Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

Effects of Personality Types on the Use

of Television Genre
Jae Woong Shim and Bryant Paul

This study examined the role of three personality characteristics, Psychoticism,

Extraversion, and Neuroticism (PEN), on viewers’ level of attention to five dif-
ferent genres of television programming: news, soap operas, reality shows, talk
shows, and crime dramas. A survey of 381 college students showed psycho-
ticism to be negatively related to attention to news and reality show program-
ming. There was a positive relationship between extraversion and attention to
reality programming. Finally, neuroticism was positively associated with atten-
tion to all genres assessed. The implications of these findings for future research
are discussed.

According to research investigating the relationship between personality and me-

dia use, various personality traits have been found to predict media use motives, me-
dia content preference, and postmedia exposure behaviors (Hall, 2005; Krcmar &
Kean, 2005; Weaver, 1991, 2003; Weaver, Brosius, & Mundorf, 1993). This line of re-
search is potentially important to both effects researchers and practitioners alike, be-
cause studying the personality characteristics driving the content consumer focuses
on an integral dimension in the media consumption process. It provides content pro-
ducers the potential to design messages that will be more attractive to their desired
audiences, while allowing effects researchers to better understand who is likely to be
drawn to what types of content and with what potential impact.
The uses and gratifications approach has consistently served as a primary theoreti-
cal framework to consider the effects of personality variables on media use (Finn,
1997; Hall, 2005; Krcmar & Kean, 2005; Rubin, 1994). Personality variables, under
the approach, are assumed to play an important role as a filter through which one’s re-
sponses to media are affected, indicating that audience media use might be the out-
come of the degree of fit between their personality types and media content.
A variety of studies have specifically investigated whether personality variables
provide unique explanations for media consumption. Weaver (2003), for example,

Jae Woong Shim (Ph.D., Indiana University) is a research fellow of Journaism and Mass Communication at Ko-
rea University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include the effects of sexually oriented media messages
and the role of individual differences in the media effects process.

Bryant Paul (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara) is an Assistant Professor of Telecommunications at
Indiana University. His research interests include media sexuality and the role of individual difference vari-
ables in the media effects process.

© 2007 Broadcast Education Association Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 51(2), 2007, pp. 287–304

287
288 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

found neuroticism to be strongly related to individuals’ television viewing motives.

Zuckerman and Litle (1986) found that individuals’ levels of sensation seeking and
psychoticism correlated positively with a preference for viewing atypical media
events, such as morbid and sexual events, and that the presence or absence of such
events correlated with the type of film attended by those reporting higher levels of
sensation seeking and psychoticism. A study by Zillmann and Weaver (1997) found
that male participants who were high in psychoticism were more likely to accept vio-
lence as the most preferred solution in a conflict situation than those who were low in
psychoticism. These studies, as well as additional recent research attempting to relate
personality to cognition (e.g., Endler, 2000; Mischel & Shoda, 1998), underscore the
necessity of understanding the impact of personality variables on cognitive aspects of
media use.

Personality and Media Use

Personality research has focused largely on categorizing personality types and their
related traits. There are two important, general assumptions underlying the work of
most scholars who attempt to explain and predict the behavior of individuals based
on personality characteristics. The first is that individuals maintain relatively stable
and consistent personality types. Second, these personality types can be identified
with quantitative measures (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985; Weaver, 2003). Based largely
on these two assumptions, a modest amount of research has been undertaken to ex-
amine whether individual media use varies in relation to personality type (Finn, 1997;
Hall, 2005; Krcmar & Kean, 2005; Weaver, 2000).
One widely considered personality model is Eysenck and Eysenck’s (1985) biologi-
cally based PEN model. This model holds that personality is comprised of three di-
mensions: psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism. Eysenck and Eysenck (1985)
claimed that personality traits are “intervening variables or mediating variables that
are useful in explaining individual differences in behavior to the extent that they are
incorporated into an appropriate theoretical framework” (p. 33).
All individuals fall somewhere (ranging from high to low) on each of the three PEN
factors. For example, a person high in psychoticism shows cruel and sadistic im-
pulses, a lack of empathy and socialization, and general nonconformity with social
norms (Zuckerman & Litle, 1986). Psychotics tend to be aggressive, cold, egocentric,
impersonal, impulsive, antisocial, unempathic, creative, and tough-minded (Eysenck,
1990). The dimension addresses individuals’ tendencies toward egocentricity, sensa-
tion-seeking, socially unacceptable behavior, and autonomy (Weaver, 2000).
Extraversion is comprised of nine sub-elements, including sociable, lively, active, as-
sertive, sensation-seeking, carefree, dominant, surgent, and venturesome (Eysenck,
1990). These characteristics are related to an individual’s level of sociability or social
adaptability, affiliation, and positive self-esteem (Weaver, 2000). Finally, neuroticism
is also comprised of a number of sub-elements, including anxiousness, depression,
guilt, low self-esteem, tenseness, shyness, irrationalness, moodiness, and emotional
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 289

