People who watch reality TV are more likely to believe that meanness is beneficial.
The Girl Scout Research Institute gathered data from a thousand teenage girls, about half of whom watched reality TV regularly. Most of them were consciously aware that reality TV engendered bad behavior, but that didn’t make them immune to its effects. Compared to non-viewers, more reality TV viewers believed in being mean to win respect (37%-25%), lying to get what you want (37%-24%) and being liked for outer rather than inner beauty (28%-18%). In their defense, reality TV viewers were also more likely to aspire to leadership (46%-27%).
