2. Furthermore, research shows that viewers are less likely to know the occupational status of female characters than the male characters on television. Are you a reality television junkie? With nearly 80 percent of the population watching TV on a given day, and accounting for more than half of all the time Americans spend in leisure and sports, watching TV is the choice leisure activity for many Americans. Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unknown individuals rather than professional actors. Reality television came to prominence in the early 1990s with "Real World" and the early 2000s with the global successes of the series Survivor, Idols, and Big Brother, all of which became global franchises.
Hill highlights an interesting statistic regarding reality TV in the UK by stating that in 2000, 70% of the population (4 – 65+) has gone on record in having watched reality television occasionally or on a regular basis.
Psychologists have found that people who watch reality TV shows, such as Keeping up with the Kardashians (pictured) and Real Housewives, tend to score highly on scales of narcissism. In many reality TV shows such as MTV’s "The Real World" or CBS's "Survivor" people are brought in and audition for spots on the shows. Others have posited that the desire to watch reality TV stems from fantasies about easily acquiring fame. Research (PDF) (4.4 MB) by the Girl Scout Research Institute shows that girls who regularly watch reality TV tend to be more focused on physical appearance: 72% of regular viewers said they spend a lot of time on their appearance, compared with 42% of non-viewers 3. We watch reality TV to see how people will react to the situations posed to them. The surprising origins of reality TV It's about as far from the Kardashians as you can get. The United States has similar reality TV statistics. The main reason given for watching reality TV by U.S. adults was that respondents liked the drama, with 28 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds citing this as the primary appeal of the genre. While this has been steadily moving more towards the … So people are now roughly 23% more likely to not watch any reality TV. The answers are below. Reality TV isn’t only popular for Americans, but all over the world. Today’s reality shows featuring celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are far from realistic. We are inundated with a range of reality TV options. Reality television gives us a way to look into the lives of “normal people”, allowing for access into their daily activities — access we’re not typically privy to. The statistic shows data on the popularity of reality TV genres in the United States as of September 2016, by age. The stats say it all. Super fans: Among those who watch more than five hours each week, view…