No-one admits to watching them - yet, everyone knows them: Telenovelas. Originated in Latin American countries, the TV format of the Telenovela has made a triumphant procession across the globe, having millions of women (and men) hooked in front of the TV on a daily basis. But despite the fact that even dedicated viewers describe Telenovelas as "trivial and "made for people without lives, the fascination with the format persists. Evolutionary theories of romantic love might explain the success of the format, saysProfessor Dr. Angela Schorr, Media Psychologist at the University of Siegen, Germany. In the book "Changing Media Markets in Europe and Abroad the author gives insight into the psychology of romantic love and explains why the increase in Telenovela consumption might be an indication of peoples need for tranquility and predictability in modern societies.
It has the structure of a fairytale, told from a female protagonists perspective: Good girl loves guy whos out of reach. Good girl suffers from not getting guy. But since true love overcomes all obstacles, good girl gets guy eventually. To make matters complete, good girl marries guy - and presumably they live happily ever after. (The last past we cannot know for sure, since the story has come to an end and we are shut out).
What mainly defines a Telenovela and distinguishes it from other daily TV formats, such as Daily Soaps and Sitcoms, is that the happy ending - the wedding - is guaranteed. Viewers attend the female protagonist on a daily basis, normally through 80-300 episodes, on her way to marital bliss; sharing her inner thoughts and feelings.
Given that the stories are so transparent, how come Telenovelas are such a success?
"The telenovela is built on [
] romantic love, Schorr says. "Romantic love, as modern research on evolutionary psychology has shown, is universal in all cultures. [
] We can assume that the dramatization of romantic love in the Telenovela corresponds with the ideal of social norms existing in most cultures. This does not apply to women exclusively. Men also have their reasons to cherish romantic love as a strategy for mating.
"The evolutionary psychology approach emphasizes sex as the mechanism for reproduction, Schorr explains. "The relative proportion of parental investment, meaning, the time and energy devoted to the care of individual offspring, varies across males and females. For men impregnating as many women as possible is the only means to maximize their reproductive fitness. For women maximization of reproductive fitness can only be achieved if their resources are invested in each of the relatively few children. Thus, different romantic strategies for women and men are shaped by this process. However, romantic love undeniably has historical and cross-cultural significance. Romantic love has facilitated the bonding process between women and men, producing greater certainty of paternity for men and greater confidence in a mans resource commitment for women.
Moreover, studies have shown that mating strategies are influenced by contextual factors: In demanding environmental conditions sociosexual levels decrease and people are more monogamous (Gangestad and Simpson, 2000; Schmitt, 2005). This is explained by the fact that bi-parental care becomes a crucial variable in successfully raising offspring under harsh contextual factors.
Referring to these evolutionary principles, Schorr presumes that the raise in Telenovela consumption might be an indication for peoples need for predictability in modern times.
This is probably how the predetermined happy ending of the Telenovela works with the audience, Schorr argues. "The viewer has the impression that the love story is under control at any time in the development. This should be appealing for viewers who have a strong longing for romantic love but are unable to live it for different reasons.
In the book "Changing Media Markets in Europe and Abroad Schorr goes even further: It is not only the theme of romantic love that resembles evolutionary mating principles, and thus keeps viewers hooked, but also the way in which the story is presented in a Telenovela. Evidence for her reasoning is given, as well as an explanation why women are embarrassed to admit they enjoy such programs and men can hardly ever acknowledge such an "unmanly attitude. LKZ
Changing Media Markets in Europe and Abroad – New Ways of Handling Information and Entertainment Content
Schorr, A.; Seltmann, S. (Eds.)