displays (Eysenck, 1990). The dimension of neuroticism deals primarily with individ-
uals’ emotional instability, levels of anxiety, rigidity, and excessive inhibition
(Zuckerman & Litle, 1986).
Based on the above, the primary goal of the present study is to investigate the ef-
fects of the PEN personality types on television genre use (measured in terms of
self-reported attention). By doing so this study is intended to provide a better under-
standing of the relationship between personality types and media use decisions and
behaviors.

Psychoticism and Media Use

A study by Weaver (2003) did not find any significant correlation between
psychoticism and specific television viewing motives, measured using five motives,
such as kill time, companionship, relaxation, information, and stimulation. Perhaps
this is due to the fact that psychotics are likely to seek extreme sensation from media
content regardless of motivations for use (Zuckerman & Litle, 1986).
Several other studies, however, have found a relationship between psychoticism
and consumption of certain types of media content, including content with depic-
tions of sex and violence. Zillmann and Weaver (1997) found that male respon-
dents with higher levels of psychoticism were significantly more inclined to accept
and enjoy programming featuring violence as a means of conflict resolution. A
study by Weaver et al. (1993) suggested that “psychotics prefer media content in-
volving deviant and nonconforming themes that also result in a physically
stimulating experience” (p. 308).

Extraversion and Media Use

Research has shown that extraverts tend not to spend their time on mediated com-
munication, in that they prefer interactivity with others. Extraverts are more likely to
choose non-mediated social activities than mediated communication such as televi-
sion viewing (Argyle & Lu, 1990). Similarly, individuals high in extraversion prefer
non-mediated activities, such as participating in parties, to mass media use (Finn,
1997). Observing the weak relations between extraversion and mass media use,
Weaver (2003) argued that “those in the extravert group are those who most strongly
rejected the notion that television can serve as an adequate substitute for interper-
sonal interactions” (p. 1434).
However, some researchers have found a positive relationship between
extraversion and media use. For example, Nias (1977) found that extraversion was as-
sociated with social entertainments such as talking to friends and drinking, as well as
the interest in watching films, including adventure and romantic films, on television.
Weaver (1991) also found that those with higher levels of extraversion preferred com-
edy movies more than those with lower or intermediate levels of extraversion. Re-
290 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

cently, Hall (2005) showed that extraverts preferred watching in-home movies and
listening to urban, jazz-classical, and pop-rock music.

Neuroticism and Media Use

Some researchers have argued that there is no or only a weak association between
neuroticism and mass media exposure. Finn (1997) found that individuals high in
neuroticism depended heavily on non-mediated communication (e.g., conversation),
rather than media use. In fact, they made special efforts to avoid television content
that might stimulate their anxious and emotional tendencies (Weaver, Walker,
McCord, & Bellamy, 1996). In other words, neurotics are not willing to use media that
might upset them. Several researchers have suggested that neurotics who are de-
pressed are cognitively inclined to process negative information better (Beck, 1967)
and pay greater attention to negative-content stimuli (Gotlib & McCabe, 1992; Rogers
& Revelle, 1998).
Other studies, however, assert that neuroticism predicts a propensity to favor cer-
tain media use. Singer (1980) argued that one’s neurotic personality generated the
necessary motivations for consuming mass media as a form of escape or distraction.
One’s feeling of loneliness was positively associated with television use (Canary &
Spitzberg, 1993). According to the research, those experiencing chronic loneliness
were less likely to consume television content than those who had situational loneli-
ness, which referred to short-term loneliness due to recent circumstance. Addi-
tionally, Zillmann and Bryant (1994) found that those who were high in bad mood,
one of the characteristics of neuroticism, preferred entertainment programming to
news programming to balance their mood.

Predicting Television Genre Attention

and PEN Personality

Surprisingly little attention has been paid to relating PEN personality types with at-
tention to television genres. The television genre is one of the most common concepts
underlying measures used in previous research assessing consumption of, or prefer-
ence for, television programming (e.g., Hawkins et al., 2001; Weaver, 1991). It is a
systematic categorization of various television programs, based on the formulas and
characteristics that a group of programs share (Rose, 1992; Sayre & King, 2003). The
current study focuses on television genres that seem to be relevant to literature on the
relationships between personality types and media use: news, soap operas, reality
shows, talk shows, and crime dramas.
Hawkins et al. (2001) found positive, moderate correlations between genre prefer-
ence and attention paid to specific television genres, such that people paid more at-
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 291

tention to television genres they reported preferring. Based on this, specific predic-
tions are proposed about the relationship between PEN personality dimensions and
self-reported audience attention to five specific television genres.

