UCLA survey finds most teens reject glamorized lifestyles in entertainment media

Key takeaways:Changing aspirations. Few Gen Zers want to watch shows about glamorized lifestyles.Real-world issues matter. Teens prefer content that deals with family dynamics or social justice.Postive storytelling, please. They want to see more hopeful, uplifting stories about people.Not that long ago, teens binged on aspirational content, where the kinds of lives portrayed in “Gossip Girl” were what they wanted on their screens. But according to a recent study conducted by UCLA’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers, teens today resoundingly reject those kinds of stories. Only 4.4% in a survey of 662 diverse teens said they wanted to see this kind of content, which the researchers labeled “aspirational.” Generation Z, born from about 1997 to 2012, wants to watch content that grapples with real-world issues (21%), such as family dynamics or social justice. When asked to cast their own characters, a majority of teens lean toward wanting a black male hero (23.6%) and a white male villain (34.9%). But they also want fun, escapist content (37.8%) , and one of the most popular topics they would like to see is hopeful, uplifting stories. “Hollywood has built its young adult content on the belief that teens want to see glamorous lifestyles and rich and famous characters, but our research suggests the opposite is true,” said psychologist Yalda Uhls, director of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers. “The majority of responden ts in our study feel isolated ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news