Your favorite reality TV program might use its fair share of smoke and mirrors, but the effects of tuning in to it can be quite real. Researchers from Central Michigan University found that watching certain kinds of reality shows can actually lead to greater displays of aggression afterwards.
In the study, people who watched a reality TV show with lots of relational aggression--the backstabbing or gossip found in shows like Jersey Shore or The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills--subjected a test opponent to longer and louder blasts of sound than those who viewed an aggression-free reality show or a violent crime drama.
Watching relational aggression might activate physical aggression more than violence does because it hits closer to home--people are more likely to witness something like relationship manipulation in everyday life than a gruesome stabbing, says study author Bryan Gibson, Ph.D.
This might help draw aggressive memories closer to the surface of your mind. When that happens, they're more easily accessible to guide your actions. Plus, the fact that these shows are real--in theory, anyway--may increase the effect.
"If you really buy into the idea that they are unscripted, that the people are making choices on their own, you may start to view them as more appropriate models for your own actions," says Gibson.
If these underhanded shows are your guilty pleasure, you don't necessarily have to change the channel. Just be aware that your aggression may be stoked after watching, so you may want to avoid scheduling important conversations--where you'd want to be calm and collected--until later on.
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