News and PEN

The news genre includes network news (e.g., ABC, CBS, NBC), local news (e.g.,
Eyewitness News), programming on 24 hour news channels (e.g., CNN, MSNBC),
and news magazines (e.g., 60 Minutes, Frontline). Perse and Rubin (1990) argued
that people tuned in to television news in order to seek information to use person-
ally or in discussions, to seek thrilling amusement, or to pass the time when there
was nothing else to do or no one else with whom to talk. Research has also focused
on the relationship between depression and motivations for television news use
(Perse & Rubin, 1990; Potts & Sanchez, 1994). Potts and Sanchez (1994) found that
although individuals experiencing greater levels of depression were more likely to
consume television that allowed them to experience psychological escape (particu-
larly from their own depressive moods), these individuals tended to experience un-
pleasant emotions when watching television news. In fact, Perse and Rubin (1990)
noted that the only motivation expressed by chronically lonely people for watching
television news was simply a need to fill idle time. In other words, depressed indi-
viduals seem to only watch television news when there is nothing better on. Re-
search therefore suggests that depression and chronic loneliness may not be associ-
ated with television news genre use because exposure to such content is likely to
result in an emotionally negative experience for such viewers. Given that depres-
sion and loneliness are typical characteristics of people higher in neuroticism, it is
likely that, relative to those high in neuroticism, individuals lower in neuroticism
will attend to television news more.
Relatively little is known about the relationship between either extraversion or
psychoticism and television news use. It seems, however, that those higher in
extraversion are more likely to pay attention to television news than those lower in
extraversion. That is because those higher in extraversion will be more motivated to
use television news either to be better informed about the social world of which they
are an active and willing participant, and/or to gather information on recent events for
use in subsequent social discussions or talks with others. Higher levels of
psychoticism were found to be associated with lower levels of interest and concern
with social events and with whether or not members of a society are abiding by soci-
etal rules (Eysenck, 1990; McCrosky, Heisel, & Richmond, 2001; Weaver, 2000). It is
hypothesized, therefore, that this lack of interest in the social goings-on of society and
the general lack of regard for social conventions expressed by those high in
psychoticism will result in such individuals expressing less attention to television
news than those who are lower in psychoticism.
292 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

Soap Operas and PEN

Soap operas can be defined as “a continuing fictional dramatic television program,

presented in multiple serial installments each week, through a narrative composed of
interlocking story lines that focus on the relationships within a specific community of
characters” (Mumford, 1995, p. 18). Based upon such definition of soap operas as a
genre, scholarly attention has been focused on identifying motivations for viewing
soap operas for decades. Rubin (1985) for example, found several motivations for
soap opera viewing. First, viewers obtained a sense of reality by tracking and sharing
every mood or thought of soap opera characters. In addition, soap operas allowed
viewers to escape boredom and tensions (avoidance) and be entertained (diversion).
Finally, soap opera viewers sought a vicarious opportunity to interact with others (so-
cial utilities). Other researchers suggested soap opera viewing also provided some-
thing to do in order to pass idle time, as a voyeuristic outlet, and as a source from
which to gather social information (Babrow, 1987; Livingstone, 1988; Perse & Rubin,
1990). The tendency among those high in traits associated with greater levels of
neuroticism to try to escape from negative moods has also been considered in relation
to a preference for soap operas. For example, Dittmar (1994) found that depressed
persons watched more daytime and nighttime soap operas than nondepressed per-
sons. Further, Perse and Rubin (1990) found that those who reported experiencing
chronic loneliness were more likely to use soap operas to pass idle time. Thus it seems
that individuals who express higher levels of neuroticism will attend to soap operas
more, relative to those lower in neuroticism.
It is less clear how extraversion and psychoticism will be related to soap opera at-
tention, however. Weaver (1991) suggested that those higher in extraversion would
be the least likely personality type to prefer watching television dramas. This may be
due to the fact that such individuals are less likely to seek escapism through media ex-
posure and more likely to seek out actual social contact. Individuals with lower levels
of psychoticism seem more likely to pay attention to less deviant media content such
as soap operas than those with higher levels of psychoticism. This prediction is based
on the idea that those with higher levels of psychoticism will not find soap operas
stimulating enough to warrant attention.

