Kardashians ‘bad for wellbeing’
We have always tried to keep up with the Joneses, but keeping up with the Kardashians is a new phenomenon, and evidence is mounting it can be a damaging one.
Whether it’s depressed viewers who have compared their lifestyle to the wealth-flaunting stars, or lowered self-esteem, academics in New Zealand are finding more and more reason for people to avoid reality shows like the Real Housewives of Auckland.
Discovering the harmful effects of reality television was never a goal for Motu senior fellow Arthur Grimes when he was awarded a prestigious Marsden Grant to research how comparing earnings affected wellbeing.
His findings backed up a generally accepted principle in psychology that it was not how much a person earned but how their earnings compared to their peers’ which had the greatest effect on their happiness.
Grimes’ research went further, it revealed the phenomenon extended to what a person saw on screen.
What this means for the viewer, he said, was they felt poorer for comparing themselves to affluent reality stars.
According to Auckland University senior professor Danny Osborne, the damaging effects went even further for those who indulge in this growing and ‘‘dangerous’’ form of escapism.
‘‘By looking at the Kardashians’ house, they think ‘maybe one day I’ll be able to attain that’. It actually undermines your group’s interests and further perpetuates inequality.’’
Osborne said viewers were led to the false belief that the wealth displayed on-screen was obtainable, despite all evidence showing it was not.
‘‘The cards are very much stacked against most of us,’’ Osborne said.
Osborne said research showed the more people adopted this false belief the less supportive they were of tax policies and political movements that would benefit them.
Wellingtonian 24-year-old and self-professed reality television junkie Sarah King disagrees with Osborne and Grimes.
From Jersey Shore to Keeping Up with the Kardashians, there are few reality shows King doesn’t watch.
She has even considered pulling sickies at work to watch her favourite shows.
Despite admitting to comparing her own lifestyle and wealth to the Kardashians’, King said it gave her something to aspire to, rather than resent.
‘‘It’s not so much comparing your life to theirs but almost feeling like you can relate to them, and get almost some kind of connection towards the TV personalities – like Charlotte off Geordie Shore, every time she would get heartbroken from Garry.’’
When it comes to the Kardashians, it is the large family dynamic that King enjoyed.
King offered a unique point of view, having recently began to wean herself off. Having moved and joined the gym she finds there are not enough hours in the day.
But she said her mental wellbeing had not changed as a result.
‘‘I would like to think that it hasn’t changed me in anyway.’’