{"id":16525,"date":"2019-05-21T02:10:05","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T02:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=16525"},"modified":"2019-05-22T05:10:45","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T05:10:45","slug":"what-your-ability-to-engage-with-stories-says-about-your-real-life-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/what-your-ability-to-engage-with-stories-says-about-your-real-life-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"What your ability to engage with stories says about your real-life relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathan Silver<\/a>, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em> and Michael Slater<\/a>, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The best TV shows and films don\u2019t simply distract from the drudgery of everyday life. They\u2019re places to vicariously get to know different people<\/a>, and learn from their relationships and experiences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Media scholars like ourselves have a term for how stories can effect us in these ways \u2013 \u201cboundary expansion<\/a>\u201d \u2013 and every viewer experiences some level of this. <\/p>\n

But some seem more drawn to these fictional characters and their fictional worlds than others.<\/p>\n

In a recent study<\/a>, we wanted to learn more about these types of people. Why do some become absorbed in the tumultuous relationships playing out before their eyes on the screen \u2013 holding their breath during every tense interaction \u2013 while others seem to have a tougher time connecting with the characters and the drama?<\/p>\n

Interestingly, we found that your attachment style \u2013 or your ability to form close relationships in real life \u2013 can play a big role.<\/p>\n

Why some struggle to form close relationships<\/h2>\n

According to attachment theory<\/a>, your experiences with caregivers in childhood tend to influence how you relate to romantic partners later in life. If a caregiver is appropriately nurturing without being too overprotective, you\u2019ll develop secure attachments as an adult. <\/p>\n

But many who grow up with unreliable caregivers will go on to develop insecure attachments in adulthood. Psychologists have parsed insecure attachment styles into three types.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Those who constantly worry about the security of their relationships have an anxious attachment style<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Others steer clear of intimacy altogether, which is an avoidant attachment style<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Then there are those who experience severe anxiety about close relationships and cope with their anxiety through avoidance. This is often called a fearful-avoidant attachment style<\/a>, and these individuals still long for intimacy, but will often sabotage their relationships.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An imaginary refuge<\/h2>\n

    We suspected that, in lieu of forming fulfilling real-life relationships, people with insecure attachment patterns might find refuge in the fictional worlds of television and film. <\/p>\n

    In the study, we administered a survey to 1,039 American adults. Some of the questions assessed their attachment anxiety (\u201cI often worry that my partner doesn\u2019t care as much about me as I do about them\u201d) and avoidant tendencies (\u201cI feel myself pulling away when partner\u2019s get too close\u201d). <\/p>\n

    We also looked at their proclivity to engage in boundary expansion, asking them to respond to statements like \u201cWhen watching television and film, I experience what it\u2019s like to meet people I wouldn\u2019t otherwise meet.\u201d <\/p>\n

    We found a consistent pattern. Those who possessed anxiety about their relationships could more easily engage with stories and were more likely to form imagined relationships with characters. They were better able to vicariously pursue unmet needs through the stories, were more likely to reflect on events from stories and were more likely to report that they had learned something about the real world from watching these stories.<\/p>\n

    However, those who expressed avoidant tendencies seemed unable to engage with and reflect on stories on TV or in movies in the same way. It\u2019s almost as if they shy away from feeling anything, emotionally, from what they watch \u2013 much in the same way they avoid intimacy in real life. <\/p>\n

    The most interesting results were for those who exhibited both anxious and avoidant attachment patterns. These people seemed to have the best ability to engage with the stories and feel something towards the characters. <\/p>\n

    We suspect this may be due to the fact that these fictional stories act as a safe space \u2013 a place to circumvent their anxiety without succumbing to their avoidant tendencies. After all, they must know, deep down, that none of it is real: There aren\u2019t any demands for closeness being made and there\u2019s no relationship to sabotage.<\/p>\n

    Our study shows that fictional stories can act as a refuge and create opportunities for personal growth. <\/p>\n

    We\u2019re not saying that watching more television or movies will automatically improve your life or your relationships. But there\u2019s something certainly to be said about the power stories can wield \u2013 and their ability to help those grappling with real-life attachment issues.\"The<\/p>\n

    Nathan Silver<\/a>, PhD Student in Communication, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em> and Michael Slater<\/a>, Director, School of Communication, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nathan Silver, The Ohio State University and Michael Slater, The Ohio State University The best TV shows and films don\u2019t simply distract from the drudgery of everyday life. They\u2019re places to vicariously get to know different people, and learn from their relationships and experiences. Media scholars like ourselves have a term for how stories can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293],"tags":[6340,335,2034,2144,228,209,4424,536],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16525"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16527,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16525\/revisions\/16527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}