Reality Programming and PEN

Noting the feature of liveness in the reality genre, Lunt (2004) described the genre
as “an emerging genre based on the display of live, real-time, relatively uncon-
strained, apparently spontaneous social interaction” (p. 329). This genre includes
games shows (e.g., Survivor, Fear Factor), dating shows (e.g., The Bachelor), and tal-
ent shows (e.g., American Idol) (Frisby, 2004), as well as voyeuristic slice-of-life
shows (e.g., The Real World). Sayre and King (2003) said that the current popularity of
reality programs on television stemmed from its ability to provide a sense of spontane-
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 293

ity, voyeurism, information, and catharsis. It is also unpredictable in the sense that no-
body knows what will happen next. This unpredictability, it is argued, makes the
genre more entertaining (Sayre & King, 2003). Reiss and Wiltz (2004) found that
heavy reality genre users more likely felt that they were superior to others. They also
found that more sociable persons preferred watching the reality genre to get a topic of
discussion with others than those who were less sociable. Reiss and Wiltz’s finding
implies that those higher in extraversion will be more likely to attend to reality pro-
gramming than those lower in extraversion. In addition, the unpredictability of reality
programming might trigger those higher in psychoticism’s motivation to tune in to
such content, as they tend to have less tolerance to regularity and boredom than those
lower in psychoticism (Eysenck & Nias, 1978). Higher levels of neuroticism also seem
likely to be associated with attention to reality programming because this genre is
well suited to serving as a substitute for the direct social relations with others often
lacking in the lives of neurotics.

Talk Shows and PEN

The talk show genre varies widely in terms of their topics discussed, styles, and
characters. This genre includes daytime talk shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show
and Dr. Phil, and late-night talk shows such as the Late Show with David Letterman
and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Haarman (2001) proposed three types of day-
time talk shows—the audience discussion show, the issue-oriented talk show, and the
trash talk show. Timberg and Erler (2002) proposed news talk, entertainment talk, and
socially situated talk.
Research has been conducted however, based on the talk show as a more general
genre. The talk show as a genre features a format where a host interviews celebrity
guests and others. Timberg and Erler (2002) argued that “the television talk show has
been host-centered and defined, forged in the present tense, spontaneous but highly
structured, churned out within the strict formulas and measured segments of costly net-
work time, and designed to air topics appealing to widest possible audience” (p. 5–6).
Rose (1992) pointed out that “the talk show combines some of the principal qualities
of other successful dramatic forms—the emotional intimacy of melodrama, the spright-
liness of comedy, for instance—while offering a compelling immediacy no work of tele-
vision fiction can provide” (p. 329). It is also not uncommon for talk shows to deal with
bizarre and sensational topics (e.g., Jerry Springer) (Davis & Mares, 1998). Rubin,
Haridakis, and Eyal (2003) found that anti-dispositional persons were more likely to en-
joy guests’ predicaments such as being embarrassed or shocked when watching talk
shows. This implies that those with higher levels of psychoticism are likely to attend to
talk shows more than those lower in psychoticism. Those higher in neuroticism might
use talk shows to manage their emotional instability by watching talk shows such as Dr.
Phil. Weaver et al. (1993) argued that introverts would prefer media content that pro-
vides self-esteem. It seems that the tendency of many talk shows toward the bizarre and
294 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

sensational would less likely provide self-esteem for extraverts. Thus, it is thought that
high extraverts will not attend to talk shows as much as introverts.

Crime Dramas and PEN

The violence featured in the media is often brutal and realistic (McIntosh, Murray,
Murray, & Manian, 2003). Such depictions of violence have increased over time on
television (Cooper, 1996). Robards (1992) argued that the crime drama genre contained
explicit, violent elements that provided a sense of realism of violence and vicarious ad-
venturism for viewers. Many studies have been conducted to understand the role of an-
tisocial personality traits in violent programming preference. This research has found
that psychoticism as a personality trait is more strongly associated with a preference for
crime dramas than either of the other two PEN personality dimensions. (Weaver, 1991;
Weaver et al., 1993; Zillmann & Weaver, 1997). Gunter (1983) for example, found that
individuals who had aggressive personalities, a trait common to those higher in
psychoticism, were more likely to prefer violent television content than those who are
nonaggressive. Weaver (1991) and Weaver et al. (1993) also found that, relative to those
low in psychoticism, individuals higher in psychoticism had much stronger preferences
for violent horror movies. Thus, it is likely that psychoticism is positively associated with
attention to television crime genre.
Weaver (1991) however, found neither extraversion nor neuroticism to be associ-
ated with violent movie preference. Weaver et al. (1996) showed that high neurotics
were motivated to use television remote control devices to avoid television content.
Given that high neurotics are emotionally sensitive (Gunter & Furnham, 1983), it is
likely that high neurotics come to have stronger television content avoidance motiva-
tion when exposed to violent media content that typically describes vivid brutality
and crime scene in that such content will make them tense and potentially uncomfort-
able. According to Gunter and Furnham (1983), neuroticism was more powerfully
and consistently associated with the perception of television violence of British view-
ers than psychoticism and extraversion. They found that high neurotics expressed
more “emotionally-based reactions such as how frightening or personally disturbing
the scenes were perceived to be” (p. 320). Thus, it is predicted that high neurotics will
less likely attend to crime genre programming than low neurotics. However,
extraversion was least related to the perception of television violence (Gunter &
Furnham, 1983). It seems unlikely that extraversion will show substantial relation-
ships with crime genre attention.
Predictions, based upon the above reasoning, are summarized in Table 1.

