Motivation and emotion/Book/2026/Romantic entertainment and love beliefs
Romantic entertainment and love beliefs: How does romantic entertainment influence beliefs and expectations about love and romantic relationships?
[edit | edit source]Overview
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Scenario After long day, Adam and Eve settle onto the couch to watch romantic comedy Pretty Woman. Throughout the film, they are captivated by the unlikely romance, admire the grand gestures of affection and enjoy the story's happy ending. As the credits roll, Eve jokingly says that "Romantic movies make relationships looks so effortless. I wish real life worked like that" |
Although the comment is playful, it raises an important question: How does romantic entertainment influence beliefs and expectations about love and romantic relationships.
As romantic films, television programs, music and media have become increasingly accessible, researchers have questioned whether repeated exposure shapes people's beliefs about how love should develop and how relationships should function.
Since the 1930s, romantic films have consistently been among the most popular genres. Between 1995 and 2010, romantic comedy genre was the sixth highest grossing category of films, generating over $10 billion. The popularity of these films has led some academics to theorise on why such films had a large appeal. Academic Galician (2004) argued that people seek romantic content in the media in order to see relationships work despite all obstacles. Individuals seek out content learn about dating and romance (Hefner & Wilson, 2013).
Reality tv has also flourished in recent decades and is produced to suit almost all demographics. Many people tune in because they perceive contestants and their reactions to be authentic or even relatable. Reality dating and dating competition shows such as The Bachelor and Love Island, isolate their participants and encourage the formation of romantic and platonic relationships in absence of familiar people or surroundings (Beaty, 2021).
This chapter examines how exposure to romantic entertainment may influence and expectations about love and romantic relationships.
Recommended length: 180 to 330 words.
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Focus questions Break the sub-title down into three to five focus questions. Align the top-level headings with these focus questions.
open-ended focus questions.
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What is Love
[edit | edit source]Love is a fundamental aspect of the human experience, one of the most crucial components of intimate relationships. It can be thought as triangle vertex with intimacy, desire and decision/ commitment, the intensity of the three points varies as a function of relationship duration (Sorokowski et al., 2021). Romantic love is a nearly universal phenomenon that contributes to human evolution and happiness. Love in romantic relationships is commonly defined as passionate and erotic love, distinguished from love in other types of relationships (parental and friendship) (Chen, Xia & Dunne, 2024).
Romantic relationships
[edit | edit source]Romantic relationships are a key contributor to overall wellbeing. Forming and maintaining intimate partnerships is an important component of our health and happiness. However there are many factors that affect the likelihood and maintaining a healthy relationship, personality, mental health, beliefs held about relationships.
Romantic ideals / romanticism
[edit | edit source]According to Bell (1975), Knox & Sporakowski (1968); Sprecher & Metts (1989), romantic ideals refer to a broad set of beliefs about the power of love. It outlines what a model relationship should look like, how it should develop, form, function and be maintained. These beliefs represent culturally shared ideas about what a "successful" relationship is rather than expectations b based solely on an individual partner. Research commonly identifies four key themes associated with romantic ideals (Hefner & Wilson, 2013)
- Love finds a way - belief that love can overcome all obstacles
- One and only - belief that we have "soulmates"
- Idealisation - belief that a "true love" will nearly be perfect
- Love at first sight - belief when you meet the right person, you will know
It is important to note that these beliefs about love represent endorsement of romanticism, not feelings for one person. An individual accepts a set of cultural ideas about how love works and holds these views before or apart from any real romance.
Although it may seem intuitive that holding such romanticised and idealistic beliefs would lead to worse relational outcomes, research actually contradicts this conclusion. The evidence suggests that embracing romanticism can have both positive and negative consequences. A positive effect is that these beliefs may facilitate to the development of romantic relationships because romanticism can act as a rose-coloured filter through which people view early relationship experiences (Lippmann et al., 2014).
