What Your TV Viewing Habits Say About Your Personality
Do you have a favorite TV show or two that you just can’t seem to get enough of and you never miss the latest episode of? If so, then consider yourself among the many, as statistics show that Americans watch, on average, 5.11 hours’ worth of television per day. Statistics also go on to show that 99% of households own at least one TV and 65% of those have three or more sets.
So, here’s the question for you: have you ever stopped and thought about what your TV viewing habits say about your personality? Is there any sort of correlation between the shows you choose to watch and your own personality and interests? The results may just surprise you.
Research and Marketing Teams are Betting on It
Not only do your TV viewing habits say something about your personality but researchers and marketing reps count on it and study it so they know how to appeal to viewers through commercials and ads.
According to Nielson, Americans watch about nine hours’ worth of commercials each week, which is a whole lot of screen time for these marketing teams to reach out to you. They need to base their advertisements based on the channel and type of show that is airing so they are going to reach their target consumer. What this shows is that your TV viewing habits say a lot about you as a person.
What the Different Genres Mean
Studies have looked at personality traits and have been able to match them up to three main genres on the television. Shows were grouped into different genres based on current events programming, reality TV, and comedy shows. From here, some predictions were made that advertisers could use.
Those who watch current events tend to be the conscientious type. They are vigilant, take care to go about things in a proper manner, and are careful. Those who gravitate towards reality TV programming tended to be cooperative, kind, considerate, warm, trustworthy, and sympathetic. Meanwhile, those who picked comedy as their number one choice tended to have a high level of intellectual curiosity, were imaginative, risk takers, and were in touch with their inner feelings.
From this information, it’s fun to start to look at some of the top shows of today and past, to get an idea of who might have been watching them.
The Following season 4 was canceled but look at seasons one to three. Even though this show ended up being axed, it still had a pretty solid viewer base. This show could be considered a crime-drama and tended to draw in viewers that enjoyed testing their own intellect with a mental challenge. This type of viewer would share similar traits to those who watch current events.
A Fun Personality Test
At the very least, it’s fun to look at the various genres and the type of personality traits they attract and see if it holds true for you. You may be more predictable than you think!