Participants

Participants were recruited from introductory-level communication courses at a

large public university in the midwestern United States. They received minimal
course credits for their participation. A total of 410 students initially volunteered for
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 295

Table 1
Predictions of the Effects of PEN Personality
on Television Genre Attention

Genre Attention

PEN Soap Reality Talk Crime

Personality News Opera Show Show Drama

Psychoticism Hi < Low Hi < Low Hi > Low Hi > Low Hi > Low
Extraversion Hi > Low Hi < Low Hi > Low Hi < Low Hi < Low
Neuroticism Hi < Low Hi > Low Hi > Low Hi > Low Hi < Low

participation in the study. The researchers created a user-friendly questionnaire on a

Web site. Data was gathered for a month from February to March of 2004. A total of
381 students participated in the survey. Twenty-five students who answered less than
half of the questions and 13 students who answered twice were dropped from the
analysis. As a result, the total number of participants was 343. There were slightly
more females (179) than males (158). The average age of participants was 20 years
old (SD = 1.81). Ethnically, 83% of the participants identified themselves as White,
7% identified as Black, 6% identified as Asian, and 4% identified as American Indian
and Other. Overall, the student sample of the study reported watching television
about 2.2 hours a day, using the Internet about 4.4 hours of a day, listening to radio
about 1.9 hours a day, reading newspapers about 0.8 hours and any type of maga-
zines about 0.8 hours a day, playing videogames about 1.1 hours a day, and listening
to music on CDs or MP3 about 4.7 hours a day. Of the 8 types of media, women used
significantly (p < .05) more the Internet, magazine, and radio, whereas men used sig-
nificantly (p < .05) more videogames and music on CDs or MP3.

Measures

Personality Types. To assess the personality types of psychoticism, extra-

version, and neuroticism, the short-form version of Eysenck Personality Question-
naire (EPQ-R) was used (Eysenck, Eysenck, & Barrett, 1985). The EPQ-R is com-
prised of 36 questions (e.g., 12 items for each personality type), each item being
answered yes or no. Participants’ responses to the 36 items were organized and
summed to form three personality types. The possible maximum score of each per-
sonality type was 12. The average scores for each personality type were: psycho-
ticism (M = 3.10, SD = 1.83, ␣ = .49)1, extraversion (M = 9.45, SD = 2.77, ␣ = .82),
and neuroticism (M = 6.12, SD = 3.20, ␣ = .77). In the analysis, each personality
was divided into two groups, low and high, with mean scores serving as the cut
point. Correlation analyses indicated that neuroticism was associated negatively
with extraversion (r = -.24, p < .01). There were no other significant associations
296 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

among the personality types. These results are consistent with other previous work
with these variables (Hall, 2005; Weaver, 2003).

Television Genre Attention. To assess television genre attention, viewers’ level of

attention to several television programs was used. The types of television program-
ming included local news, network news, news magazines, soap opera, reality show,
daytime talk show, late-night talk show, crime drama, and true crime drama. To aid re-
liability, several examples of each television program were given to the participants:
local news (e.g., WHTR-Eyewitness News), network news (e.g., ABC Nightline, CBS
Evening News, NBC Nightly news), news magazine (e.g., 60 minutes, Primetime
Live), soap opera (e.g., General Hospital, Passions), daytime talk show (e.g., The
Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil), late-night talk show (the Late Show with David Letter-
man, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno), reality show (e.g., Survivor, Real World, The
Bachelor), crime drama (e.g., Law & Order, CSI, NYPD Blue), and true crime drama
(e.g., City Confidential, Cold Case Files). Participants were asked to indicate the level
of attention they pay to each type of television programming using a 7-point scale
ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much). The news genre attention variable was
formed by averaging scores of three news programs including local news, network
news, and news magazines (M =3.43, SD = 1.43, ␣ = .84). Talk show genre attention
was formed by averaging scores of daytime talk shows and late-night talk shows (M =
3.49, SD = 1.55, ␣ = .60). Crime genre attention was created by averaging scores of
crime drama and true crime drama (M =2.91, SD = 1.69, ␣ = .77). The mean for the
soap opera genre attention, a single item, was 2.05 (SD = 1.73). The mean for reality
show genre attention, a single item, was 4.37 (SD = 2.01).

