Being Really Into TV Romances Makes People a Little Weird About Real-Life Relationships
LatestHaving Nurse Betty-like faith in television romances, according to a particularly cynical new study probably carried out by classicists who want once and for all to defeat their romanticist rivals, will make people less committed to their real-life relationships because, when you really think about it, no real-life relationship will ever be half as fulfilling as what Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski share with each other.
The study, led by Jeremy Osborn of Albion College, surveyed 392 married individuals about their relationship satisfaction, expectations of commitment, and abiding credulity when it came to scripted television romances in which both parties fall in love because their doing so makes for good entertainment. Participants who had a higher belief in TV romances were more likely to consider alternatives such as finding someone with better quips or being blithely single to their current arrangements.