A survey has revealed the negative impact of reality television on young adults.

It’s found some teenagers are projecting the tension portrayed on screen, onto their own lives.

Lucy Emlyn-Jones reports.

TRANSCRIPT

The US study interviewed more than a thousand adolescent girls, aged between 11 and 18.

Results suggest teens obsessed with reality TV, are themselves prone to drama, aggression and bullying, and are more likely to measure their own worth according to their physical appearance.

Vox 1: “It creates a lot of sterotypes with Australia’s Next Top Model, the image of perfect beauty.”

Vox 2: “They see girls their own age or girls they want to be like and that affects them quite a bit and they start acting like it.”

Vox 3: “Celebrities like the Kardashians they do sex tapes and girls might think it is cool to do stuff like that or even get plastic surgery.”

Australia adolescents watch television more than any other media and in the past decade have experienced the reality tv phenomenon with shows such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Australia’s Next Top Model and Big Brother gaining wordwide fame and fortune.

But QUT media expert, Susan Hetherington, says reality television is not necessarily the culprit.

Susan Hetherington, QUT Entertainment and Media Expert: “Teenage girls are attracted to reality TV and teenage girls are worried about bullying and aggressive behaviour but to say that one causes the other is a very very big leap of faith.”

And the survey did have a positive result. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said reality TV made them believe they could achieve anything in life.

Lucy Emlyn-Jones QUT News.