Reality television and relational aggression

The relationship between exposure to overtly aggressive television programs and increased levels of aggression in the viewer has been supported in the professional literature and is generally accepted in the scientific community. However, a form of aggression that, for the most part, has been overlooked in these studies is relational aggression. Relational aggression has been defined as a form of aggression during which one harms another through using the relationship itself. Studies have indicated that relational aggression is related to social/psychological maladjustment in children, adolescents, and college students. Missing from the current understanding of relational aggression is whether media portrayals of relational aggression are related to the acceptance and demonstration of such behavior. In particular, it is believed that popular reality TV programs known for containing high levels of relational aggression are especially linked to relationally aggressive behavior in viewers.;The current study investigated the relationship between the reported amount of time college students spent watching reality TV programs compared to their peers and their reported levels of relational aggression in their relationships. Because the research on relational aggression has provided evidence that college students who have low levels of empathy, high levels of social anxiety, and a hostile attribution bias are more likely to be relationally aggressive with peers, these factors were controlled in this study so that the specific contribution of reality TV viewing could be tested. In addition, because self-report measures were used, impression management was controlled in the analysis. The participants in this study were 120 undergraduate students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology courses in a rural western Pennsylvania university.;The results of this research did not support the main hypothesis that college students who reported watching more reality TV would report higher levels of relational aggression. This study did partially support previous research indicating a significant negative relationship between reported levels of empathy and levels of relational aggression in female but not male college students as well as a significant positive relationship between reported levels of social anxiety and levels of relational aggression in female but not male college students.