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Table 2 displays correlations between the PEN personality measure and attention
levels for the five genres. In general, the five television genre attention variables re-
vealed weak (.14 < r < .43), but significant relationships with the other genres (p <
.01). Psychoticism was correlated negatively with news attention (r = -.17, p < .01).
Extraversion was correlated positively with reality programming attention (r = .12, p <
.05). Neuroticism was correlated positively with attention to soap operas (r = .13, p <
.05), reality programming (r = .15, p < .01), and talk shows (r = .17, p < .01).

Effects of Personality on Television Genre Attention

To test the effects of PEN personality types on self-reported attention, five separate
univariate analyses were performed with psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism
as predictors and the five television genres each as a dependent variable (see Table 3).
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 297

Table 2
Correlations between PEN Personality
and Television Genre Attention (n = 329)

Soap Reality Talk Crime

News Opera Show Show Drama

Genre attention
News — .26** .20** .43** .42**
Soap opera — .30** .20** .24**
Reality show — .37** .14**
Talk show — .35**
Crime drama —
PEN personality
Psychoticism –.11 –.07 .02
Extraversion .12* .04 .07
Neuroticism .15** .17** .08
** p < .01, * p < .05.

News

There was a significant main effect of psychoticism on attention given to news, F(1,
321) = 4.47, p < .05, indicating that low psychotics (M = 3.49, SD = .10) were more
likely to attend to news programs than high psychotics (M = 3.12, SD = .13). The
strength of the relationship between psychoticism and news was weak however, c2 =
.014. No statistically significant main effect for either extraversion or neuroticism was
found. There were also no significant interactions between psychoticism, extra-
version, and neuroticism.

Soap Operas

Neuroticism revealed a main effect on soap opera attention, F(1, 320) = 4.12, p < .05.
This indicates that high neurotics (M = 2.25, SD = .15) were more likely to pay attention
to soap operas than low neurotics (M = 1.83, SD = .14). The strength of association be-
tween neuroticism and soap opera genre attention was found to be weak however, c2 =
.013. The other two personality traits, extraversion and psychoticism, were not associ-
ated with soap opera genre attention. In addition, no interactions were found.

Reality Programming

All three personality variables produced main effects on attention to reality pro-
gramming. There was a significant main effect of psychoticism, F(1, 320) = 4.02, p <
298 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

Table 3
Univariate Analyses of Television Genre Attention
as a Function of PEN Personality

Genre Attention PEN Personality df MS F η2

News
Psychoticism 1/321 8.33 4.47* .014
Extraversion 1/321 3.60 1.94 .006
Neuroticism 1/321 .44 .24 .001
Soap opera
Psychoticism 1/320 .47 .16 .000
Extraversion 1/320 2.08 .70 .002
Neuroticism 1/320 12.25 4.12* .013
Reality show
Psychoticism 1/320 15.31 4.02* .012
Extraversion 1/320 64.93 17.07*** .051
Neuroticism 1/320 24.23 6.37* .020
Talk show
Psychoticism 1/321 2.15 .90 .003
Extraversion 1/321 1.95 .81 .003
Neuroticism 1/321 12.33 5.15* .016
Crime drama
Psychoticism 1/321 .29 .10 .000
Extraversion 1/321 2.22 .78 .002
Neuroticism 1/321 8.24 2.90+ .009
Note: Although all interaction effects between PEN personality types were tested, no significant
interaction effects were found. Thus, the interaction results were not reported in the table.
***p < .001, *p < .05, + p < .1.

.05, suggesting that low psychotics (M = 4.49, SD = .14) were more likely to attend to
reality programming than high psychotics (M = 4.02, SD = .18). There was also a sig-
nificant main effect of extraversion on reality programming attention, F(1, 320) =
17.07, p < .001. High extraverts (M = 4.74, SD = .15) were more likely to pay atten-
tion to reality programs on television than low extraverts (M = 3.88, SD = .18). Finally,
neuroticism also revealed a significant main effect on reality programming attention,
F(1, 320) = 6.37, p < .05, indicating that high neurotics (M = 4.55, SD = .17) paid
more attention to reality shows than low neurotics (M = 3.96, SD = .16). However, the
strength of associations between PEN and reality genre attention was weak ranging
from c2 = .012 to c2 = .051. No interaction effects were found.
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 299

Talk Shows

Neuroticism showed a significant main effect on attention to talk shows, F(1, 321) =
5.15, p < .05. This indicates that high neurotics (M = 3.67, SD = .14) were more likely
to attend to talk shows than low neurotics (M = 3.25, SD = .13). The strength of associ-
ation between neuroticism and talk show attention was weak, c2 = .016. No main ef-
fect for extraversion or psychoticism was found, nor were there any interaction effects
between PEN on talk show attention.