Romantic entertainment
[edit | edit source]- Romantic films and romantic comedies
- Television drama
- Reality dating and dating competition shows
- Romance novels
- Popular music
- Social media
Studies investigating romantic comedy exposure suggest that romantic entertainment may contribute to the reinforcement of romantic ideals. Hefner and Wilson (2013) found that individuals who watched romantic comedies with the intention of learning about relationships were more likely to endorse romantic beliefs, particularly the idealisation of one's partner. This suggests that the purpose behind media consumption may influence how individuals interpret and apply romantic messages.
Beyond using romantic entertainment as a source of relationship knowledge, individuals may also consume romantic narratives because they become emotionally invested in fictional relationships. van Monsjou and Mar (2019) suggest that engagement with fictional romances may provide an opportunity for individuals to explore romantic experiences, develop understandings of intimacy and reflect on relationship possibilities without directly experiencing them. Therefore, fictional relationships may serve both an entertainment function and a psychological function by allowing audiences to engage with romantic themes and relationship dynamics.
Romantic ideals portrayed in entertainment
[edit | edit source]Discuss things like :
Romantic films / rom coms
- soulmates
- grand gestures
- destiny
- love conquers all
- attractive partners
- conflict resolved quickly
- overcoming obstacles
- happily-ever-after ending
Reality dating shows
- accelerated relationship development
- attraction and compatibility
- dating as entertainment
Romantic music
- love songs reinforce cultural ideas about passion, intimacy and commitment
Psychological mechanisms
[edit | edit source]Social exchange theory (SET)
In every interpersonal relation, a social exchange takes place where-by people tend to balance their emotional investment in the relationship by constantly comparing their current relationship to their perceptions of what they deserve. Rewards - love, companionship, emotional, acts of affection are considered to be what an individual enjoys most in the relationships. Social exchange Theory proposes that people evaluate romantic relationships by comparing perceived rewards with the perceived costs - conflict, compromise or missed alternative relationships. An individual satisfaction with his or her her relationship is influenced by whether the benefits outweigh the costs, as well as how closely the relationship matches the individuals expectations and perceived alternatives.
Within the context of romantic entertainment, SET helps explain how heavy consumption of media may shape perceptions of a romantic relationships.
Romantic scripts and schemas
[edit | edit source]Cultivation theory
[edit | edit source]Social Cognitive Theory
[edit | edit source]Suggests that human behaviour is determined by environmental influences and internal dispositions. Individuals are more likely to imitate models who are similar to themselves.
Positive outcomes
[edit | edit source]Negative outcomes
[edit | edit source]Use this heading structure:
- Overview
- What is love
- 3 to 6 major headings tailored to the topic; can have sub-headings, but:
- avoid having only one sub-heading
- provide an introductory paragraph before breaking into sub-sections
- Conclusion
- See also
- References
- External linksEven Disney princess animated genre could be an important source of influence on young viewers perception of reality more specifically their beliefs regarding romantic relationships. Nearly all Disney princess movies feature a romantic component (Hefner & Kretz, 2021). Following the same beliefs as romantic comedy films.
Key points
[edit | edit source]For the topic development, for each heading and sub-heading:
- Provide at least three bullet-points, including for the Overview and Conclusion
- Include key citations
Figures
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- Use figures to illustrate concepts, add interest, and to serve as examples
- Figures can show photos, diagrams, graphs, video, audio, etc.
- Embed figures throughout the chapter, starting with the scenario in the Overview section
- Caption figures (use Figure #. and explain the relevance of the image to the text)
- Images must be embedded from Wikimedia Commons
- Images can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons if they are openly licensed
- Cite each figure at least once in the main text (e.g., see Figure 2)
Learning features
[edit | edit source]Interactive learning features help to bring book chapters to life and can be embedded throughout the chapter.
