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Are you among the millions of people who can’t stop watching top television shows like The Walking Dead, Scandal or Homeland? You don’t need to worry, you’re not alone. When it comes to today’s hit TV shows, it turns out there are some good psychological explanations why we’re all so hooked. Recently Time Magazine published a story highlighting the “top five” behind why the planet is literally addicted to good TV.?
Number one: The Cliffhanger
Perhaps the most common strategy producers use to help keep you wanting more. It’s why you or so many of your family and friends are counting down the days until Olivia Pope has returned on air. And why we’re all guessing what will happen to her mom or her relationship with the President-it’s the cliffhanger.
Leading industry experts say TV shows use mini-cliffhangers to ensure that you can’t get enough and returning each season. We all want to determine a great ending, how things all exercise; that’s what constitutes a great book-a really great book. So if a cliffhanger is performed just right, shows may last for numerous seasons after which look for a place in our minds and hearts forever in syndication land.
Number Two: Rapid-fire scenes
Ever thought about why so many shows jump quickly from scene to scene or flash between characters within the same scene? It’s all regulated a part of a producer’s master design to keep you glued towards the television screen, based on psychologist, Robert Kubey. In an interview as time passes, Kubey said rapid-scene changes are so engaging to watch that they cause us to zone out but literally focus towards the show. The next matter you know this is an hour or so later however it doesn’t want to. He explained it’s a flashy tactic that commercials have been doing for a long time. The idea would be to help you stay focused so you don’t look away and miss something. For instance, watching a person have a one-way conversation is not as good at drawing you in, as say switching back and forth between two characters in a?conversation. Based on Kubey, this reaction is known as orienting reflex, which is wired into our biology. It calls for our capability to react to movements around us, like a batter waiting on the ball in the pitcher.
Number Three: Sex
Biology can also be the reason why sex on television gets our attention. Humans are hard-wired to reply to it. Experts say because sex is really a basic means of survival and our way to procreate, many people are not turned-off to watching scenes that imply it’s happening. ?
Number Four: The Controlling Director
Believe it or not there is actual research that shows that the more controlling a director is with show scenes, the more likely you will be to watch the show. The findings from a Princeton research team were recently published in the journal?Projections.
In the study, researchers found that after looking at fMRI images taken of viewer brains who watched clips from?The Good, the Bad and also the Ugly, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Alfred Hitchcock’s?Bang! Bang! You’re Dead,?and an unedited shot of Washington Square Park, a whopping 65 % had more synced brain activity in reaction to Hitchcock’s?show. That’s why every scene in a Hitchcock movie is intentional and planned out-pointing viewers wherever he wants these to focus.
Number Five: Violence
Even though it’s difficult for many to look at, violence is still attractive and addictive when it comes to television shows and films. In fact, a recent study with a team of researchers in the?University of Augsburg, Germany and the University of Wisconsin-Madison?took a closer look at what draws folks to such content. And what they uncovered was quite interesting.
Even though people say they do not typically prefer to watch violence, they’re more available to the idea when the gory scenes have meaning or purpose behind them. In an online statement, one of the study’s lead authors said,? “Depictions of violence that are regarded as meaningful, moving and thought-provoking can foster empathy with victims, admiration for acts of courage and moral beauty when confronted with violence, or self-reflection regarding violent impulses.” There’s other research that also suggests it may be the anticipation, suspense and thrill of violent scenes that draw us in.
So there you have it-the psychology of why television and movies is constantly on the keep us on the edge of our seats. Pass the popcorn please.