Crime Dramas

Neuroticism revealed a borderline effect on crime drama attention, F(1, 321) =

2.90, p = .09. This indicates that high neurotics (M = 3.09, SD = .15) tended to attend
to crime dramas more than low neurotics (M = 2.75, SD = .14). There were no main
effects for either extraversion or psychoticism. In addition, no interaction effects on
crime genre attention were found.

Discussion

This study explored the role of Eysenck’s PEN personality types—psychoticism

extraversion, and neuroticism—in viewers’ attention to five common television pro-
gram genres including news, soap operas, reality shows, talk shows, and crime
dramas. The findings of this study show that neuroticism is the most influential
personality type for attention to television genres. Viewers high in neuroticism paid
greater attention while watching soap operas, reality shows, talk shows, and crime
dramas than those lower in neuroticism. Although it was predicted that high neu-
rotics would not attend to the crime drama genre (in order to avoid emotional dis-
comfort), results show that high neurotics did attend to the genre. These findings as-
sessed by genre attention therefore strongly support previous studies that have
identified neuroticism as the most critical personality related to media consumption
(Dittmar, 1994; Perse & Rubin, 1990; Singer, 1980; Weaver, 2003). As previous
studies indicate, the relationship between neuroticism and television genre atten-
tion might result from neurotics’ fundamental characteristics of emotional unstable-
ness and a lack of social adjustment (Weaver, 1991, 2003). Perse and Rubin (1990)
argued that loneliness, one of the most common characteristics of neuroticism, gen-
erated a need of vicarious interaction with others to fill a lack of personal interac-
tions. They easily experience a psychological apathetic state that makes people
avoid interpersonal interactions (Perse & Rubin, 1990). This creates a condition in
which high neurotics are motivated to consume television content in order to avoid
emotional discomfort (Singer, 1980). According to Dittmar (1994), depression
makes people particularly susceptible to forming an “emotional dependency” rela-
300 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

tionship with television characters (p. 325). As a result, depressed viewers, espe-
cially depressed women, are most likely to rely on soap operas (Dittmar, 1994).
This indicates that television plays a role as a channel for neurotics to obtain an al-
ternative route of social interactions without making direct social connections with
others. Unlike Weaver’s (1991) findings, this study found no association between
neuroticism and information/news genre attention.
Extraversion was associated with the attention to reality shows, such that high
extraverts paid more attention to the genre than low extraverts. This finding supports
Reiss and Wiltz’ (2004) expectation that those who like to socialize would more likely
watch reality programming than those who are less sociable. High extraverts’ atten-
tion to the reality genre may result from the tendency of reality shows to generally
contain a strong “realistic feel and look” compared to other types of television genres
(Sayre & King, 2003, p. 85). It seems that the uncertainty of reality shows (i.e., that it is
difficult to predict what will happen next) provides extraverts with a stronger sense of
“being” in the real world. Not surprisingly then, extraverts do not like to watch obvi-
ous make-believe types of television programs such as soap operas.
Psychoticism was negatively associated with the attention to news and reality pro-
gramming, such that low psychotics paid more attention while they watch the two
genres than high psychotics. Although it was predicted that high psychotics would at-
tend to crime drama due to the likelihood of the genre to contain explicit brutality and
cruelty that might motivate high psychotics’ television reliance, the results did not
support this contention. This may be the result of the fact that, in comparison to other
media outlets (DVDs, Web sites, magazines) traditional television content is not in-
tense enough to motivate and grab their television attention. This interpretation is
supported by Weaver (2003), who found that the levels of psychoticism were not as-
sociated with any traditionally identified motivations for television viewing (e.g.,
passing time, companionship, relaxation, information, and stimulation). It should be
noted that many studies have shown that high psychotics are associated with certain
movie genres such as sexual and morbid movies (Zuckerman & Litle, 1986) and hor-
ror movies (Weaver, 1991; Weaver et al., 1993). Zillmann and Weaver (1997) found
that males high in psychoticism were more likely to be affected by movies depicting
gratuitous violence after being exposed to such movie content, high psychotics
showed greater willingness to accept violence as a means of conflict resolution than
low psychotic males. Given that television content tends to be somewhat less extreme
than films in terms of sexual and violent explicitness, it is perhaps not that surprising
that high level psychotics were not drawn to any particular television genre.
Importantly, the effect sizes of all personality variables turned out to be weak. All ef-
fect sizes generated by personality variables on the five types of television genre use
were less than 5%. Such findings may be a result of having used the original EPQ-R
scale, which uses a two-choice response format, to measure the PEN characteristics.
Some studies have recommended using Likert-type formats of the EPQ scale (e.g.,
Muñiz, García-Cueto, & Lozano, 2005). Muñiz et al. demonstrated that Likert-type
formats of Eysenck’s personality scale could significantly improve the accountability
 Shim and Paul/PERSONALITY AND TV GENRE USE 301

