I wasn’t sure how to take it when my editor sent me the link to a Variety story with the headline "Studies: TV pushes away loneliness," the subhead "Viewers have illusion their social needs are being met," and the note, "Can you do something with this?" But he assures me it wasn’t a comment on my personal life (or lack thereof) but on my "uncanny knack for making those kinds of stories into relatable PopWatch items." Right.
So according to four new studies reported in the Journalof Experimental Social Psychology, and distilled by Variety‘s James Hibberd, viewers can experience a profound sense of belonging, a "social surrogacy," when watching their favorite programs. Subjects reported feeling "less lonely" when viewing the shows. They "verbally expressed fewer feelings of loneliness" after writing about the shows. Even just thinking about the shows "buffered subjects against drops in self-esteem, increasesin negative mood and feelings of rejection."
All that is normal, right? TV is supposed to be an escape. If you’re not thinking about yourself for an hour, it would make sense that your self-esteem isn’t going to drop. It’s also supposed to engage you. What’s the point of watching a show every week if you’re not going to get to know the characters well enough that you can call out the writers when they have them do something that they never would have done? I suppose the finding that "subjects whose ‘belongingnessneeds were aroused’ wrote longer essays about their favored TVprograms" is a little worrisome. Maybe I want to belong at the Jeffersonian and that’s why my Bones recaps are always twice as long as they need to be for a PopWatch recap. That could also explain why I used the "we" in my lengthy Brothers & Sisters recap yesterday — as in, Kitty and I were both having an emotional affair on Robert — and talked about going to Happy Hour with Kitty, Kevin, and Sarah. Now that I’m thinking about it, I also recall imagining myself in bed with Richard Castle and his daughter, Alexis, watching TV, and eating ice cream for breakfast in an item about Nathan Fillion’s new show. And didn’t I once do a Valentine’s Day-themed post about which TV character I’d date? (I was going to end with the question ‘When does your TV officially become a surrogate?’ but then I remembered how I recently named my DVR "Peter" and spent, like, 15 minutes during a morning commute pondering whether or not he was gay, and I got my answer.)
Let’s all pretend that our relationship with "our shows" is healthy for a moment, and that we’ve never missed out on a real-life experience to stay in and watch one of them (The PopWatch Confessional that started it all!). Which show is your social surrogate and what needs do its characters fulfill?
You know, I don’t have one currently airing. I got my nickname from “Band of Brothers”, but that hardly counts, being a miniseries from way back in 2001. “Heroes” nearly got me, “Kings” started to, but we know how those turned out. Never gotten into any of the other shows, either critically acclaimed, cult faves, or ratings monsters. My “social surrogate” shows are probably still Frasier and Friends, and neither to the point of writing about them. Although now that it’s baseball season I’m very entrenched in my team’s game broadcasts…
The characters on HIMYM. That’s my group of friends in my head — seriously, if my friends weren’t all married or busy, I’d still have a crew that met up at a bar nearby (I even live on the UWS like Ted)….I hope. But in HIMYM land, you can be in your 30s or married or career-oriented and still have a group of friends and loads of spare time. (Also, I got into the show when I was COMPLETELY isolated in the mountains for 6 months and it was like being back home with friends.) It may sound pathetic, but if you don’t have a choice, it sure does keep you company.
“In Treatment” is my surrogate.
but “Veronica Mars” makes for an awfully tempting mistress.
Oh Mandi. You crack me up. I just want you to know I LOVE your PopWatches because you always write what I am thinking. The show that I am way-too-emotionally-involved-with is One Tree Hill. Can’t explain it- just love it. I really feel as though the characters are my friends and I totally get mad when they do things against their character (which thankfully isn’t very often). And I am WAY too invested in American Idol. Seriously it’s like a sickness. I can’t help myself!
Makes sense to me…from an early age until now, I have loved the idea of being on a space ship, surrounded by like-minded people (explorers, scientists, and others who search for truth and meaningful experiences), so the different incarnations of Star Trek have been a form of social surrogate for me.
Pushing Daisies WAS… god love Lee Pace. I’d watch that man read the contents of a cereal box… so obviously he was my main tv boyfriend. As for “social” surrogate needs, I’d have to say 30 Rock. My life mirrors Liz Lemon’s a little too well for me not to identify.
“Lost” gives me a reason to live…because I certainly cannot go anywhere until I find out how the series ends and what everything means! (After that, I’ve got about 50 years worth of catch-up reading to do.)
I wonder how the concept of fandom figures in with the “social surrogacy” theory. My first thought when I read the headline was not that people were getting their social needs met through identification with characters, but through identification as part of a fan community. For me, it’s Lost, and part of what’s fantastic about it is to sit down at 9 o’clock on a Wednesday night and realize that millions of people all over the world are doing the exact same thing, and they are every bit an excited and anxious as you are. Okay, I realize that just made me sound like a huge dork, but think about how you felt when you sat down in a crowded theater to watch “The Dark Knight.” Same thing. The sense of community is part of the experience.
For me, it is more about finding common ground with the people around me — I can’t talk to most of my friends about politics or religion because we don’t agree on much, but we CAN discuss Fringe and Lost like uber-geeks.
House, NCIS and Bones have been my longest and deepest obsessions, though Castle, Leverage, Sanctuary, Burn Notice, and Fringe also capture my attention weeknights. I agree to some extent with Laura K., though. I love reading and chatting with other viewers, friends mostly, about each week’s episode. It’s about relating with other people about a shared interest. Then again, I also do a lot of theorizing and plotting of future storylines in my head…
The West Wing got me through the worst period of my life. It was like the one thing that helped me cope because it was so familiar. It’s still my security blanket, which if fine IMO because everyone has to have something. Friday Night Lights is quickly reaching a similar status. It’s like my own personal xanax without the toxic side effects.
Definately Friday Night Lights- that show makes me feel things no other show does and even though I have nothing in common with these characters, being a city kid myself, I still see myself having the same aspirations many of them do. Who doesnt just want to leave the boring squalor of their everyday lives and just be something bigger than what their location can give them. I love that show.
LOST
i can not begin to tell you how many things i miss because LOST is on…
24–SIMPLY THE BEST SHOW ON TV. IT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK FOR MORE. A TRUE ROLLER COASTER RIDE WITH OUT GOING TO A THEME PARK . SAVE TIME AFTER TO CALM DOWN –EVERYONE I KNOW IS ADRENALIZED AFTER WATCHING
Ah, this study should have been done on me! So let’s see… Monday: Chuck, BBT, HIMYM, season 1 Heroes, Castle. Tuesday: Reaper, AI, My Boys. Wednesday: Lost, AI. Thursday: Bones, Ugly Betty, Grey’s, The Office. Friday: Dollhouse. Sunday: Family Guy, B&S. Yep, I lead a very exciting life. I watch all of these after my 4 year old goes to bed, so it can make for a late night sometimes. don’t get me started on past shows. I was way into Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars, and the list could keep going…