals received mostly rewards in the plotline whereas challenges were most often punished. To investigate the impact of this content, I conducted a survey in which I asked 335 undergraduate students to report on their romantic comedy movie viewing and their beliefs about love and romance. In particular, I asked them the degree to which they endorsed beliefs about romance (i.e., idealization of other, soul mate/one & only, love at first sight, love conquers all). I also asked them how often they watched romantic comedies by giving them a list of 20 films (a subsample from the larger list used in Study 1). For the exposure variable, I weighted the films by the number of ideal expressions found in each film, as documented by Study 1. I then controlled for overall movie viewing and demographic variables, before calculating the predictive power of romantic comedy viewing on endorsement of beliefs. Results demonstrated that romantic comedy exposure significantly predicted endorsement of one of the four ideals— idealization of other. After testing for main effects, I also assessed the potential influence of a series of moderating variables: relational experience, perceived reality, watching in order to learn, perceived similarity, and sex of participant. The results of the analyses involving moderators revealed one significant association. In particular, individuals who watched these films in order to learn reported stronger endorsement of romantic ideal beliefs than did those who watched for other reasons. The implications of these results are discussed. iii Dedicated to my graduate school girls: Sarah Wilson Clabaugh Rivka Daar Nichole Evans Megan Connelly Kosovski Sheila Repeta McDaniel Laura E. Miller Cortney M. Moriarty Tracy Kmetz Murphy I would never have studied this topic if it weren‘t for you and those Wednesday nights… iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A dissertation is the culminating project of a doctoral program of study. Although only my name appears on the cover of this ―paper,‖ a great many individuals have contributed to its creation. The words I offer here can never fully express the immense gratitude I feel towards the people who have helped me succeed. First and foremost, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. During those times when I wanted to quit, He gave me the strength to persevere. During other moments when I didn‘t understand my data or I struggled with writer‘s block, He pulled me through the confusion. I am nothing without my God. The second most important person in this process is a god in the academic world—my advisor, Dr. Barb Wilson. With wisdom and patience, she guided me through the prospectus and dissertation stages and taught me the value of meticulous rigor. She completely transformed my writing; and showed me that revision is not a sign of weakness, but rather a mark of commitment to my craft. At a time in my graduate school career when I felt all might be lost, Barb was the person who believed in me, gave me a second chance, and chose to invest her valuable time in hopes of my success. I owe an inexpressible amount of gratitude to John Caughlin, a committee member and professor that I am proud to call my friend. When I had a statistics problem, JPC helped clear my bewilderment, often responding within just a few days. He was my interpersonal communication expert, and I frequently knocked on his always-open door to pick his brain about literature, methodology, or even professional development. During my graduate tenure, I also shared some personal conversations with John for which I am enormously grateful. Kris Harrison deserves a note of thanks for being a constant source of academic input v throughout my graduate career. Everything I know about data collection, I owe to her tutelage. I am so thankful for her involvement, especially during the beginning stages of this project. Travis Dixon challenged me in delightful ways by forcing me to think critically. After each level in the process, he provided me with detailed notes that helped direct my revisions. Several key components of my dissertation were inspired by or refined based on the input of these two dear committee members, both of whom are giants in the field of media effects. I must thank my parents, Gary and Linda, for instilling into me the value of education and showing me how to teach myself. My mom was a prayer warrior throughout this journey, and deserves a vast amount of thanks for that. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my aunt and uncle, Sheryl and Jeff. As my ―second parents,‖ their support was unmatched. To my siblings—Jeremy, Josh, James, and Tracy—I say thank you for challenging me in ways that extend beyond my profession. You are funny, supportive, and a network I truly value. To my best friend Smalls, thank you for being my prayer warrior, my grad school partner-in-crime, and someone who helped revive my self-esteem during those frequent moments of insecurity. My other grad school friends put up with my mood swings and helped me unwind and relax – thank you CMOR and KDRO for that. I want to thank Mary Strum for copy editing my final draft, and helping with critical steps along the way. I must also thank Margie Salmon, Rhonda Baumgart, Susana Vazquez Weigel, and Amy Holland for providing office assistance all of these years. Thank you to Erin Green, Greta Nudel, Hannah Prince, Katie Kuhn, Ramine Nimrouzi, and Vince Vercelli for coding all of the movies in Study 1. It was a great year and I enjoyed working with all of you. Finally, to Sheesh, what can I say? One way or the other, you motivated me to finish… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: ROMANTIC COMEDIES AS SOCIALIZERS .......................................................1 CHAPTER 2: THE ROMANTIC IDEAL .....................................................................................20 CHAPTER 3: STUDY 1: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ROMANTIC IDEALS IN POPULAR FILMS ................................................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 4: STUDY 2: A SURVEY INVESTIGATING YOUNG PEOPLE‘S BELIEFS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS ..............................................................................................83 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH ...................125 CHAPTER 6: TABLES AND FIGURES ....................................................................................135