of personality variables. Specifically, they found that the use of Eysenck’s personality
scale assessed by a 7-point scale provided the best results. The dichotomous EPQ-R
option may have reduced a substantial portion of the variance in media attention that
might still be accounted for by the personality variables. In addition, researchers point
out that the original EPQ scale, initially developed in England, could contain cultural
artifacts when it is applied into other cultures (e.g., Francis et al., 1992). An appropri-
ate translation of the personality questionnaire should be verified by a back-
translation under the context of the foreign culture (Alexopoulos & Kalaitzidis, 2004).
In fact, some recent studies adopted a revised version of the EPQ-R scale with a
Likert-type format that has been adapted for media use with American population
showed improved impacts of personality variables (see, Hall, 2005; Weaver, 2003).
Therefore, it is recommended that future research at least consider the Likert-type
EPQ-R scale when investigating the relationship between PEN model variables and
media use.
The effects of personality variables on attention to television programming should
also be reconsidered in terms of television’s place within a greater, “media rich” envi-
ronment. Clearly aspects of the new media shape audience tastes. For example,
Srivastava (2004) describes that mobile phones as a pervasive communication tool
are not a mere technical device but “a key social object present in every aspect of a
user’s life” (p. 111). With the increase in the popularity and use of the Internet, recent
research has observed decreases in the consumption of traditional media such as tele-
vision, newspapers, and radio (Stempel, Hargrove, & Bernt, 2000). As posited by me-
dia dependency system theory, people under a complex media environment are
likely to construct their own media systems and form new media consumption habits
(DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach, 1989). Future research on media use and personality
should be sure to consider the possibly very significant impact on the process of the
ever-increasing technological diversity of the modern media environment. Similarly,
it also seems wise for the future to consider the impact of personality types on new
media technology usage in general.
The television content genres considered in this study should also be commented
upon. Some might suggest that these genres are too broad; each encompassing too
great a variety of subgenres. For example, daytime talk shows can be quite dissimi-
lar to late-night talk shows. Dr. Phil is clearly different from the Late Show with Da-
vid Letterman. Similarly, reality shows also differ widely including game shows,
dating shows, talent shows, and voyeuristic shows. Survivor is different from The
Bachelor. Genre, however, refers to a systematic categorization of various televi-
sion programs, based on the formulas and characteristics that a group of programs
share (Sayre & King, 2003). Based on this conceptualization then, the program
types included in each genre seem appropriate. It is strongly recommended, how-
ever, that future research in this arena continues to consider increasingly specific
subgenres of programming.
Finally, although the use of a college student sample might present disadvantages,
this should not be interpreted as completely devaluing the findings of the current
302 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2007

study. Previous research has commonly used college students to understand the rela-
tionship between personality types and media use (e.g., Hawkins et al., 2001;
McCroskey et al., 2001; Weaver, 2003). Further, the PEN personality model assumes
that all individuals fall somewhere on each of three personality types: psychoticism,
extraversion, and neuroticism (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). That is, each individual
varies in terms of the strength of each personality type. This study attempts to explore
correlations between personality and media attention, not a causal relationship be-
tween the two. As long as respondents vary adequately on each of the three PEN di-
mensions, an examination of their relationship to media use habits appears permissi-
ble. A student sample, therefore, does not appear to be that serious a threat to the
validity of the findings of this study. Certainly, however, a more representative sample
would be preferable and would lead to greater generalizability of the findings. Addi-
tional research in this arena using such samples will be invaluable.

Note
1The dichotomous measure of psychoticism has shown a relatively low reliability. For exam-
ple, with university student samples of England, Canada, the United States, and Australia, Fran-
cis, Brown, and Philipchalk (1992) demonstrated low reliabilities of psychoticism: the U.S. sam-
ple (α = 0.31), the Canadian sample (α = 0.41), and the English sample (α = 0.51). In a recent
study by Francis, Lewis, and Ziebertz (2006) with a German student sample, the reliability coef-
ficient of psychoticism was 0.42.

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