How do Adolescents' Perceptions of Television Reality Change over Time?

Abstract

A three-wave panel study across a five-year period finds that middle and high school students change their views of television along three ways of evaluating television: as a “magic window” to reality, as a utility route to information, as an identity source through which one can relate to others as almost real people. With aging, the window view declined, especially among youths of higher status; utility views remained relatively strong among high watchers, as did the identity function. The study concludes that views of television reality are complex and dynamic.