- Scenarios
- Scenarios, case studies, or examples describe concepts in action
- Can be real or fictional; if real, provide citations
- Can be split into multiple boxes throughout a chapter (e.g., to illustrate different theories or stages)
- Present using feature boxes
- Feature boxes
- Highlight key content using feature boxes, but don't overuse, otherwise they lose their effect
- Consider using feature boxes for:
- Scenarios, case studies, or examples
- Focus questions
- Tips
- Quiz questions
- Take-home messages
- Embedded links
- When key words are introduced, use interwiki links to:
- Wikipedia articles (e.g., "An early psychological view dreams) of dreams was provided by Sigmund Freud") or
- Related book chapters (e.g., "If you're feeling stuck, check out the chapter about writer's block")
- Tables
- Use to tables to organise and summarise information
- Cite each table at least once in the main text (e.g., see Table 1)
- Tables should be captioned
- More example tables which can be adapted
Table 1
A Descriptive Caption Which Explains The Table Contents and its Relevance to the Text e.g.,
The 2 x 2 Johari Window Model Showing Knowing x Self/Other
| Known to self | Not known to self | |
|---|---|---|
| Known to others | Open area | Blind spot |
| Not known to others | Hidden area | Unknown |
- Quizzes
- Using one or two quiz questions for each main section is better than a long quiz at the end
- Quiz conceptual understanding, rather than trivia. Ask about important information such as take-home messages
- Ask easy rather than hard questions
- Different types of quiz questions are possible; see Quiz
Example simple quiz questions. Choose your answers and click "Submit":
Conclusion
[edit | edit source]- The Conclusion is arguably the most important section
- Draft clear take-home message(s), even at the topic development stage
- Together, the Overview and Conclusion should summarise the problem, its significance, and how psychological science contributes to understanding and addressing it
- Recommended length: 150 to 330 words
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See also
[edit | edit source]Provide internal (wiki) links to the most relevant Wikiversity pages (esp. related motivation and emotion book chapters) and Wikipedia articles. Use sentence casing and alphabetical order. For example:
- Collaborative authoring using wiki (Wikiversity)
- Light triad (Book chapter, 2021)
- Self determination theory (Wikipedia)
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References
[edit | edit source]Beaty, L. S. (2021). It’s Love Island, Not Friend Island”: Authenticity and Surveillance in Reality TV, a Literature Review and Content Analysis “. WWU Honors College Senior Projects 456.
Chen, Y., Xia, M., & Dunne, S. (2024). Romantic Love is Not Only “Romantic”: A Grounded Theory Study on Love in Romantic Relationships. The Journal of Psychology, 158(1), 64–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2024.2305442
Hefner, V., & Kretz, V. E. (2021). Does the Glass Slipper Fit?: Disney Princess Films and Relationship Beliefs and Attitudes. Journal of Media Psychology, 33(3), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000290
Hefner, V., & Wilson, B. J. (2013). From Love at First Sight to Soul Mate: The Influence of Romantic Ideals in Popular Films on Young People’s Beliefs about Relationships. Communication Monographs, 80(2), 150–175. https://doi-org.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/10.1080/03637751.2013.776697
Lippman, J. R., Ward, L. M., & Seabrook, R. C. (2014). Isn’t It Romantic? Differential Associations Between Romantic Screen Media Genres and Romantic Beliefs. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(3), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000034
Sorokowski, P., Sorokowska, A., Groyecka, A., Aavik, T., Akello, G., Alm,C., Amjad, N., Anjum, A., Asao, K., Atama, C. S., Atamtürk Duyar, D., Ayebare, R., Batres, C., Bendixen, M., Bensafia, A., Bizumic, B., Boussena, M., Buss, D. M., Butovskaya, M., … Sternberg, R. J. (2021). Universality of the Triangular Theory of Love: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Triangular Love Scale in 25 Countries. The Journal of Sex Research, 58(1), 106–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2020.1787318
van Monsjou, E., & Mar, R. A. (2019). Interest and Investment in Fictional Romances. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 13(4), 431–449. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000191
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External links
[edit | edit source]Provide external links to highly relevant resources such as podcasts and videos, news articles, and professional sites. Use sentence casing and alphabetical order. For example:
- Six top tips for writing a great essay (University of Melbourne)
- The importance of structure (skillsyouneed.com)
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