Watching Shows Like “Keep Up With The Kardashians” May Make You A Crappier Person!
You are what you watch!
According to a study published by the London School of Economics and Political Science, people who watch shows that glamorize luxury, and accumulation of wealth-may be terrible people.
The study found that those who are exposed to such reality shows like The Kardashians, and The Apprentice are less sympathetic to those in need.
The study was done using 487 British adults aged 18-49 split into two groups. One group was exposed to 4 commercials for luxury products,
4 tabloid photos of famous celebrities showing off expensive goods, and 4 newspaper headlines of rags to riches stories.
The other group was exposed to neutral stimuli such as commercials about the London underground, images of natural scenery and newspaper headlines about dinosaurs.
Both groups were also asked a series of questions that measured, their attitudes towards wealth and success, government benefits, and impoverished people.
“Results suggest that momentary exposure to and regular consumption of materialistic media messages (MMMs) induces stronger materialism and anti-welfare attitudes,” says Dr Rodolfo Leyva of LSE’s Department of Media and Communications.
The doctor adds;
“The Apprentice, Keeping Up With The Kardashians and X-Factor are replete with MMMs that are engineered to absorb audiences into the glamorous world of wealth and celebrities and thus have a strong potential to function as cultivators of materialistic values and attitudes.
